Cathy Classics by Cathy Guisewite for September 29, 2010

The End: Kathy goes catatonic during lipo. This sets off a cascading chain of events: 1) Five major department stores go bankrupt. 2) Psychiatrist redefine petty neurosis as Guisewitism. 3) Irving takes up golf beats his boss and gets fired . {What did Irv do??}

Irving, call the men with the white jackets… She’s gone off her rocker again…

What do you see Irving? A divorce? Hmmm… Or maybe she’s just messing with us. Now if we had another month, this might be good, but it seems a little late to be dragging this out. I would prefer a good ending tomorrow with Friday and Saturday to finish up the storyline, and then Sunday for a big final goodbye.

I foresee Cathy spending her last days searching through 12,864 pairs of jeans (mostly unworn) in her closet looking for the right one. Now, what about a hat to go with them?

Are we not to hear Cathy finish this sentence till Saturday?

You know, I would like to see Guisewite re-draw the very first strips to update the look. (those early ones are…umm…ugly) Some of her very best “Cathy-isums” are in those first days. My favorite one—“Why don’t you ever kiss me when we are standing up?”

Irving has a great punchline!

(Sob) I just realized - I’ll be looking for Cathy on the list of comic strips - and she won’t be there.

Not to worry RinaFarina the last one will stay up for at least a year.

I am so Cathy and Maxine put together. If Cathy, leaves, I will have to be Maxine 100%. Not a pretty picture. Who will take care of Cathy’s dogs?

I will miss Kathy. It is a comic that used to run in our local paper and was glad to find it on line. Thank you, Kathy Guisweite, for a lot of enjoyable reading.

lol. Love this one.

Personally, I think a simple “AACK” from Irving in the last panel would’ve sufficed …

@Ladyfingers86- People are expecting something big and dramatic for the finale, and a baby seems like something she would want/need. And now, since they’re anticipating it, people assumed that Cathy might be about to tell Irving she’s pregnant.

Raising a baby tends to force women to mature (at least, I’ve seen it before), so that’s the only reason I think she needs one. XD Pity that child, though.

I think it’ll end with Cathy finding the perfect pair of jeans.

My daughter and I have enjoyed Cathy for years. We’re sorry to see her go.

Isn’t the last one not until the 24th? (Addendum added after the previous statement - nope, it’s the 3rd.)

I’ve read Cathy from the beginning, every day. It will be a loss, like a hole in my heart, to not have this every morning as the 1st email I read. It will feel worse than when Gary Larson stopped doing The Far Side, which was the main reason I subscribed to the Los Angeles Times–really. Why does it have to be all or nothing with comic artists? Just as university faculty ease into retirement through the FERP program, why can’t Cathy be produced once a month? Is that one deadline a month REALLY too much pressure for Ms. Guisewite? OR, Lynn Johnston did with For Better or Worse, recycle the WHOLE thing. Start with the 1st cartoon and reprint them in order, updating technology depicted in the cartoons.

Hi Cathy, You will be sooooooooooooooo missed! Your comics have been the first ones i would read! soooooo sorrry to know you are leaving! Thank you for all the wonderful comics you have created! God Bless you always! :-)

Sue Winston said, about 3 hours ago I’ve read Cathy from the beginning, every day. It will be a loss, like a hole in my heart, to not have this every morning as the 1st email I read. It will feel worse than when Gary Larson stopped doing The Far Side, which was the main reason I subscribed to the Los Angeles Times–really. Why does it have to be all or nothing with comic artists? Just as university faculty ease into retirement through the FERP program, why can’t Cathy be produced once a month? Is that one deadline a month REALLY too much pressure for Ms. Guisewite? OR, Lynn Johnston did with For Better or Worse, recycle the WHOLE thing. Start with the 1st cartoon and reprint them in order, updating technology depicted in the cartoons.

Sue, I’m sure Cathy will go into re-runs, as every other popular strip has. (ie. Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side, Garfield… oh, wait)

Anyway, my point is, any good strip that stands the test of time and is, in essence, timeless, can seamlessly re-run for decades. If Cathy were to re-run from the start, it may seem a little dated. It’s not always all or nothing with comic strip cartoonists - The three options a comic strip artist has is to

A.) Keep doing the strip until they run it into the ground, churning out sub-par comics just to make deadline.

B.) Wrap it up while it’s still good.

or

C.) Pass it on to another artist and make it what’s called a “Legacy” strip. Whilst it would be interesting to see what another cartoonist like Rina Piccolo or similar would bring to Cathy, it wouldn’t work. Cathy has always been largely autobiographical for Ms Guisewite, and the strip has always had its own flavour.

It’s not a favourite of mine, but then I’m not Cathy’s target market. I do however, have great respect for anyone who can keep a strip going for as long as she has without feeling the pressure to keep going just for the sake of it. She’s made her decision for very clear and valid reasons-

I think it would be a mistake to re-run the strips updated with new technology etc. as you suggest.

I followed the adventures of Cathy from the beginning…I liked her best in her single years when she struggled with the same things I did, including issues with her mother. When she got married (and I didn’t), I still identified with (of all things) her relationship with her dogs and Irving rather made me appreciate being single. I don’t understand why people bother to post that they hated the strip…not everyone likes everything anyone else enjoys. Some of us appreciated the gentle humor and identified with the struggle of being a not perfect woman in a perfection obsessed world. Cathy spoke to me the way no one else really does…she was eternally hopeful, in the end, in a world that has become increasingly cynical and cruel and mean-spirited. Perhaps she was simply too nice to survive. I’ll remember Cathy fondly and thank Ms. Guisewite for the time I had with her, and I will miss her. I wish Ms. Guisewite well and I hope she enjoys her time away from the grind of producing a daily cartoon.

Sigh…………………….ackkkkkk accccck aaaaaaaaaaaaack I wasn’t prepared…where’s my sentimental it’s not goodbye, but see you soon speech….aaaaaaaaaaaaaack…I’m not ready to retire…wait …..SIGH

Cathy, I will miss you. Very few comics today can take a strip and make it funny every day with point to it. Most of the strips are getting lame and not cleverly wr itten as the older ones are. Anyway, I wish you well in whatever endevor you decide.