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:
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, although catnip itself is still available as seen in later strips.
Possible In-Universe example as Peanut realizes the Guys and Dolls Imaginate Show Within a Show is running long and ends it with a cardboard sign saying "Everyone Gets Married. The End.".
Abusive Parents: Sasha's dad is a drunk who yells at her and (locks her outside all night in the snow.)
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.
There is also mention of a feral level of animals, most notably Joel's former pets.
Pete: Then I must ask something of you, mortal. Keene: And that is? Pete: Wake up. *snaps his fingers* Keene (waking up in his bed):DON'T YOU PULL THAT IT-WAS-ALL-A-DREAM THING ON... ah crud
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.
Except when Grape suggests Maxwell invite Sabrina to his party, he's less than completely happy about the idea.
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 and Tarot) are on a scale somewhere in between those, the wolves are huge and musclepacked, apparently from living in the wild, while real wolves are smaller than some dog breeds.
Played with to a degree, but the cast act more like children then animals to the point where Rick sometimes adds in stereotypical animal behavior specificly for people who look for it.
In the first Christmas strip, after Joey gives his girlfriend Squeak a block of cheese, she tells him straight out "the whole cheese thing's a stereotype".
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.
Art Evolution: Compare this comic to the next day's. A second evolution was implemented around October 2012, this one a conscious decision by the artist for a new art style.
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.
Author Existence Failure: Averted recently when Rick Griffin had to be hospitalized and undergo surgery due to complications of Crohn's Disease. Thankfully he came through the surgery alright and (as of early November 2012) is recovering well. This did cause a temporary delay in the comic, which was subsequently filled by guest comics.
Parodied out of Universe. At one point, Rick left a comment stating he would "e-strangle" the next person to mention how much more buff Fido looked after a minor style revision. A few comics later Rick then commented himself how buff Fido was looking, leading readers to wonder if Rick would now e-strangle himself.
In universe, don't tease Tiger about having the name of a big cat, wake Grape from a nap, or be a cat or cat-lover in the Good Ol' Dogs Club when Bino's around.
Big Bulky Bomb: Played with in this strip, in "The Great Water Balloon War" story arc, in the form of an absolutely huge water balloon requiring much of the contents of a pool to fill it.
Bigger on the Inside: In this strip, even Zach, who's been in the temple in the back yard of Mr. Milton before, is absolutely stunned by how huge the place looks like from the inside, far in excess of the external dimensions.
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.
Illustrated by the title and cover of the second book Housepets! Hope They Don't Get Eaten featuring a picture of the wolf cubs seasoning an understandably concerned looking Zach.
Cassandra Truth: Grape was right that last time about Pete...
Spirit Dragon: To compare the game to chess would be like comparing all of civilization to an amoeba!
CPR Clean Pretty Reliable: Played with 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.
Crazy Cat Lady: The owner of the Mr. Bigglesworth cat group.
Crazy-Prepared: Peanut brings a backup generator to the country to power his DS.
Creator Couple: Fiddler and Keys are a pair of music playing cats that are dating and live together.
And again in this strip, with Pete's curse interrupted by nearly getting a set of sharp teeth clamped onto his backside.
Cuteness Proximity: Let's be honest. King and Zachary in the same room could be used as a weapon. The ferrets have their moments too. In Itsuki's case however, it's just one more annoyance as his fellow students insist on hugging the fluffy tanuki.
Dances and Balls: The Yarn Ball, a new year's dance celebrated by cats.
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!
Grape: So you lifted the entire plot of the eighth chapter and wedged Spot into it, just so you could rescue an unimportant minor villain you particularly liked?
One of Miles' cubs dons one during the water balloon war when acting as the 'leader' of the dog soldiers. According to Rick this is somehow the same eyepatch worn by Delusional Steve, a one time character seen in a flashback to Grape and Peanut's first meeting. Unfortunatly for Steve, any signs of Power seem to be averted in his case.
In this strip, it's King's foot that rises when going for the kiss with Bailey, instead of the usual gender roles for the trope.
In this strip, Sasha's foot rises as she kisses Fox's cheek, wishing him goodnight.
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.
Free Range Animals: The housepets are allowed to roam Babylon Gardens for the most part unattended. When they go somewhere such as the mall or the zoo they sometimes are required to wear leashes, however are allowed to wander about freely if they hold on to their own leash.
