Housepets!

The second part kind of is still painful to me since I wanted Kevin paired with my character.

Once upon a time a few months ago, this was brought up. I thought it was worth mentioning again. I like when two of my favorite comics come together like this.

That actually is really nice! Which I had seen it the first time!

I don't know if anyone has already said this, but he's really, really good at introducing new characters. It's rare for a webcomic to have been going on for so long and still introduce new interesting and funny characters with such frequency.

Slightly Damned has been running for a significantly longer time and they don't introduce new characters all that frequently and when they do, they don't do it as well as Rick does I noticed.

Hey Rick,

Don't know if you will see this but just wanted to say I appreciate all of your hard work. We spoke once when you said you were going to be at a convention down in Florida but sadly I was unable to go. I hope you've been well and didn't realize you were such a short distance away in this little world. Most of my favorite artists/writers are just much further away. If I ever run into you we can share a coffee or something. Take care and keep being awesome!

If there was eve a con in or near Rhode Island that Rick was attending, I definitely would go because I'm interested in meeting the man behind the comic.

Rick does heartwarming & comforting scenes very well in my opinion. Three of my favorite scenes from the comic are Grape, Maxwell, Peanut and Tarot on the couch in the Sandwich home, Fox hugging King after finding him with Sasha, and Grape reassuring Max at the end of The Gallafax Protocol.

I personally liked all 4 of them on the couch myself. <3

Rick has made a great comic, full of adventure and excitement, but he has also made more than that.
In a way, an author is as great as the impact he or she leaves in the world, and Rick gave us a comic that he has elaborated on, at least three times a week, ceaselessly for 11 years, but more than that, he gave us something else.
He gave us a community.
In here, we gathered around because of the wacky animal comic, yet came together for each other.
Here, we made many friends, some romantic couples, perhaps a few enemies, but overall had a tremendously good time, with people from across the globe we would have never known existed otherwise.
We saw artists like Stu and Huckley stretch their wings (in Stu's case, literally. Get it? 'Cause he shows himself as a bird? Nevermind) and learn the ropes of webcomic writing.
We saw Welsh Halfwit become the dedicated, if unnoficial, comic lyricist, writing a new poem for every single strip that's come out since 2013.
We even saw members like Valerio, so enthusiastic and loving of the comic, he wrote an omnibus worth of fanfiction, a great many fancomics, and became the official Italian translator for the strips.
Members like Hlaroo, D-Rock, Obbl, Brent, Foxstar, to name but a few, who decided to employ a portion of their free time to maintain and improve the Housepets! community as moderators.

And all this just from the top of my head!

With a plethora of translators, guest artists, fiction writers, special contributors, satellite fan-communities, and more admirers than we could count, Rick has made possible something a group of belonging more passionate than any of us could have anticipated.
And so, on the eve of Housepets! 11th anniversary, and I think I speak for all of us, we say: Thank you!
Thank you for the amazing comic.
Thank you for the fun and the thrills.
Thank you for the sadness and the drama.
Thank you for the suspense and the mystery.
And above all, thank you for bringing us all closer to one another.

Here is to another wonderful year and to a wonderful tomorrow!

Each new comic strip gets better and better and I will never run out of praise for him!

This might be a bit long, as if that's a surprise to anyone who reads my posts.

I'm going to go ahead and credit Rick and this comic for helping me out of a dark time in my life.

I've had a rough couple of years. Day after Christmas in 2017, I found out my wife was leaving me after 14 years. A few weeks after that, I came close to losing my business. In July, I had a small stroke that took me into the hospital for several weeks. In the midst of that, I had to sell my home and move because of the divorce.

I fell into a depression that I'm not sure I even knew I was in. I think I'd been there for a long time. Mind you, I have two wonderful kids that helped me and are helping me, but I still spent many days in a dark place.

I can literally tell you the moment that this started to clear for me, and it's an odd one. It was the start of the currently running arc about Marion. Oddly, I'm hardly a new reader of Housepets. I started reading years ago. I've enjoyed it all through that time. But it was that one page, with one screaming squirrel, that stirred something inside my brain.

I have always considered myself an amateur writer. I used to write a lot of fiction that delved into transformation (which is likely why I started reading HP to begin with, with Kings story) I have done almost none of that for years.

There was something about that arc that woke me up. After a day or two, I realized that I was feeling more alert again. I rediscovered my love of reading and writing. I'm dipping my toe back into some of the things that I loved that I set aside years ago.

And I truly do credit Rick and his creation for helping me. I've always enjoyed the comic. It has always had a near perfect blend of humor, pathos, story and artwork to my eye. The current arc was like finding the right puzzle piece, or the right replacement part to get an engine going. But I just love the characters he's' created. I want these creatures, who only exist on a screen, to have happy lives. He has created characters so complete that they make me feel for them as if they were flesh and blood.

Rick, I hope that you continue this for many years to come, and I hope that you find success in all of your endevours. I think all of your work is fantastic and you deserve the praise people give you. Through this comic, I've discovered your other work and I find your stories to be well written and good reads. I'm still working my way though your catalog, I have a lot of years to make up for, but I can't wait to do it.

With all sincerity, thank you for what you do.

Looks like Rick has one person now that credits him with getting them out of their depression. I am sure that there are others but we just need to make them come on down.

Well it didn't get me out of a depression but the comic did help me learn to open up to people and be less introverted as well as get out of a spiral of emotionally self destructive behavior.

