Badly Drawn Kitties
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| Badly Drawn Kitties | |
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| Author(s) | Mat Sherer |
| Website | http://www.badlydrawnkitties.com/ |
| Launch date | February 6, 2002 |
| End Date | June 8, 2006 |
Badly Drawn Kitties (BDK) is an online furry web comic, which as the title suggests, features cats and is, in theory, badly drawn; however, the artist himself admits it is not as badly drawn as it once was. The comic was created by Mat Sherer, and stars a couple of anthropomorphic cats named Lucy and Lydia, who share an apartment in the fictional country of New Talia, a small island nation off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
It is an adult-themed comic and sex plays a major role in many strips, either actually occurring, being implied, or having some joke related to it. There is nudity in the comic, but due to the simplistic art it is not very graphic. Recently, the comic has focused less on sex, but it is still an important part of the comic.
On October 31, 2005, Sherer declared on his blog that it is the "end" of BDK (but goes on to assure that "this isn't really the last BDK") [1]; a comic strip accompanies the announcement, with "The End" written on the upper portion of the strip. As of November 15, 2005, the site's URL points to the new site, which contains many pages including the entire archive of the comic, in .zip format, articles such as "Ask Lucy" and his NES reviews, the forums, a contact button, links to various comics, and a donate area. The site uses a black and white color scheme, and sticky notes for navigational buttons. Mat has recently explained that he is changing how the comic will be written; instead of writing the strips day-to-day, he is planning complete story arcs.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
[edit] Lucy
A black cat with white hair, Lucy is the main character of the strip, with many of the stories dealing with her sexual romps and relationships. She is bisexual, but is mostly lesbian. So far she has been in relationships with her one-time boss Zig Zag; an incestuous relationship with her brother, Fisk; and is currently dating a co-worker, Jezzebel. She has routinely tried to get her roommate Lydia to have sex with her, but she refuses; Lucy has since stopped trying due to Lydia's relationship with Dirk, and her own with Jezzebel.
She has lived in New Talia for the last few years after moving from Atlanta, Georgia; and currently works as an editor for Sonica, a music magazine. She originally worked there as their harshest, most vicious music critic; Lucy also composed music for some of Zig Zag's movies, wrote songs and produced an album for a band, and even appeared as a professional wrestler's on-air girlfriend. After her brother's death, she received a piece of his life insurance, and has opened her own recording studio, called Concordant Sound Designs; her first client is the band she previously worked with, Tailrazor.
[edit] Lydia
A white cat with black hair, and Lucy's childhood friend, she works at the White Cat tattoo, fur dying and body piercing parlor. Lydia is originally from Atlanta, and followed Lucy to New Talia where they share an apartment. Lydia is totally straight—although she once thought she might have been bisexual—and resists Lucy's come-ons. It's at work that she met her boyfriend, Dirk who was in getting a body piercing. On October 18, 2004, Dirk asked her to marry him, and on August 31, 2005, they were married. Perhaps coincidentially, Chapter 6 of Jay Naylor's comic also features a strip in which Lucy invites a couple of friends over with permission of her mother in which she mentions Lydia's name. During the actual strip featuring the slumber party Lydia is seen with the same fur color, hair color, and hairstyle as she does in Badly Drawn Kitties signifying Mat and Naylor's friendship before their falling out.
[edit] Dirk
Dirk is a male cat who came into Lydia's parlor for some body piercing, specifically his scrotum; when Lydia saw his "equipment", she was immediately enamoured of him. He currently runs his own music store. During the New Talian Idol incident, Lydia and Dirk got in a fight when Lucy tried to use him to get some of her co-workers off her back, but things got a little too comfy, and Lydia got a little too jealous. After a while, they got back together. They married on August 31, 2005. Jay Naylor came up with the name Dirk Savagewood, because it sounded like a good name for a porn actor.
[edit] Fisk
Fisk is Lucy's twin brother, and they have been in an incestuous relationship since before they came to New Talia. At first Fisk worked as a security guard for Zig Zag, but after a while, moved back to the U.S. and joined the army, following in his father's footsteps. Sadly, Fisk also followed his father's footsteps right into his grave; his father died in Vietnam, and Fisk was killed in Iraq.
