Bino is the official mascot of Housepets! Not Fido. Bino.
"Any problem can be solved with the correct application of pressure to a stupid person's face." — Grape Jelly Sandwich, Housepets
We all love our pets, don't we? Now imagine this: your pets are sapient, anthropomorphised, and have the height of a small child. What would they be doing all day? Housepets portrays such a scenario. This comic by Rick Griffin portrays pets virtually as children who are almost human besides height and differences in clothing style. They still play pretend, no matter how weird they make it out to be.The story focuses around a cat and a dog living with the Sandwich family. The Dog is Peanut Butter or just Peanut and the Cat is Grape Jelly or just Grape. The classical setup, you think: stupid dog, smart cat, and crazy hijinks about how opposite they are ensue. But that's not what you get. Instead, you get two characters who are fairly similar in intellect with similar interests, whose subtle personality differences show off like a beacon. Peanut is the sensitive and slightly silly one. He's childlike and excitable and loves playing all kinds of games. Grape is the lazy and pragmatic one, though sometimes her logic is too logical for her own good.The Sandwich family lives in a neighborhood filled with pets and strays that have their own quirks and clubs to mingle in, ranging from a mild-mannered dog that works in the police force to a dog that Cosplays as a cat. Although there are humans around, the comic mainly focuses on the animals with their adventures, trips, and problems.Although Peanut and Grape are the main characters, it was inspired by childhood drawings made by Griffin of a dog named "Bino". Bino appears as a character in the comic, as the substitute leader of a neighborhood dog social club. He is the middle brother in another family caught between his popular older brother, police dog Officer Fido, and his quirky younger brother, Joey.Needs more characters and tropes on the Character Page.Check it out here.This comic provides examples of:
Aborted Arc: The author decided to prematurely end a story arc which depicted catnip use as similar to smoking marijuana because it would break the self-imposed PG rating.
Abusive Parents: Sasha's dad is a drunk who yells at her and (locks her outside all night in the snow.)
Adult Child: The pets consistently have relationships with each other, organize events, and have jobs, and yet still act like children in the context of fun.
All Animals Are Domesticated: Not exactly, as the wolves moving into the neighborhood caused quite a stir, but if they're friendly enough they seem to be able to integrate without too much trouble, and they're all sentient, so it works.
Ambiguous Gender: While the Biggelsworths also have this description, Fiddler and Keys. We know one is male and one is female, but no real indication of who's who to this day.
Amicably Divorced: Never married per se, but Sabrina used to date Maxwell, and they're still friendly.
Animal Jingoism: Not outright hatred, per se, but the Good Ol' Dogs Club only admits dogs, and then there's the interspecies romance taboo...
Animals Not To Scale: Almost all dogs, cats, rabbits, and raccoons are the same size (about waist height on a human) while mice are about real life size, and ferrets (plus King) are on a scale somewhere in between those.
Animation Bump: Most notably, the switch to color, but the drawing style has been improving overall.
Tarot: The truth shall be brought to light, and I fear that day, for all who do not hold love in their hearts shall perish, and their souls will be broken into shards as countless as all the sand on the face of the earth. Plus it's terrible for your complexion.
Bahamut (Dragon Judge): Explain your actions in seizing the fate of a mortal. Pete: You're omniscient...you tell me. Bahamut: Technically, we all are, but that sorta makes it hard to tell a story.
Brick Joke: They happen from time to time. Most notably, when Peanut is done up as the ghost of Banquo in their Macbeth imagination play, Maxwell screams like he did when he was freaked out by Sabrina and her spiritual connections.
Usually played straight. It's accepted as a fact of life that predator species kill and eat prey animals for sustenance (something that gets pointed out more than once and even happens on-panel); however, it should be noted that like the predators, the prey species are also fully sentient, able to talk to and even hold lengthy conversations with the animals who want to eat them.
Except for some, like the cows, which seem to be either non-sapient, or just don't care.
Cassandra Truth: Grape was right that last time about Pete...
Pete:To compare the game to chess would be like comparing all of civilization to an amoeba!
CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: Possibly deconstructed in this comic, when a police dog, Sgt. Ralph, douses an apparently non-breathing Fox with water to revive him after being smothered by Joel's boss.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: In this strip, Bino responds with indignation to Fox's allegations that he has a small... neck. Keep in mind that the neck is the only area the pets seem to have any modesty about...
Fox: *snrk* I was wondering, how does someone with such a big head get by with a neck so pencilly? Bino: It's comparable to the national average!
Fantasy Kitchen Sink: According to Sabrina, "everything is a thing". That would explain the presence of gryphons, dragons, Cerberus, and Norse frost giant Aurgelmir.
Formally-Named Pet: at least ten cats called Mr Bigglesworth, due to their owner being a Crazy Cat Lady. They all look the same, though most are not related and some are female. They occasionally mess with other pets who don't know there's more than one.
Miles: *after modeling several outfits to help him blend into human society* Is there any reason none of these configurations contain pants?
Happily Married: Miles and Lucretia, although not married (as they're wolves), are official mates and are known to behave like a happy husband/wife. Mr. Earl Sandwich and Mrs. Sandwich are also the only known family in the series so far to be officially married.
And to cats, catnip acts like cannabis, to the point where Rick chose to abort an arc - an example being when one character proclaimed another "blew through his stash like kibbles!"
A sensitive issue; within the context of the comic, interspecies relationships are considered taboo. Fido and Sabrina (a dog and a cat, respectively) are romantically involved; Peanut thought his crush on Grape was a secret, but she knew it all along. Joey (a dog) is involved with Squeak (a mouse).
Peanut's character Spot dates a "dog"*
possibly a disguised cat
named Stripe. A possible early precursor can be found here◊. Yes, that's why Bino gives Peanut trouble about being a cat-lover.
Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: In the story arc "Show Business", King finds himself trapped in a tool shed when being chased by Duchess. This strip even mentions MacGyver by name. The ultimate solution to his dilemma is, however, somewhat more directly violent than most of MacGyver's solutions.
Love Is in the Air: King is smitten on Fox's cousin Bailey after she jumped into a pond to save his MacGuffin stopwatch.
King: Why does she smell even better now? *
Hint - wet dog
Fox: I think that's in your head, lover boy.
Luminescent Blush: Apparently, in the Housepets! universe facial fur can change colors, given that blushes show on the faces of several characters when they're embarrassed.
MacGuffin: Joel's "fate", which is now a stopwatch King is holding on to.
Meaningful Name: Brown dog and purple cat? Peanut Butter and Grape Jelly.
Only Six Faces: This was particularly bad during the comic's first year, but has gotten better following the style revision. It's not perfect, though; apart from a color shift and some differences in clothing, Peanut is a dead ringer for Fido.
Following up on the theme naming of the rest of the Sandwich family, Mrs. Sandwich's name was revealed to be Jill in reference to the "Jill Sandwich" meme from Resident Evil.
Terrible Artist: The Adventures of Spot (Superdog), a comic strip drawn by Peanut.
Clark Kenting: The only difference between Spot (Superdog) and his secret identity as Spot (Professor) is a cape and a pair of glasses. Even the name's the same!
Valentine's Day Episode: Every Valentine's Day brings a set of four paper valentines featuring characters from the strip. They're mostly meant as jokes, but they're also provided in a large printable format so you can give them out.
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