Overboard by Chip Dunham for August 05, 2010

Sure Scratch. Sure!

Good Morning, Crew!

Just throw Scratch overboard Raymond and let the mice rescue him.

Cat Bath!

What’s that hangin’ on the front of Scratch in panel 5?

I am very fond of Overboard - except for the story lines involving mice which - like today - always seem so forced. My aging eyes also find it hard to make out what those teentsy mice are up to much of the time. Three cheers for the oversized, like those thieving rabbits! Anyone else want to do in the mice?

I like the mice - except for today. If I were Raymond, I’d tell them they are on their own from now on.

Well, that’s just stupid. The point of staying focused, staying sharp, is to stay safe from predators who want to kill you. In this cartoon, the only predator the mice have is the cat. Keeping your only enemy around so you stay shard against that same enemy is ridiculous.

cdward, I’m with you; the mice should just go away. Or maybe there should have been a little more thought put into why the cat shouldn’t be ended. The given rationale is just plain stupid.

if they got rid of Scratch, they might wind up with something worse…like a mongoose. Better the enemy you know…

Good Morning Crew!!!

Well that is a bummer. I like the mice, but I could easily live without scratch.

Good Morning, Crew!

well said jonas! scratch trying to be as stoic as possible, how funny! raymond was very understanding as well.

super job crew! see ya monday.

Yeah, this was a little bit of a letdown. Scratch should have been tougher than that, and the mice’s rationale was weak. I’m for at least toning the mice down and putting them more in the background (seeing them maybe a couple times a month would be fine with me).

Good morning, Crew!

Good Morning Crew,

Jonas speaks like a true political hack. You might say he

is a DEMOCAT.

Have a GREAT DAY MATIE’S

This is the fifth day of Overboard without a human and without much humor.

instigator20 (Well named I might add) I point out that hacks come in all political persuasions.

WTF ?!? THAT was a let down!

Mornin’ Crew!

Chip’s playin’ us, crew! He’s PLAYIN’ US!

Mornin” all!

LLAP

I want more Charlie, Nate, and Henry! I am really starting to miss the old strips! Come on Chip! And I still miss Seahawk, Cecilia, et all!

Morning Crew!

It takes a dog at least three times the size of a cat to have a chance in a fight. Of course, a real lab is more than three times bigger than your average house cat, but given the way their drawn, Scratch should have shredded Raymond into kibble.

The mice are cool but if you get rid of Scratch just think how many mice you would have. It would be hard to keep the crew feed and need to build a bigger stadium for the games.

Good morning, Crew!

I like the mice - just not quite as often.

@seed_drill;

Our family had a small dachshund who would destroy any cat who entered our yard if they chose to stand and fight. Most of them were her weight or better. She did the same to dogs who entered the yard and didn’t give her the “ok” body language, or if they growled at one of us kids. She was absolutely fearless, and when we visited Yellowstone (back when the bears were all freeloaders), she snarled and barked and tried to get at them through the car window glass.

One evening, when she was out for her pre-bed constitutional, she found a raccoon trying to get into the trash. Even thought it was easily three times her size, and showed fight, she sent it off with stripes. She did the same thing to a St Bernard who trespassed into our yard and tried to bully her. She rolled beneath him and bit upwards, locking her teeth around his Old Man, and he ran off, screaming, while she held on until he was off our property.

Dachshunds were bred to go into holes after badgers. They are tough cookies.

Wantobe: I agree completely. The mice should let Raymond off the cat and Chip Dunham should off the mice.

While I’m here, has anyone figured out why one dog walks on two legs and the other dog walks on all four?

Same reason that one Disney dog can walk and talk and the other Disney dog can’t.

It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

It does sound a like politicains fighting, but not destroying enemies, to keep focus away from them.

Well, I admit the ending surprised me. I would’ve preferred the mice to find out that the other mouse died not because of Scratch so Jonas stopped Raymond from beating him up for the wrong reason.

Ah well, even though I’m a cat person, Scratch shouldn’t have been added. Same reason Charles Schultz dropped the cat he had introduced. The strip can become a traditional mouse/cat/dog relationship too easily.

Panel five proves that Scratch is not fixed.

@edrush - my take on why Raymond can walk and Louie can’t is that Louie is more of a “traditional” dog - kind of dumb, loving, food-focused, easily distracted… whereas Raymond has a street-smart edge to him that Louie lacks, and seems to possess characteristics that lean toward human - focus, a little wisdom, forethought.

I just assume the difference in walking is a reflection of those personality differences.

But that’s just my opinion! :)

I like the mice & vote for them to stay. It’s amazing how many non-standard cartoon-mice situations Chip dreams up for them.

I like the mice & vote for them to stay. It’s amazing how many non-standard cartoon-mice situations Chip dreams up for them.

bugaboo, you probably have it right. I disagree with the idea, but it’s probably what Dunham has in mind.

pomdemonium, Goofy can walk and talk, but it took me a while to think of Pluto, who can’t. The big difference between Dunham’s dogs and Disney’s dogs, though, is that Disney’s didn’t appear in the same milieu.