The Amazing Cathy Guisewite

In 1976, when the comic strip Cathy was launched, I was finishing up a degree at the University of Oregon. I hadn't yet begun to think about being a cartoonist. But just a couple of years later, when I began my first comic strip "Patience and Sarah", I looked to the success of Cathy and For Better or For Worse for inspiration. Little did I know I would be lucky enough end up at the same syndicate as these two amazing features.

Cathy brought the cares and concerns of young women to the comics pages in a new way. Her character spoke for everyone who was starting out in life, in a new career, in an office, in the often bewildering world of dating. Cathy was a feminist, and brought feminism to the funnies in a very real, down to earth way. Read through an early (or more recent) Cathy collection and you'll find some very fine diatribes about the perceptions of women and their relationship to men. A stroll through any workplace during the last 35 years would reveal walls and doors and break room cupboards plastered with Cathy cartoons.

Today it was announced that Cathy Guisewite, one of the nicest cartoonists I've ever met, is retiring. After 35 years, she's breaking free of daily deadlines to focus on family and other creative pursuits. Cathy, you deserve all the fun and relaxation and spontaneous living you can gather for yourself!

Val, Joan and I would like to say thanks... for the inspiration and laughs, for all the ground breaking you did, for the unforgettable tour of your studio last year, for just being you.

Hugs and kisses, Cathy. We'll all miss you.

 
 
 

Comments

[Sue]

Where is the mom's cop boyfriend?

[Michele Parrot]

Dear Jan,

I love Stone Soup. Have been reading it for ages. I specially love this last series about Alix in the baby pool. This is really excellent child psychology. I had 6 children, and I can vouch for their incredible imagination. Six kids, I said, including two daughters exactly like Holly and Alix : the older one blond, the second a brunette. And the same personalities, it's uncanny. They are now 55 and 53, and I love reading about them again.,.. back in their early years. Thanks for this.

Talkingbird16

P.S. I also cut out my favourites, and paste them into a scrapbook. Also slipped a few, after colouring them, inside the double walls of specials cups. Nine in all.

[Bebe]

Well I have been been reading your cartoon for a while now since finding it online. But as a black reader, I won't be reading it anymore. I noted that Phil has disappeared from sight. Since my last comment on that fact I saw his head in the pond Sunday,but get real what kind of vacation are they on that her boyfriend is upfront with them enjoying the fun.

[Jan Eliot]

Dear Bebe,
Thanks so much for your comment. The truth is, every time I send Phil and Val away together, I get mail from the conservatives blasting me for the "bad example" they are setting since they are not married. I think it's ridiculous, but I suppose it's gotten into my head. Sorry it struck you wrong that he's not on vacation too... but don't worry, he'll always be back.

[Stephen Doyne]

Although I lost interest in Cathy after a while, I've loved Better or Worse since the beginning. It's sad to read that some people complained about Val and Phil vacationing... why do so many people who claim to be of superior morals immediately assume people are doing something they consider to be sinful if it's not stated explicitly otherwise?

While I and probably most others, couldn't care less if Phil and Val are not remaining chaste until... marriage, what's wrong with conservatives that they can't assume otherwise? I know couples that vacation or even sleep together without it becoming an orgy of sexual excess.