Groovitude: A Get Fuzzy Treasury

When I was a teen, I’d pull this off my parents’ bookshelf and read through it, so I got myself a copy to relive that nostalgia. Very standard humor for newspaper style comics, but enjoyable nonetheless. I don’t regret buying it. It’s all about a guy named Rob trying to survive his dumb but evil cat Bucky and his dumb but sweet dog Satchel. A little more recent and relatable than Garfield, too!

Ah yes, the rare moment when I get to review a review. The problem with the reviews written prior to this one is that they address the comic itself, but make no mention of this particular product. So let's get that part out of the way:If you already own The Dog is Not a Toy and Fuzzy Logic, then there is little reason to also purchase this book. Groovitude contains the strips from these two books, and the only bonus it offers is that, unlike the previous books, the Sunday strips are in color. However, should you own only one of the previous two books, then you will be better off shelling out the extra $$$ on Groovitude rather than getting the older, smaller book. (And you should spread the joy and give your older copy to someone else.)Finally, if you own neither DINAT or Fuzzy Logic, don't bother with those books and get this one, as it contains all of the strips from the previous books; some in color- plus, the price for what you get can't be complained about.What first drew me to Get Fuzzy was its art, particularly that of Bucky Katt. There was just something about the way he was drawn I found hilarious, not to mention made me feel nostaligic for Berkely Breathed (of Bloom County fame). The more I read it, the funnier I found the strip. Conley is not afraid to spend more than one strip for a single punchline, but the payoff os well worth it.The premise is one of the finer points of the comic. Yes, artists have created strips about owners and their sentient speaking (or thinking-in-English) pets. However, Conley approaches Bucky and Satchel with the idea that though they can speak, given their short time on Earth, they are still rather dumb. Bucky, while an adult cat, is still only five-years-old; you can't expect him to be capable of higher philosophy without confusing it endlessly. What results is a strange brand of humor unlike anything that has appeared in the comics before. (In fact, the strip reads more like a Web cartoon than a print one).So if you like what you see in the papers, you'll enjoy this collection of Get Fuzzy in its pre-Ferret Wars episodes. If you're flying blind, all the strip requires is an open mind and an off-beat sense of humor.

I love Get Fuzzy. Ever since the first time i read it in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, I have laughed so hard. I recommend this book to any Get Fuzzy maniac out there...or someone looking for a good laugh.

Get Fuzzy is no more a Garfield clone than Dilbert (which also features a single guy, a dog and a cat) is. Garfield is fun but it's cartoonish, in both art and content, whereas Get Fuzzy is more of a caricature. The artwork and gags are far closer to reality - no one gets kicked into next week, or has a tongue that pulls out 30ft, and Satchel (the dog) in particular always looks so real you can feel the weight of him. The drawing of the faces is particularly expressive. The behaviour of the characters is far more lifelike - Rob, the human, has an actual job with an actual boss and actual overtime, a social life and friends, cats cough up furballs and space out on catnip, dogs raid dustbins and sniff each other - and while many of the things Bucky (the cat) and Satchel get up to are things which no real cat or dog could do (such as Bucky trying to start his own TV programme on how to distress furniture with your claws), their behaviour is the sort you might really see in a precocious child. The humour is cumulative and tells a story: with Garfield you generally get a series of single stand-alone gags, whereas with Get Fuzzy you need to read a whole sequence and get into the characters. It's the same difference as between watching a stand-up, slapstick comic or a good sit-com.. E.g., my favourite Garfield gag is where Garfield puts a peeled banana on top of the 'phone, in place of the handset, and then rings Jon so that when Jon answers he sticks a banana down his ear; my favourite Get Fuzzy strip goes: Rob - 'Jeez! Did you see the look that woman shot me?' Satchel - 'Are you sure "putt putt" golf is the place for you to meet women?' Rob - 'Why not?' Satchel - 'Well... I don't know how to, um, say... um... hmm...' Bucky - 'You got little "chicken legs," man.' (with drawing of Rob's scrawny, hairy legs sticky out of a pair of shorts) Rob - 'I do not! Satchel? Satchel?!' Satchel - 'Um... Oh look, a windmill...' 'Oh look, a windmill' has now become my family's stock response to any question we don't want to answer. [Having said which, I don't in fact recommend the Groovitude Treasury, as I gather it's just excerpts from the first two books. Get the books - The Dog is Not a Toy and Fuzzy Logic - instead.]

As I sit here typing this review, I find myself being stared at by Spooker, my mixed-breed cat (imagine the result if Charles Manson had been allowed conjugal visits with a Siamese) whose intense eyes engage me in a game of "Blink." I am reminded of nothing so much as Bucky, the featured player in "Get Fuzzy," Darby Conley's strip about the hapless Rob Wilco and his two pets. Satch, the resident canine, is an innocent, willing-to-please shar-pei/labrador mix who coexists with Bucky, also a mixed-breed (a Siamese crossed with "I dunno...a chainsaw, maybe") and everyman Rob. As you may have guessed by now, Satch and Rob have to tolerate the antics of Bucky, who dominates the Wilco household.Sound like "Garfield?" Only the single guy owner/dominating cat/simple-minded dog format is the same. Believe me, "Get Fuzzy" has a cast of characters that is nothing like "Garfield," or any other strip you've ever seen. Bucky's sharp, biting cynicism (not to mention his habit of biting, period) are balanced by Satch's naive innocence, with Rob in the middle to play guardian/referee to his two charges.In addition to the witty dialogue, Conley manages to convey "Get Fuzzy's" humor through his artwork, which I find to be of much higher quality than the average comic strip. Most comic strip artists would give their dominant hand to be able to draw as well as Conley.As a long-time comic strip reader, I've seen the evolution of such popular and influential strips as "Doonesbury," "Dilbert" and the late great "Bloom County," among others. It's hard to believe that "Get Fuzzy" has only been in publication since 1999. I can't wait to see what Darby Conley's talents will yield in the future.Please be advised that most of "Groovitude" has already been published in Conley's previous collections, "The Dog Is Not A Toy" and "Fuzzy Logic." If you have those two, you may want to take a pass on "Groovitude." Otherwise, this is a great place to start.Spooker has lost interest in the game of "Blink" with his human and has settled in for the evening. And so shall I. Get this hilarious collection, and get fuzzy. Good night.