1) Maxwell is "Spying" on the Good Ol Dogs Club with Marvin - but is inattentive and gets trampled when the dogs rush out. Fortunately he's not seriously injured.
Inference: The cats probably have no comparable organization. This is later borne out by their having the Yarn Ball outside, rather than having a meeting hall like the Good Ol Dogs Club.
2) Maxwell has a chunk bitten out of his ear, neatly distinguishing him from the other cats.
Inference: Maxwell is probably a bit older, more experienced, and has had a rougher life than many of the other pets. He may have been an adopted stray.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/08/ ... dog-thing/
3) Max apparently has a close relationship with Bino - unusual for a cat (OK, considering Bino, unusual for anyone). He also likes to harass Bino - which is more understandable.
4) Bino apparently feels that it's important to stay on good terms with Maxwell, and actually seems to considers his feelings - at least as an afterthought. It's likely that they have the same owner and thus Maxwell is Bino's pet-sibling.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/ ... our-thing/
5) Maxwell distributed some or all of the invitations to the New Years Eve Yarn Ball. He may or may not be an organizer, but he is definitely far better connected with the neighborhood cats than Grape.
6) Max thinks that Grape is "the coolest cat I know" - but does not know that she is female. Comic-strip recognition rules continue to apply.
Inference: Given that Maxwell does seem to be well-connected it seems a bit odd that he doesn't have a date - unless he's willing to abandon whatever date he has in favor of one with Grape. It's possible that the strip perceptual filters, plus the "it's rude to ask rule" are interfering with the pets social lives - but it's equally likely that the neighborhoods population is biased towards males, at least as far as the cats go. That could be due to simple chance, or it could be intentional on the part of the human population; finding homes for a litter of kittens is likely to be a lot more difficult (and potentially guilt-producing) in the housepets universe than it is in reality.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/ ... hats-a-no/
7) Maxwell seems to be at home, with Bino. They evidently are indeed pet-siblings.
8) Maxwell is all-too-familiar with Bino's tendencies and personality traits.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/ ... aid-plans/
9) Bino gives Maxwell the cat treats that he was going to give to Peanut. It may be as an afterthought, but Bino actually does give Maxwell a present.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/ ... s-edition/
10) Maxwell demonstrates that he knows most of the neighborhood cats.
11) Maxwell does not seem to realize that Joey is not actually a cat. Evidently he's NOT genre-savvy enough to get past the comic strip recognition rules.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/ ... more-cats/
12) Maxwell knows how to dance. Not a major distinction.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/ ... he-ritz-2/
13) Maxwell kept Grape up very late at the New Years Yarn Ball.
Inference: Their owners seem to mostly let the pets run their own social lives. The same seemed to be true “down on the farmâ€, so it may be a common feature of the world.
14) Maxwell probably does have access to catnip, at least on special occasions. It seems unlikely that anyone else would be giving it to Grape while she was accompanying him.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/01/ ... t-a-crime/
- This non-canon strip was pulled due to it's "drug use" implications and the "smoking catnip" theme, and the effects of catnip in housepets were apparently toned down to approximate the effects of alcohol in humans (and real-life catnip on cats).
Catnip was implied to be fairly readily available through quasi-underground dealers. Given that it also seems to be available in canon (as per "We're not allowed to sell that to pets") to any human who wants to buy it, that seems understandable, if unnecessary.
Maxwell apparently got four pounds of catnip for Christmas. That’s rather a lot; it would certainly last our cats quite awhile.
15) Maxwell appears on a sardonic greetings card. This probably isn't indicative of either a modeling contract or of anything but author whimsy.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/02/ ... otty-line/
16) Maxwell - like many other cats - is a Pridelands fan.
17) Maxwell also does his research on the Internet. Whether or not he has unfiltered access remains unknown.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/03/ ... l-of-text/
18) Maxwell is willing to do dangerous stunts - such as pretending to shout out spoilers at a fan gathering for a new book release - for a mere five dollars.
Inference: Either Maxwell is trying to impress Grape, is something of a daredevil, or he doesn't normally get much cash, or two or more of those. The fact that the Mr Bigglesworths are all fans, but their “Mom†will only get them one copy - and they can't buy their own - would support the notion that being short of cash is true of many or most pets (with the notable exception of the Milton Ferrets).
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/03/ ... the-drain/
19) Maxwell does not open the door for visitors; instead he just informs his "dad", Jake.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/04/ ... -violence/
20) Grape - worried about being considered a dog-lover - makes a date with Maxwell. He evidently finds this a very exciting prospect.
Inference: Maxwell is either very interested in Grape or simply cannot find any other dates.
21) Grape also advises Maxwell to "try not to get hit by a car in the meantime".
Inference: Housepets pets often have sufficiently poor judgement to be at risk of most of the same kinds of accidents that pets are at risk of in the real world.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/ ... t-nothing/
22) Maxwell - now that he knows and Grape's eyelashes are combed out - can easily recognize that Grape is female (and likes the look). Comic book recognition strikes again.
23) Maxwell has brought flowers. Either he’s going all-out, or he’s raided someone’s garden or both.
24) Maxwell is well aware that Grape dislikes Bino, and is not above exploiting his "siblings" accident to amuse his date.