The character of Fisk was created by Jay Naylor, who was friends with Mat for a time. Fisk was included in BDK, while Lucy appears in Jay's comic, Better Days. The two authors had a falling out, which is the commonly accepted explantion for Fisk's general lack of presence and eventual death in BDK. (Lucy still appears in Better Days, where Fisk remains alive and as the main character.)
[edit] Jezzebel
A bat with one eye; she is Fisk's former girlfriend, and now Lucy's girlfriend. Lucy first meets Jezzebel when they are buying birthday presents for Fisk; at said party, they are formally introduced. When Fisk gets drunk, Lucy offers Jezzebel a ride home, one thing led to another, and Lucy woke up in Jezzebel's bed. Shortly after Lucy returned to Sonica, Jezzebel and Lucy started dating. She works in Sonica's mail room.
[edit] Zig Zag
A skunk with a distinctive tiger-stripe pattern, Zig Zag is the owner and star of Double Z Studios, an adult film studio, and is the creation of Max BlackRabbit. For a while she and Lucy dated. With both of them being almost totally promiscuous, it seemed like a perfect match; even though Lucy still made out with Fisk, and Zig Zag still made out with almost anybody with a pulse. When Lucy lost her job at Sonica over the New Talian Idol incident, Zig Zag offered her a job composing music for her movies. After Lucy was rehired at Sonica, the two have drifted apart. They are still friends, and go for the occasional roll in the sack, but are no longer a couple; Lucy says it's because of Zig Zag's eye for Double Z's web mistress.
[edit] Other characters
[edit] Desi
A black cat who was once Lucy's boss at Sonica. She was the one who pegged Lucy for the host position on New Talian Idol, and she received a hairspray enema for her trouble. When Lucy was rehired at Sonica, Desi was demoted for causing the whole mess, and Lucy was now her boss. It was too much for Desi, and later on she quit. Desi now hosts New Talian Idol.
[edit] Dirk's parents
Dirk's parents show up just in time for his and Lydia's wedding. They are divorced, and it seems they are not from North America—or at least his father isn't—as there is a reference to "football" being the same as "soccer". Dirk's father's name is Kirk, and his mother's name is Carol.
[edit] Linda
Dirk's sister, who has been in England for the last five years. When Lucy tried to get Dirk and Lydia back together, she found him with another woman, not knowing that it was his sister. Unlike Lucy and Fisk, there is nothing more to their relationship.
[edit] Lola the Comedy Kitten
An annoying cat who appears every now and then when Mat can't come up with a good way to end a comic, usually by making some stupid comment on the current goings on, or doing something completely irreverent; as such, she often talks to the audience directly, breaking the fourth wall. Unlike the other characters, Lola takes the shape of a normal cat.
One time when Mat was feeling down, Amber, creator of Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures! (DMFA) kidnapped Lola and threatened to change her into a succubus if Mat didn't pay her a ransom of jellybeans, but no licorice ones. Lucy's answer was to kidnap all of DMFA's mows, which proved disastrous, and Amber turned Lola into a succubus. Lola has since returned, back to her normal badly-drawn self.
- Succubus Lola makes an appearance in DMFA in the background of comic #512.
[edit] Lydia's parents
Lydia takes very much after her mother, right down to their inability to drink alcohol—both get drunk whenever the slightest bit touches their lips. Ironically, Lydia's father looks like an older version of Dirk, although this could be the result of Mat's simplistic art style leaving little room for character variation. Lydia's mother's name is Delia, while her father's name was recently retconned to "Charles"; it was originally given as "Albert".
[edit] Mat
The author of the comic. Mat inserts himself occasionally when there is need to talk about the direction the comic is going. In real life, Mat worked at a Pizza Hut, quitting in early 2006; loves music; writes reviews of 8-bit video games; and was a professional wrestling fan, though horribly disappointed by it now. Mat isn't really a part of the comic continuity, and often speaks to the audience directly, breaking the fourth wall.