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 the only known human family in the series so far to be officially married, and by all available evidence it's a happy marriage.
Another pair of wolves, Rodney (Miles' cousin) and Snow, are mates as well, without any signs of it being an unpleasant pairing.
As of the finale for the fifth year of the strip, King and Bailey, although how happily the marriage will go on remains to be seen.
Heroic Sacrifice: Parodied by Max in the arc "The Great Water Balloon War", specifically in this strip where he throws himself onto a water balloon to shield others.
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!"
In this strip Fox asks his cousin Bailey about a hypothetical dog with a romance problem, but she in turn cuts straight to the chase and tells him to just go ahead and hook up with the object of his newly discovered affections.
Bailey seems to get a lot of this kind of thing. In this strip King attempted something similar, and Bailey was similarly direct in her response.
Incredibly Lame Pun: When King asks Fox what good a watch representing Joel's fate is for a dog, Fox replies that King could be a watch dog. King was not amused.
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"note 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.
Apparently there's at least one coyote in the other Daryl's family tree.
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.
Loophole Abuse: Laws require that housepets be on a leash when out in public places, but it doesn't specify anything about who's holding the other end of the leash, which the pets exploit by going out holding their own leashes.
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? note 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.
Naked People Are Funny: Oddly averted. While housepets are naked all the time, the fact is only occationally pointed out, such as when Grape couldn't believe that Peanut didn't know she's a girl, or "The Arc Specificly About Being Naked" (aka losing one's collar).
Noodle Incident: Mentioned by Peanut, about a previous, off-screen session using Tarot's psychic powers to make their imaginations tangible that resulted in an embarrassing moment for Grape.
Not Blood Siblings: While Peanut and Grape treat each other as siblings, they aren't related; they're not even the same species.
Ocular Gushers: Sasha after a series of intentionally bad dates as a ploy by Bino to get back into Sasha's good graces after she dumped him on Valentine's Day.
Fox: And I'm subconsciously projecting myself onto the lead of West Side Story for a reason, aren't I? Alt-text of that comic: Tony / I'll end up in a ditch just like Tony
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.
Prince and Pauper: No Pauper involved, but Millionaire Ferret Keene Milton does four months as a ferret exibit at the Zoo while everyone thought he was vacationing in Florida.
Rail Roading: How Pete "convinces" Joel to be a part of the Game.
Ready for Lovemaking: When King went to his room after a dog pageant, Duchess appeared on his bed, laying in a suggestive pose with a whip and a set of pink cuffs, asking for King to snuggle with her.
Reality Is Unrealistic: Quoted by Rick in the comments section when someone complained that the feline fangs were too far foward in the new art style, and he respoded with a Wikipedia link.
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.
Bino regifts Sasha with a number of presents, including a "tiny piano like the Peanuts guy". Later on he and Sasha take up positions similar to those of Lucy and Schroeder as he listens to her play.
Show Within a Show: Pridelands, a fictional work of which Grape is fond. Also "The Adventures of Spot (Superdog)", which uses the following tropes exclusively.
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!
The "father" of the Sandwich household is named "Earl". His full name has never been said in-comic.
There's also an Uncle Reuben.
The main two characters, also in the Sandwich family, are ingredients for a sandwich.
And then there's the "mother", Jill.note Enough people aren't Resident Evil fans that they didn't get that joke. Which is okay, since in the comic, neither does Jill.
Stock Animal Name: The Messrs. and Misses Mr. Bigglesworth, a group of identical Siamese cats.
It wasn't until two months after the comic started that Peanut (and 96% of the audience) even realized Grape was a girl.
Thief Bag: The Milton Ferrets award the contest prize to Daisy in a traditional white sack with a dollar sign on it, which is lampshaded by Rick in the comic's title.
Truth in Television: Both regular mouse characters Spo and Squeak note that 'the cheese thing is mainly a stereotype' that came about as cheese was one of the only foods on hand that could be affordably 'wasted' in mousetraps, creating the false idea that mice activly seek out the substance.
Unflinching Walk: Played with in this strip with the characters doing this away from a massive water balloon explosion, in the story arc "The Great Water Balloon War".
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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