Inference: Maxwell only tolerates Bino, he doesn’t really like him much - although that is quite understandable.
25) Maxwell is unwilling to promise not to keep Grape out past midnight this time. Evidently “out late†is a normal feature of feline dates.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/08/ ... on-parade/
26) Maxwell has selected a "semi-formal resturant" which serves trash.
Inference: “Real†cat-oriented restaurants probably don’t exist, and this “restaurant†is probably either an attempt by the cats to make some pretense of independence from humans, simple comic strip convention, or both.
27) Maxwell is willing to double-date if it will make Grape more comfortable. Evidently he’s much more interested in a long-term relationship than in the results of a single date.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/08/ ... kill-cafe/
Note: Rick is lampshading the "inability to tell which sex each other are" gag again.
28) Maxwell uses fake coughs to cover up awkwardness.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/08/ ... lications/
29) Maxwell recognizes that most of the pets relationships are rather odd.
Inference: Maxwell is probably old enough to have an outside standard of comparison.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/08/ ... e-corners/
30) Unsurprisingly, Maxwell would prefer to have a full date with Grape, rather than cutting it short.
31) Maxwell has somehow managed to obtain advanced tickets to Hunters of the Pridelands for his date.
Inference; Given that these are - judging by the apparent populatity of the Pridelands series - considered quite valuable and therefore hard to come by, Maxwell has evidently gone to a great deal of trouble and effort to impress Grape.
32) In contrast to most of Bino's plans, Maxwell's plan does indeed work - he establishes a relationship with Grape and has a nice date. Who is rubbing off on who is hard to say.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/08/ ... ou-say-so/
33) Either Jake occasionally locks Maxwell out of the house when he's out too late - (apparently most of the neighbors don't either install pet doors or give their pets keys) OR Maxwell is taking advantage of the rain to try a sympathy ploy.
Inference: Presuming this is a genuine problem, evidently Bino won't let Maxwell in either. That’s unkind if he’s awake, but is hardly out of character as long as he’s either obeying Jake or can pretend to be sound asleep.
Speculation: Since Maxwell did not answer the door either, Jake does not want the “kids†answering the door.
Speculation: From Jake’s immediate, and violent, reaction to someone from PETA, he may have had trouble with PETA before - which might explain why he does not want his pets opening the door for anyone, including each other.
Note: Judging by the for-the-benefit-of-the-reader little heart icons, Maxwell is sincerely fond of Grape, and the feeling is at least somewhat mutual.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/09/ ... otherwise/
34) Maxwell takes Grape out in costume for Halloween. Whether it's to a party or for Trick-or-Treating is unknown - but the outdoor setting, having invited Peanut and Tarot, and the pets-as-kids motif, suggests trick-or-treating.
https://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/10/ ... tch-plans/
35) According to the cast page, Maxwell is snarky, caustic, eggs Bino on, derives his energy from being annoying, and is still - somehow - friends with all the cats in the neighborbood. It's possible that this is, at least in part, derived from his interactions with Bino, who seems likely to bring out the obnoxious side of almost anyone.
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A possible history for Maxwell:
OK, this is based purely on inference - we basically know nothing about Maxwell’s history - so I’m going with “exciting, fits the (few) known facts, and has lots of interesting future story possibilities†(thus the conflict with PETA, the street connections, and the involvement with the Ferals - all good for possible future stories). Who knows? Some bits of this may even fit in with whatever Rick actually has in mind.
Maxwell was either abandoned as a kitten, or born a stray, and survived on his own for some time before being picked up by Animal Control. Jake - who is more than a bit fierce and combative himself - took a liking to the feisty young cat and adopted him (at least partially because he could probably take care of himself against Bino).
Bino was not entirely pleased to have another rival, but at least this one was a cat and not another dog. Still, Maxwell's arrival didn't help a bit with Bino's "Rampant Zoning Issues". Of course, just like human siblings, pet-siblings tend to wind up accommodating each other. It’s not like they really have a lot of choice about it.
Things went fairly well for a time - until Maxwell unwisely answered the door for a PETA loony, and got snatched. Fortunately for him, he was simply dumped in the woods a long ways away, and made it home little the worse - except for the bite out of his ear. Since then, however, he's taken good care to obey Jake's restrictions on opening up the doors for ANYONE.
These days Maxwell tries to stay on top of what's going on in the neighborhood, and to maintain a good network of connections on the streets, with the local ferals, and among the other pets. If something happens again, he wants to have friends and allies available to fall back on - and the resources that offers him often come in useful. It was some of Maxwell’s catnip that Bino used in his little booby-trap gift, and was his contacts that allowed him to come up with those advance tickets to Hunters of the Pridelands. Those resources don't include much in the way of cash - he's as short on that as most of the other pets are - but favors are often nearly as good when dealing with other animals.
Lately he's become especially attracted to Grape. Even before he knew she was female, he knew that she was one of the most sensible (at least potentially), rational, and pragmatic cats in the neighborhood, all qualities he values a lot in a friend, especially in comparison to Bino. He can't resist being a bit manipulative - he's had too many bitter experiences to be entirely candid in his relationships - but he's not malicious about it.
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