[edit] Nikashi
A friend of Dirk's who works at his record store. He's also Sally's boyfriend.
[edit] Sally
A heavily tattooed woman who works with Lydia. In a Halloween strip, it is revealed she is actually a carnivorous demon from the depths of Hell, who knew? It's unknown if her boyfriend, Nikashi knows.
[edit] Sheila
Lucy and Fisk's mother, she has appeared frequently through the comic. Even though she often asks Lucy if she's got a boyfriend, she suspects that her daughter is gay; she accepts her daughter is bisexual, but Sheila hopes that Lucy will at least get a boyfriend and mother a child at some point. Like Fisk, Sheila was created by Jay Naylor; also like Fisk, Mat decided to kill off the character, though it has not occurred yet.
[edit] Snow
A pet ferret that Lucy bought Lydia during her break-up with Dirk. Lydia named her Snow (short for Snowball) because her fur is completely white, à la Snow White.
[edit] Vincent Rann
The president of Ranntech, he is a billionaire who bought Sonica magazine. Shortly after, he tried to sue Lucy for $1.5 million for damages related to the New Talian Idol incident. Lucy countersued, forcing an out of court settlement. Rann didn't like that he had to bow down at all, and has tried various schemes to make her life a living hell.
[edit] The New Talian Idol incident
New Talian Idol is a parody of American Idol and is the closest thing to an epic story to appear in BDK; of all plot lines and story arcs in BDK, this was the biggest and affected the most people.
[edit] New Talian Idol
In Late 2002/Early 2003, Sonica Magazine signed a deal with New Reality Studios to produce a homegrown version of American Idol. On January 21, 2003, Desi gives the assignment of hosting New Talian Idol to venom-tongued critic Lucy, who utterly despises American Idol, thinking she'd be the perfect Simon-esque host.
On March 17, 2003, Lucy arrives on the set of New Talian Idol, and meets the two people that she and Desi are working with. Buck is the producer and is so vain that he thinks every girl secretly wants to make out with him, constantly joking with lines like "Sorry, but I'm already married". Jack is Lucy's co-host, and is attracted to Lucy, but he has a nasty habit of saying things that he thinks are compliments, but are actually insulting.
- At this point, the comic drones on about some other stuff, primarily flashbacks from Lucy to delay the continuation of New Talian Idol.
On May 19, 2003, Lucy returns to the set for taping of New Talian Idol, were she is confronted with Buck and Jack again; sadly her annoyance over the whole deal is quite pronounced, making her seem like the perfect "Simon Cowell". She goes to Lydia for help and gets a makeover, trying to act nicer. When it seems that Jack is coming on to her, she tells him she's a lesbian, but he seems unphased; worse, it draws even more unwanted attention from Buck. This leads to her changing her story and saying she has a boyfriend, and uses Dirk to try and throw Buck and Jack off; but Dirk acts a little too cozy with Lucy and Lydia accuses him of philandering. All this fails, and Buck simply uses it to promote Lucy as a lesbian caricature on the show.
During the show, Lucy realizes that the only way out of this is to simply daydream and ignore the show completely. Buck mentions to Desi that Lucy doesn't seem as volatile as she described, but Desi says that the next act will bring out the worst in her. The next song is the most horrible thing in the world, that dreaded Céline Dion song from Titanic.
- After a brief repose to celebrate Canada Day and Independence Day, we return to New Talian Idol where...
Lucy goes totally off the deep end. She berates the whole show for taking people who may have real talent and squandering it on useless pop tunes; she blasts Jack for constantly eyeing her and Buck for his egotistical delusions, then storms off to her dressing room promising a hairspray enema to the first person she sees. That person happens to be Desi, who orders Lucy to go back out there, saying that it's just another assignment and is part of her job at Sonica, ignorant of the can of hairspray Lucy is now shaking. When Desi tells her to do the show or she's fired, Lucy leaves, giving Desi the payback she deserves.
