Housepets!

And then Ralph got trampled over by a crowed and died. THE END

Y'all though putting Keene in cuffs was excessive. Turns out it wasn't enough.

He's going to blow it up! YES! YES!


Part of me knew he would try to depose of the evidence but I didn't want to get my hopes up. (or all the pets will come racing out of their like the stampede from Jumangi but I'm going to stick with DESTRUCTION)

Ah, what better way to begin your birthday than Housepets?

You know I get that Ralph was a bit over the top with all the handcuffs, but then again if Keene always pulls out stuff like that it's no wonder Ralph does it. Sure handcuffing his own collegues was still a bit too much, but Keene really shouldn't pull off stuff like that

fenrirblack wrote:Part of me knew he would try to depose of the evidence but I didn't want to get my hopes up. (or all the pets will come racing out of their like the stampede from Jumangi but I'm going to stick with DESTRUCTION)

I think it's possible to combine both things

Can we please, like pleeeease, see Ralph tackling Keene? Please.

Edit: Wait... is the thing actually going to blow up?

... I can’t believe Rick actually decided he needed to blow it up, again... and when did Keene even have the time to go to prison? Is he talking about his time at the zoo? Funny enough, most of us have been saying how this feels like too minor a crime to get arrested for. The fact that setting off a massive explosion is actually not gonna end with Keene getting arrested most likely makes me realize this comic is bizarre for more reasons than I originally though

Gameb18oy wrote:... I can’t believe Rick actually decided he needed to blow it up, again... and when did Keene even have the time to go to prison? Is he talking about his time at the zoo? Funny enough, most of us have been saying how this feels like too minor a crime to get arrested for. The fact that setting off a massive explosion is actually not gonna end with Keene getting arrested most likely makes me realize this comic is bizarre for more reasons than I originally though

I have been officially reading this comic for a year now (happy anniversary to me) and I am never not surprised by the levels of bizarre that it keeps reaching. Also I do think he is referring to his time at the zoo as well.

Gameb18oy wrote:The fact that setting off a massive explosion is actually not gonna end with Keene getting arrested most likely makes me realize this comic is bizarre for more reasons than I originally though

You just noticed it now?

Uh This is not helping your case here Keene, like at all. What is he hoping this will do? Make Ralph want to give up because everyone took off or something? Also if he blows it up (title text is usually not canon but lets say it is this time) that is just going to make everything worse and he will have to pay the Spa company for the spa he exploded as well.

the comic is getting more bizzare the longer it goes on. Thinking back where I started reading (shortly before switch from Black/White to color) it was really just a small comic strip with gags and giggles... about videogames even.

The comic evolved, I get that... but the "old times" are also something to remember. It was more ... careless.

D-Rock wrote:And like that, what little respect for Keene I had managed to build up has taken a massive hit.

Just to play devil's advocate, I'd say this is probably a reasonably unreasonable response to the unreason Ralph's been running with so far. Keene was being arrested for a traffic violation after all, it's not hard to see how Keene doesn't see himself getting fair treatment out of Ralph for this. Ralph could very well have been intending to put Keene in jail.

On the other hand, it probably would've served Keene far better to whip out his battalion of battle-lawyers rather than do...whatever it was he just did. Everyone's assuming that the place is gonna blow up, but let's be realistic (Yeah, yeah, just bear with me), it's probably just going to fold back up into a trailer.

Blowing it up? Nah. Probably just getting everyone out quick so he can get it taken away.

I think the evidence will go
in a very short space of time
and then our good ol’ Ralph will know
it’s hard to prove there was a crime.
Keene shifted it when he was able
and got it all off the main road;
keeping it all nice and stable
going before Ralph had it towed.
First he has to get them all out,
which is what the alarm is for;
raising a panic all about
as the spa ‘ship’ comes in to shore.

HundKatzeMaus wrote:

Gameb18oy wrote:The fact that setting off a massive explosion is actually not gonna end with Keene getting arrested most likely makes me realize this comic is bizarre for more reasons than I originally though

You just noticed it now?

