Coming out of the gates with a crowd pleaser, I see. I like it. also loving the fluid panel layout. much more interesting than 4 evenly sized rectangles

Yes! back to the comic and with King and Bailey!

is that Diss in the background, or some other squirrel?

This promises to be best christmas arc EVAH!

So adorable. <3

All the love for Kingy!

Looks like superfuntime for king and Bailey.

Finally! King with a "super-happy" smile! A FIRST!!!!!!!!

YAY for the new arc! I have to say I love the new style so much, specially the new panel style and the background.

And about the arc, since Rick said from here start a "new jumping-on point", I wonder if this arc is going to be connected with the end of The trial in Heaven, specially since Bailey is here.

P.S.: the squirrel doesn't have tag?

this! Oh SO This!
Fox made him laugh. Bailey makes him super-smile.
best family ever!

Now that I'm fully awake, I can say it's awesome to see Bailey at the start of this arc. X3

Loved the good girl comment. Though from my husky's experience, it's treated to massive face licking @_@

Its nice to finally see King super simile for once. And in the first comic strip too.

(I need to catch up on the guest strips. Its been a while).

Also welcome back Rick. Continue to get better.

Love the new styling.

I'm kinda disappointed that the last Halloween arc is left with no conclusion.

Anyway, King and Bailey

I was sure Bailey's fur design should change already.

It bummed me, but the guest comics were delightful. I'm not sure what the arc was going to end like, but the way it's setup at the moment is actually a conclusive ending (Since it was more of a triage of what everyone was doing on Halloween anyway, or at least that's how it looked).

Yayyyyyyyyy King.

On the whole, I'm really liking the design change. For everything. The panel layout is really neat, the backgrounds look more like a graphic novel than your run-of-the-mill webcomic, and the characters are implemented well. Very glad to hear you're starting to feel better Rick!

One thing that seems a little off to me, though, is the eyebrows. Is everyone gonna have bushy, white eyebrows now? I know that King and Bailey have always had them, but Fox didn't used to. Either way it's not a big deal; just curious.

I was just wondering how you were doing. Then I checked Housepets and BAM! King gets glomped.
Very glad knowing you're back and feeling better than before Rick.

Because of the new art style I got confused and thought this was another guest comic until I saw your name underneath and I audibly squealed

Unbearable lightness of being a dog, huh?

Either the watch comes into play...

...or we get that "litter of stubby-legged husky puppies". :3

A kiss under the mistletoe to close the arc would do

King is quite shorter than I thought

he just looks smaller than usual. or I just need a new pair of glasses

Forgot to mention ~ The comic-book style text on the first panel and the way "Wham" is drawn feels like a first-page book of a comic i bought at a store. I'm loving it =)

I cannot get enough of this style! It is excellent.

Hmm, this is a King's Choice sort of arc I suspect. Hopefully the relaunch will come soon. I am burning with anticipation~

I like Fox's face in the last panel.

I have no idea if you're talking about Rick's recovery but yea, that is a good way of looking at it. Rick going into surgery on the day of Halloween was as frightening as The Shining. I'm sure he's already thought of ways to connect his previous ideas into the current story.

Must say King does look more chibi than usual but I think it also makes him cuter. I'm still not used to the thick blackness surrounding the background but i really like the rest of it. Pete's design will be interesting.

...and then we discover that the whole redesign was made to retitle the comic PETE! (featuring some Housepets)

Nothing but cosmic game arcs! No more Peanut and Grape! It's genius!

I'm trying to work out what Movie the name of the arc references but i can't place it

Scratch that. I just found out it's a novel

YAY! This is going to bring in a lot of neat new story lines! So Bailey lives with Fox now this is an interesting development.

don't forget the LOVABLE AND ADORABLE AND MEGASUPERDUPERCUTEST part

I sense character development approaching.

Very much so. It looks as though much of the new stories are going to be more story driven than ever before.

I must say, the new style has also begun to grow on me already, It looks absolutely amazing in the current format of the comic! Keep up the great work Rick!

While the story is becoming mroe interesting, I have to say I liked Bailey and King's older designs. They seem MUCH less cuter in comparison, while the other character's new design haven't had any bad change.

As Rick said Wednesday, the new style is NOT in effect yet.

And awwwwwwwwww, they're snuggling.

Then why are they drawn differently in this?

I pesonnaly like their new designs, that are not in effect yet.

Ears crumpling, cute!

I said Housepets 3.0 isn't if effect yet. This is the new style, which I still need practice with. Lots and lots of practice.

Let me first say that I am loving the new background style. If this is the result of practicing with the heavy brush, I thoroughly approve
But King is still not striking the right chord with me. He dips too far over the line of cartoony, while everyone else keeps a good balance of cartoon and reality. I feel like most of it comes from the line separating the white and brown on his muzzle and neck. I played with getting rid of the line in MS paint, and it really makes a difference for me.

As for the story, there are zero complaints and many D'AWWWWWWW!

Agreed. I figure it's there to make the linework more consistent throughout character models, but it just makes it look sloppy, to be honest.

I also much preferred the lack of lines around King and Bailey's eyebrows, but that's not so bad as long as the linework is kept to a much more minimal level like in this last comic.

But yeah, I'd definitely recommend either minimizing or doing away with the line around King's muzzle.