As a result, Lucy loses her job, and reluctantly goes to Zig Zag looking for another job; thankfully getting one that doesn't involve what she is or isn't wearing. Dirk and Lydia break-up over the incident where he and Lucy pretended to be lovers. Meanwhile Sonica is left footing the bill over New Talian Idol, and is forced to pay damages to New Reality Studios for breaching their contract.
[edit] Aftermath
April 27, 2004, Lucy receives a notice in the mail that she is being sued 1.5 million New Talian Dollars—roughly 900,000 USD according to Lola—because she walked out on New Talian Idol, and Sonica was left to foot the damages. It turns out Sonica was bought by a company called Ranntech, and its owner, Vincent Rann is looking to make as much money off it as possible. When Lucy mentions it to Zig Zag, she gets her lawyer to look into it; apparently Zig Zag had a run in with Rann and would love to tie his legal knickers in a knot. The meeting with the lawyer goes well, and Lucy countersues Sonica on grounds of wrongful dismissal.
Knowing that Lucy is in the right and would likely win the suit, Mr. Rann's lawyer comes up with a solution: if they both drop their lawsuits, Sonica hires Lucy back as an editor; that way she's working for Rann and making him money, or if she steps out of line he can fire her legitimately. Meanwhile, Desi gets punished for causing the whole fiasco.
In the end, Lucy gets the job she wanted, but she is now in the sights of Vincent Rann, who is waiting for a chance to trip her up. Desi despises working under Lucy, but eventually gets a new job, hosting the new New Talian Idol; Lucy thinks this is fitting punishment, not realizing there are people who like the Idol concept. Also, Lucy finds out that Jezzebel works in Sonica's mail room; soon after, they start dating.
[edit] Recent changes
- Dirk's parents make their first appearance on BDK to attend his wedding.
- Lydia and Dirk are married.
- Fisk was killed in Iraq, and Sheila received a $3 million insurance payoff; she moves to New Talia and gives half the money to Lucy. They now share a house as Lydia has moved in with Dirk.
- With her part of the money, Lucy has opened her own recording studio, Concordant Sound Designs.
- Lola returns, just in time to berate Mat for a really stupid post.
- BDK ends its run with Comics Genesis (formerly Keenspace), and the new site is launched.
- A year after the new site launched, BDK turned into a blog site for Mat Sherer, and at this time, there are no plans to restart the Badly Drawn Kitties strip.
[edit] References to BDK
[edit] Dan & Mab's Furry Adventures cameos:
DMFA, as its also called, is a webcomic by Amber Panyko. A sight reference to Lucy & Lydia in the 2nd panel. As part of a story's flashback, Mat himself, appears as an in-story character. Lola the Comedy Kitten appears as part of one of Amber's non-canon strips, which also mocks Mat Sherer's non-canon strips. Finally Lola in her Succubus Form when Amber "kidnapped" Lola for a Jelly Bean ransom (as mentioned above). Mat's BDK reference to the event can be seen here.
[edit] Better Days cameos:
Better Days is a webcomic by Jay Naylor. Better Days, as mentioned earlier, had Lucy as a shared character when Jay Naylor and Mat Sherer were friends. There had since been a falling out, sometime around chapter 13 and 14 of Better Days, and Mat's Lucy character and image had been "stolen" and her personality has changed to suit Jay's comic, though still not his character. Fisk was a Better Days character that crossed over to Badly Drawn Kitties several times. Since Jay and Mat's falling out, Fisk has been removed from the BDK cast and comic.
[edit] A Pessimistic Sense of Inadequacy cameos:
Lucy was a guest on A Pessimistic Sense of Inadequacy, (PSI), a webcomic by Fesworks. Stemming from BDK continuity of Lucy owning her own recording studio, Lucy is talent scouting. She was on a road trip that has lead her from her home in New Talia, through Eastern Canada, to Minnesota, USA. From here, Lucy comes into PSI for several strips. She meets up with characters Fes & Ernst while they are going camping.
[edit] Other articles about BDK:
The Webcomic List with User Reviews.
Better Days vs. Badly Drawn Kitties Article.