That is good also. Just as long as it helps it will be alright.

Just wanted to find a spot to thank Rick for something else. I've wandered through his online store on and off for ages and finally decided to splurge on a couple of his original comic art. Both arrived today in perfect condition.

For anyone curious, it's the original black and white artwork of https://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/20 ... ary-world/ and https://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/20 ... le-ill-be/

I'm off to the framers this weekend to make sure they stay looking nice. I've got my eye on a couple others as well.

Thanks again!

For some reason, the picture of Jessica in the first panel actually looks really creepy with her expression and the perspective shot.

Amazee Dayzee wrote:For some reason, the picture of Jessica in the first panel actually looks really creepy with her expression and the perspective shot.

A little, but I love the comic. It's one of the few that has almost all of the raccoons, and a sweet interaction between Ink and Jessica.

And one of the few times that we see Jessica show some emotion and insecurity.

i've never liked the title of this thread. calling something gratuitous implies it's excessive, undeserved, uncalled for, over the top, or fake, and you can't claim it's referring to the much less common secondary definition of 'unsolicited or freely given' as there's a thread soliciting it. it really needs a better name.

Instead of "Gratuitous Praise" then, how about we change it to "Limitless Praise" instead since all of the good work that Rick does will never end. I think it would work.

Buster wrote:i've never liked the title of this thread. calling something gratuitous implies it's excessive, undeserved, uncalled for, over the top, or fake, and you can't claim it's referring to the much less common secondary definition of 'unsolicited or freely given' as there's a thread soliciting it. it really needs a better name.

one definition of Gratuitous is "given or done free of charge" and Rick isn't paying us to praise him

Though if he was he would be richer than Bill Gates by now.

Rick, your an absolute madman of story telling..... I love it, You tease us, and pull sudden twists that M night Shyamalan wishes he could come up with. i am up to the epic 8 part arc series Temple Crashers and you are a Genius. I am almost caught up sadly, but i am enjoying every strip.

Can you imagine how cool it would be though if M Night Shyamalan went to Rick for ides for his own movies? Then Rick would get some credit for the ideas and be more well-known!

no offense, but i don't trust him to handle house pets, not after the last airbender

I thought that was more down to Michael Bay and his massive explosions?

nah, bay is pretty bad, but he at least has his moments. he-who's-name-is-harder-to-spell-correctly-than-Cthulhu, is bad enough to give Uwe Boll a run for his money as worst director ever. bay and shammy arent even in the same tier of awful.

I'm gonna try to guess the director even though I will guess wrong but is it Tommy Wiseau?

who the heck is Tommy Wiseau? and what is there to guess, that entire post was pointing out that comparing michael bay to the bad-plot-twist addict is unfair to bay, and a better comparison would be to boll.

Well you said he-who's-name-is-harder-to-spell-correctly-than-Cthulhu so I thought you meant another director besides M. Night Shyamalan which is why I was trying to guess.

dr_eirik wrote:Just wanted to find a spot to thank Rick for something else. I've wandered through his online store on and off for ages and finally decided to splurge on a couple of his original comic art. Both arrived today in perfect condition.

For anyone curious, it's the original black and white artwork of https://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/20 ... ary-world/ and https://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/20 ... le-ill-be/

I'm off to the framers this weekend to make sure they stay looking nice. I've got my eye on a couple others as well.

Thanks again!

I'm glad you bought those two originals, dr., and I hope they bring you continuing delight over the years. These two panels belong to one of my favorite arcs, and the interplay between Ink, Jessica, and Zachery is simultaneously funny, moving, and profound. Ink particularly comes off as unexpectedly compassionate and wise, and the raccoon's treatment of Jessica's real pain is genuinely tender and supportive. You chose well, yer honor.

This is a comic that I found a month ago based on finding an image of it on Pintrest and I followed the trail here... from which I read straight from the beginning non-stop. When you can say you have people checking for updates every morning, you're doing SOMETHING right and I can't express in words how much I've loved watching the characters develop. You, sir, write (and illustrate!) an astonishingly good comic.

SerperiorMew wrote:This is a comic that I found a month ago based on finding an image of it on Pintrest and I followed the trail here... from which I read straight from the beginning non-stop. When you can say you have people checking for updates every morning, you're doing SOMETHING right and I can't express in words how much I've loved watching the characters develop. You, sir, write (and illustrate!) an astonishingly good comic.

Some of us have mentally noted the exact time that the new comic drops and will stay awake until it does. Thankfully, for me that just 10pm.

dr_eirik wrote:

SerperiorMew wrote:This is a comic that I found a month ago based on finding an image of it on Pintrest and I followed the trail here... from which I read straight from the beginning non-stop. When you can say you have people checking for updates every morning, you're doing SOMETHING right and I can't express in words how much I've loved watching the characters develop. You, sir, write (and illustrate!) an astonishingly good comic.

Some of us have mentally noted the exact time that the new comic drops and will stay awake until it does. Thankfully, for me that just 10pm.

Others of us are blessed with insomnia.

I find my insomnia at nighttime to be a bless and a curse which really sucks when you wanna go to be early so you don't crash the next day.

I like how rick gave details on the animals fur (especially the tummies)

We get it.

Hey you can never have too much praise for someone.

Rick is getting better and better with the panels (mostly the art style)