Nov 17th 2008 09:28 am That darn cat
I’m pretty sure this cartoon has run on the Web site before, but it’s been a long time, and I sort of promised we’d look at it again this week, so here it is: the first appearance of “the cat” in Arlo and Janis. The cat was introduced on a whim (Have I ever done anything not on a whim?), and he’s been around ever since, acquiring the name “Ludwig” along the way.
I think this first cat cartoon was a good one, but the early cat cartoons that followed tended to be predictable feline humor. Ludwig began to set himself apart when I began to emphasize the two-legged perspective of the cat/human relationship, particular with regard to Arlo.
We all know Ludwig doesn’t talk or think out loud, except on rare flights of whimsy (There’s that word, again!); I try to ignore the nagging suspicion that if I’d just let the darn cat talk I’d be a rich man.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
22 Responses to “That darn cat”
Mindy on 17 Nov 2008 at 9:39 am #
Jimmy, surely you remember the great Stevie Nicks song, “Whimsy Only Happens When It’s Raining.” Or something like that. You leaps and bounds of whimsy are our delights!
sandcastler on 17 Nov 2008 at 10:45 am #
Shared this one with the wife. She prefers a silent cat; makes for better story lines in her opinion. Keep the cat strips coming as it pleases yes cat people.
Kimbis on 17 Nov 2008 at 10:53 am #
re: talking cats
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
The thing I like MOST about your cat cartoons is that Ludwig is a CAT. Ludwig is funny because we recognize our own felines in him. There is a REASON cats have inspired and amused humans for thousands of years. Conversation doesn’t enter into it.
Ruth on 17 Nov 2008 at 11:25 am #
Flights of fancy and whimsy make the world more interesting. They keep our minds stimulated and our thoughts creative. What do we call whimsy made reality: inventions and progress! So keep up the whimsy!
Zonker on 17 Nov 2008 at 11:46 am #
Ludwig’s got ears!!!!
Stephie on 17 Nov 2008 at 12:08 pm #
I love how some of your comics (I like them all, but some) actually make me ‘laugh out loud’… which is *great*, really….except when I’m at work!
Sili on 17 Nov 2008 at 1:19 pm #
Typical cats. They want to be everywhere but where you want them.
I prefer the proper!cat Ludvig. But I do the love the strip where he ponders why his strip is called Arlo & Janis.
Bob Josephson on 17 Nov 2008 at 1:36 pm #
At the risk of taking pot shots at your competitors: Garfield is lame (didn’t Charles Shultz once say it was awful?), I’ve never found Heathcliff amusing, and Bloom County was really great until Bill the Cat arrived (and don’t get me started on Outland or Opus).
So please keep the cat quiet.
Chefwen on 17 Nov 2008 at 1:57 pm #
As I type this, my cat Paddington is sitting in front of my monitor licking his rear paw with his tail draped over the keyboard, making this procedure rather difficult. I can see Ludwig in a similar position. Love the strip, love the cat.
John in LACA on 17 Nov 2008 at 3:25 pm #
I adore the Arlo/Ludwig/Family relationship. I like cats and Luddie is grand, good, and wonderful. Can’t say enough good things about that dear cat!
Having said that, there is only one cartoonist that could pull off IMNOSH the finest of talking cats, that cartoonist of course was George Harriman and his Pixilated Krazy Kat.
Of course Watterson’s Cat (tiger) Hobbes was a pretty fair talking cat also–when only Calvin and the readers were listening. Oh YESH, let’s not forget Patric McDonnell’s talking kitties, MOOCH and Jules a/k/a Stinky Puddin.
Isn’t Loodie (and J.J.) in fine company?
Thanks for those Cat Cartoons J.J. I feel you have a special affinity w/ all the animals you have drawn for us. Cats, dogs, raccoons, birds, rabbits, turtles, squirrels, et al.
Bonnie from Gloucester MA on 17 Nov 2008 at 4:26 pm #
In today’s “on the ball” strip, Janis seems so innocent. Nothing like the vixen that appeared in “shotgun formation” – an alltime favorite with the fans at good ol’ A & J.
Interesting to see the first Ludwig cartoon and to realize how much his face has gone through a metamorphosis. Unfortunately, Jimbo, you’ve unleashed all the cat people, again. That darn cat!
Mary in Ohio on 17 Nov 2008 at 5:00 pm #
REAL ears – and whiskers – and a lashing tail. His more “impressionistic” current self catches the feline spirit as well – no words needed!
Jean from Dahlonega GA on 17 Nov 2008 at 5:17 pm #
My cats do that; they get in my lap just as I need to get up, and when I can sit and pet them they’d rather be anywhere else. The word “finicky” was coined for cats, I’m sure.
Thanks for this strip, JJ. I’ve never seen it before. The look of indignation on Ludwig’s face is great!
Poor Arlo! Today he can’t win for losing. In the retro strip Janis is on to his “the cat is sleeping” trick, and in the new one he can’t tell Janis he thinks his talent at throwing a football is dwindling, because that would make her realize she still can’t catch worth beans.
Bless your heart, Arlo, we still love you!
Curmudgeonly professor on 17 Nov 2008 at 5:41 pm #
Love Ludwig’s expressions in his two panels!! While not so endearing as your later renderings of him, those expressions really show his true feelings. My past cats did the same….
ron on 17 Nov 2008 at 5:42 pm #
jimmy a very rich man or one of the many in the asylum.
Ron lockport
go nope give up on 37 to 3 da bears now go BLACKHAWKS
Curmudgeonly professor on 17 Nov 2008 at 5:43 pm #
P.S. Apropos of nothing much: I have always preferred the pronunciation “loot-vick” to the softer “lud-wig”…probably a result of my German ancestry.
Rick in Shermantown, Ohio on 17 Nov 2008 at 7:46 pm #
Perhaps you would have been rich.
But remember… in the great scheme of the universe, even great wealth doesn’t amount to peanuts.
Ken from Framingham (Boston Globe reader) on 18 Nov 2008 at 7:01 am #
Luddites, assemble! Here is your grail.
Laetitia in Australia on 18 Nov 2008 at 8:38 am #
Yesh, it has run before…and yesh, I have been catching up on “Mutts” comics.
I actually named my cat Mooch because she had the same markings as the “Mutts” cat, Mooch.
“Mutts” is one of the few comics that is well served by talking animals. It could be because it is set around the animals more than the humans in the piece. A&J is the other way around.
H C Brown on 18 Nov 2008 at 9:23 am #
I prefer Loodie with the “new” ears vs the “old” ears — either way — keep him coming!
Dot Lockport, NY on 18 Nov 2008 at 7:09 pm #
This kitty should keep his tongue. Everything he
does and thinks is apparent in his perfectly-captured
expression. No improvement necessary!
William in Kentucky on 20 Nov 2008 at 9:28 am #
Just for the record, why does Ludwig not have “real” ears anymore? It’s amazing how you can get so much expression from those two lines! I loved the strip earlier this year when Ludwig was sporting real ears and Arlo said, “You’ve done something with your ears.”