No, just didn’t expect it to get to a level where I don’t understand. Some of this does feel unusually dumb on top of being weird. I’ll assume aside from the Ralph thing acknowledging how petty the crime seems when he says it out loud, Rick didn’t expect we’d be finding the police stuff that hard to accept (and to be fair, he was mostly right, we all know the sting was basically a plot line to allow the most fit dogs into the spa while giving him a way to end the fanservice arc(s) eventually.) and that’s fine on its own, but now I don’t get where this is going. Heck, why did Keene setup an explosion when just literally two strips before, he seemed to be seeing this wasn’t that big a deal of a crime? He pretty much knows they can’t do much to him aside from make him pay a ticket. An explosion is just going to give his arrest some actual meat to it... which is clearly what the point is, but why in story would Keene do that? He’s one of the smarter characters usually

Welsh Halfwit wrote:Blowing it up? Nah. Probably just getting everyone out quick so he can get it taken away.

leinglo wrote:On the other hand, it probably would've served Keene far better to whip out his battalion of battle-lawyers rather than do...whatever it was he just did. Everyone's assuming that the place is gonna blow up, but let's be realistic (Yeah, yeah, just bear with me), Keene didn't install that himself. The spa was most likely built with that switch, so my guess is it's the switch that folds the place back up into a trailer.

Don't ruin this for me with logic. I've waited months to see this place go boom. Honestly I thought Karishad would be the one who did it.

leinglo wrote:

D-Rock wrote:And like that, what little respect for Keene I had managed to build up has taken a massive hit.

Just to play devil's advocate, I'd say this is probably a reasonably unreasonable response to the unreason Ralph's been running with so far. Keene was being arrested for a traffic violation after all, it's not hard to see how Keene doesn't see himself getting fair treatment out of Ralph for this. Ralph could very well have been intending to put Keene in jail.

If we are being reasonable, Keene would have ended up sitting on a bench in the police station for a few minutes until either he breaks out his checkbook or one of his lawyers shows up and then he leaves. Ralph ends up scolded by one of his superiors and everyone goes home. The fact that he did decide to go with this extreme method of exposing of the evidence (no matter what it may be) is pretty bad on him. Or you know he could simply want the pets to vacate so he can move the spa to a more appropriate location but for the sake of humor I doubt that will happen.

Gameb18oy wrote: No, just didn’t expect it to get to a level where I don’t understand. Some of this does feel unusually dumb on top of being weird. I’ll assume aside from the Ralph thing acknowledging how petty the crime seems when he says it out loud, Rick didn’t expect we’d be finding the police stuff that hard to accept (and to be fair, he was mostly right, we all know the sting was basically a plot line to allow the most fit dogs into the spa while giving him a way to end the fanservice arc(s) eventually.) and that’s fine on its own, but now I don’t get where this is going. Heck, why did Keene setup an explosion when just literally two strips before, he seemed to be seeing this wasn’t that big a deal of a crime? He pretty much knows they can’t do much to him aside from make him pay a ticket. An explosion is just going to give his arrest some actual meat to it... which is clearly what the point is, but why in story would Keene do that? He’s one of the smarter characters usually

I really think that after five months Rick is tired of the spa (and the complaining about the legality behind Ralph's actions) so he wants to end the arc in the most humorous way he can think of. This is Keene's go to move at this point.

fenrirblack wrote:

Welsh Halfwit wrote:Blowing it up? Nah. Probably just getting everyone out quick so he can get it taken away.

leinglo wrote:On the other hand, it probably would've served Keene far better to whip out his battalion of battle-lawyers rather than do...whatever it was he just did. Everyone's assuming that the place is gonna blow up, but let's be realistic (Yeah, yeah, just bear with me), Keene didn't install that himself. The spa was most likely built with that switch, so my guess is it's the switch that folds the place back up into a trailer.

Don't ruin this for me with logic. I've waited months to see this place go boom. Honestly I thought Karishad would be the one who did it.

leinglo wrote:

D-Rock wrote:And like that, what little respect for Keene I had managed to build up has taken a massive hit.

Just to play devil's advocate, I'd say this is probably a reasonably unreasonable response to the unreason Ralph's been running with so far. Keene was being arrested for a traffic violation after all, it's not hard to see how Keene doesn't see himself getting fair treatment out of Ralph for this. Ralph could very well have been intending to put Keene in jail.

If we are being reasonable, Keene would have ended up sitting on a bench in the police station for a few minutes until either he breaks out his checkbook or one of his lawyers shows up and then he leaves. Ralph ends up scolded by one of his superiors and everyone goes home. The fact that he did decide to go with this extreme method of exposing of the evidence (no matter what it may be) is pretty bad on him. Or you know he could simply want the pets to vacate so he can move the spa to a more appropriate location but for the sake of humor I doubt that will happen.

If it folds into what looks like a tardis, I don’t think that be a disappointing thing, it be a fun joke considering the impossible interior of that thing.

