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Cathy, 12/28/04

As I predicted, going through the wedding planning process at the same time as Cathy of Cathy has turned out to be a fairly unsettling and for the most part unpleasant experience. In the past couple of days, though, I’ve noticed something in the strip that perhaps looms much larger in my life than it does in the lives of most normal, non-wedding-planning persons: shameless plugs for Thebigday.com. This is an online gift registry where you can register for just about anything you want; people buy you stuff online, and you get a note telling you what people bought and a check with which to buy it all (or to spend on hookers and blow, if you prefer, although you probably shouldn’t mention that in your thank you notes).

Anyway, due to our aversion to acquiring more crap and desire to go on a fab honeymoon, my fianceé and I plan on registering at this site for our wedding later this year, and thus it’s deeply distressing to see it being shilled in Cathy. It’s hard enough getting married when you’re a pair of contrary, anti-establishment hipsters, but when the indie rock song you picked out for the ceremony gets covered in a cheesy movie starring J.Lo, the inexpensive yet nice-looking dress you want is the darling of all the ladies at Indiebride.com, and the cool wedding registry you plan on using is suddenly plastered all over Cathy — well, sometimes it seems that the whole world is against you. Our lives: a series of never-ending trials.

The last isn’t really so bad, though, if it introduces the concept to our elderly relatives who have apparently been waiting our entire lives to buy us some gold-rimmed piece of china that we’ll eat off of maybe once every other year. Of course, we’re going to be registering for fun vacation-related gifts so we can party hardy in the Mediterranean, not spaying and neutering services. Our cat is already spayed, and frankly, fixing the rest of them will not be high on our priority list on the big day. I do wonder if Thebigday.com paid Cathy for the prominent mention — in which case this may be the first instance of comic strip product placement that I can remember. Earlier today, I was unable to reach the site, which prompted the horrifying vision of millions of glassy-eyed Cathy minions, with that “Hang In There” kitten smiling down at them from the wall, all simultaneously visiting the site and overwhelming their Web servers.

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Cathy, 11/22/04

When Cathy of Cathy accepted Irving’s marriage proposal, all of us regular comics readers knew that we’d be seeing big changes ahead in the strip. Clearly the artist felt that the strip’s original concept had run its course, and wanted to move into entirely new directions, to grow creatively, to mine new comedic territory. This week’s strip is a sign of the next wave of Cathy, as the strip has finally, at long last, got to a point where it can get a week’s worth of mileage out of mother-in-law jokes.

Yeah, that’s right. Mother-in-law jokes. The thrills just keep coming! Where else are you going to get mother-in-law jokes? I mean, other than in Hagar the Horrible, Herb and Jamaal, the Lockhorns, the Middletons, and Momma? But don’t be afraid, Cathy! Blaze new trails! Excelsior!

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Cathy, 8/2/04

Comics readers across the world were stunned when Cathy of Cathy accepted (apparently on accident) her long-time beau Irving’s proposal of marriage earlier this year. If you’re like me (and if you’ve stuck with this blog for this long, I’m assuming you’re at least a little bit like me), your first reaction was “Oh please God, let this be the end of the strip! Please! PLEASE!”

Cathy has long defined itself by being centered on a single career woman, and, more specifically, by tapping into every ugly stereotype of career women, or for that matter women generally; her grating, monomaniacal obsessions endear her to absolutely nobody I know, or, for that matter, to any of the other characters in the strip. But now that the strip’s raison d’être — namely, Cathy’s unique and fascinating status as a single female — will be no more, surely we can all breathe a sigh relief as she and Irving and their dogs ride off onto their honeymoon and the strip’s space is taken over by a newcomer.

That is, unless the strip continues, exploring Cathy’s neurotic reaction to marriage, family life, and potentially children. Hmmm … that is rich humorous territory — plus, it’s material that’s almost never explored on the comics pages! It’s sure-fire comedy gold!

On a more personal level, I’d like to point out that I’m getting married next year and of course am in the midst of the wedding-planning process — and thus for months will see that process vomited back at me in a most unappealing way in Cathy. Thank you, Gods of the Comics!

Bonus fact: Universal Press Syndicate’s Cathy site includes a number of (significantly out-of-date) character bios, including this extremely convoluted one for Irving: “Cathy’s on-again off-again relationship with Irving is currently ‘off,’ but judging by their history together, it’s unlikely that he won’t reappear to stir up the relationship waters once again.” I think we’re all glad that he beat the odds against his not reappearing once more.