And don’t think I’m saying Ralph isn’t a good boy, but I really hope he’s gonna get a proper scolding from the humans. This sting was just... dumb. If he was following orders from the humans, that might change things, but as long as the comic makes it seem like Ralph’s idea to have his boys sneak in with naked necks, he just comes across as an idiot to me

Me, I'm kinda interested to see who is in the Babylon Gardens Volunteer Fire Department. Humans, pets, or both.

At this rate, Keene, two hundred MILES won't be far enough to keep you out of Ralph's paws.........

Has anyone read The Shining? Like actually read the book and not just watched the movie. SPOILER ALERT, the Overlook Hotel blows up at the end due to a malfunction with the boiler after Jack forgot to keep up the maintenance. Anyway, this strip reminded me of that and honestly makes me think if it wouldn't have been a better solution for Keene instead of him purposely disposing of the Spa. Like if Ralph got everyone out of the spa and their standing in the snow then after a short back and forth, BOOM in the background. Keene's off the hook.

Gameb18oy wrote:And don’t think I’m saying Ralph isn’t a good boy, but I really hope he’s gonna get a proper scolding from the humans. This sting was just... dumb. If he was following orders from the humans, that might change things, but as long as the comic makes it seem like Ralph’s idea to have his boys sneak in with naked necks, he just comes across as an idiot to me

I would like to readdress my earlier theory about Ralph being manipulated by otherworldly forces. At first it was a joke but what if instead of supernatural forces, Ralph is being used by some shady human figure who wants to put a stop to Keene's ECP plans by arresting him and stomping out his goal for human/animal equality. We are still missing a real antagonist since Pete went away. I mean there's still Shifty-eye Mr. Steward but until we know what his plans are I'm not sure if he's the new antagonist. Same goes for the Dino-demon. Plus there is no rule that says you can't have multiple antagonists. The mundane and supernatural antagonists working against our heroes makes for a compelling plot.

fenrirblack wrote:I would like to readdress my earlier theory about Ralph being manipulated by otherworldly forces. At first it was a joke but what if instead of supernatural forces, Ralph is being used by some shady human figure who wants to put a stop to Keene's ECP plans by arresting him and stomping out his goal for human/animal equality. We are still missing a real antagonist since Pete went away. I mean there's still Shifty-eye Mr. Steward but until we know what his plans are I'm not sure if he's the new antagonist. Same goes for the Dino-demon. Plus there is no rule that says you can't have multiple antagonists. The mundane and supernatural antagonists working against our heroes makes for a compelling plot.

I don't think Rick is gonna give us another supernatural antagonist. Not a major one anyway. I was under the impression that the last Castle Crashers arc, and the destruction of the temple and mana, was a way to largely eliminate major supernatural influences in the story.

leinglo wrote:

fenrirblack wrote:I would like to readdress my earlier theory about Ralph being manipulated by otherworldly forces. At first it was a joke but what if instead of supernatural forces, Ralph is being used by some shady human figure who wants to put a stop to Keene's ECP plans by arresting him and stomping out his goal for human/animal equality. We are still missing a real antagonist since Pete went away. I mean there's still Shifty-eye Mr. Steward but until we know what his plans are I'm not sure if he's the new antagonist. Same goes for the Dino-demon. Plus there is no rule that says you can't have multiple antagonists. The mundane and supernatural antagonists working against our heroes makes for a compelling plot.

I don't think Rick is gonna give us another supernatural antagonist. Not a major one anyway. I was under the impression that the last Castle Crashers arc, and the destruction of the temple and mana, was a way to largely eliminate major supernatural influences in the story.

Also Keene doesn't work on the project anymore, since he wanted to live a cozy live with Breel as normal people. Keene still has just access to a lot of money. I think this comics strip made it clear why Ralph is arresting Keene for something more minor, since Keene does have the tendency to abuse loopholes to get away from paying taxes and such.
And don't forget rule of funny, many things in this comic happen because they're supposed to be funny and sometimes over the top.

Also also we do have already a good candidate for a real antagonist.

Yeeeaaaah... Pulling a fire alarm when there isn’t a fire is an arrestable offense. Arson is an even worse offense. Fleeing an officer is a bad idea also. Whatever the case, Keene did a stupid that would only add fines and/or jail time. I wonder if the pound allows conjugal visits with ferals (since Breel is a pine marten)?

D-Rock wrote:[2019/04/12 -Fire Escape]
Title Text: what, you think I WOULDN'T have a self-destruct mechanism installed into a lair?

And like that, what little respect for Keene I had managed to build up has taken a massive hit.

Don't actually care.

1. At the start of this arc he rented this spa from a regular spa-in-a-truck company. It's not a lair he set up.

2. The whole "Keene getting arrested" joke should have been dropped two strips ago after the "that doesn't sound like it did in my head" panel.

My suspenders of disbelief are just plain busted.

...Okay, NOW it's an arrestable offense.

Needs more zombies :3

Waiting for the plot twist where he's just getting everyone wet. x3

Welp Keene, if you were trying to avoid jail-time, I THINK you dun goofed!

Keene, ever the resourceful one

But why don't you take Breel with you??

I don't know if whether the spa's design or Keene is more illogical What is happening?!

Nathan Kerbonaut wrote:I don't know if whether the spa's design or Keene is more illogical What is happening?!

He probably made a request for it. I just think it's funny that Springup Hot Springs CO includes these things into their spas for the owner. Though to be fair, it might be something else entirely. x3

Regardless of what happens, I just don't want the Spa to Blow Up...

Couldn't they just move the thing somewhere safer? Maybe closer to the K9's HQ to sweeten the deal?

That's a good idea, Keene, huh? Create a distraction so you can run away... The mobile spa company wouldn't be happy of it, though. The jail is bad, yeah, but probably your money could help you to get out. I guess that some other police officer will stop him now.

At least Keene isn't solving the problem by throwing money at it. He's learned that much.

GameCobra wrote:

Nathan Kerbonaut wrote:I don't know if whether the spa's design or Keene is more illogical What is happening?!

He probably made a request for it. I just think it's funny that Springup Hot Springs CO includes these things into their spas for the owner. Though to be fair, it might be something else entirely. x3

Keene: “Hello, Springup Hot Springs Co? I’ll need your special.... no, your deluxe special.... no your Super deluxe special! Also I’ll need it to come equipped with a self-destruct mechanism. ..... “Why? Because if things go sideways I’ll need a escape plan.” ..... “Yes, I’ll purchase the insurance plan, what do you think this is the first time one of my properties exploded?”

Interesting, a fire alarm for a building full of water …. No, I'm still psyched to see Rick do a few story panels involving a fire engine and fireman. This arc just gets wilder and wilder (and better)! Can you see Peanut as a fire dog? Or maybe Sasha? I guess Dallas, being a Dalmatian, gets a claim on the truck, too.

NHWestoN wrote: Can you see Peanut as a fire dog? Or maybe Sasha? I guess Dallas, being a Dalmatian, gets a claim on the truck, too.

I’m just glad Peanut’s come off from his drug trip. Can you imagine if the alarm went off or there was an actual fire while he was still in that state. “Oh no it’s a fire. Run.” Then he slowly walks to the exit while everyone is charging by. Then Grape and Tarot would have to carry him out like a plank of wood.
I’m also glad Rick didn’t go with the whole firefighter Dalmatian cliche with Dallas. Although that would be an interesting discussion if pets were all allowed to get jobs.
Joey: Hey, Dallas, why don’t you join the fire department?
Dallas: Hmph, just because I’m a Dalmatian you expect me to become a firefighter and risk my life charging into infernos?
Lester: um, yeah.
Dallas: Sorry to disappoint you but that’s not for me.
Joey: Okay then. What do you want to do?
Dallas: Im going to stay home and work on my Star Trek fan fiction.

If the Fire Crew are all dogs, would they need a Fire Cat to drive the truck?

Well, looks like it’s that time again...
https://youtu.be/lsYyzqc_5vg

A Fire Cat to drive the fire truck ....... ? Genius, Welsh! We bring back Jasper to drive the truck and, as soon as they arrive on the scene, Jinx gives him a hotfoot and Tiger turns the hose on him!

Or maybe it's time for me to walk the dog .......

For what it's worth, I don't think it was a self-destruct switch. More likely, The Spa is Optimus Prime's little-known relative, Trailer Hitch, who Keene just told to drive away. Now everyone needs to evacuate before the transformer transforms. (Not because anyone would be hurt, but because Hitch has a dinner date with Kingpin Meddle, and Keene doesn't want everyone around being third, fourth, eighteenth wheels.)

Cue Ralph telling him the cuffs were to make sure that he would stay put while he explained that he needed to pay a fine. NOW he will probably face prison time.

I just don't want Keene to get off scot-free. If he tries, Breel better shake some sense into him.

Keene gets arrested in prison, then coyote god shows up to make a deal and turn keene into a human but have to do Coyote gods bidding or something like that