History ComicStrip / MyCage

* DuelingShows: The strip has been strongly compared to ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', simply because they're both set in an office. Lampshaded a few times.

* ScheduleSlip: The strip's official blog experienced some severe technical difficulties in late 2010 and has since become defunct, which caused a screeching halt to the reruns prior to the move to gocomics.

** Culminating in an ''epic'' ShipTease with Norm and Ashley finally admitting their true feelings to each other...only to be interrupted by a personification of KingFeaturesSyndicate, come to inform them that the strip is being cancelled. (The revelation was dropped immediately thereafter and Norm and Ashley's relationship went back to normal for the ending strips.)

* UglyGuyHotWife: Used in a sitcom parody, and then later made official with Norm and Bridget's marriage. In still more LampshadeHanging, Maureen once complained about people expecting her to go through with this trope. Cue Norm's panicked attempt to distract Bridget.

* TooDumbToLive: Jeff, on occasion.

** The Technicolor Cast also comes into play during the 2008 elections were Max didn't want to vote for Bearack Obama because he was "White-Furred".

* EyePop: In the form of a contagious disease known as "TexAvery Virus."

* WingdingEyes: Apparently in this universe such pupils are medical condition. When Maureen learns her date makes 500K a year, her eyes bug out with dollar signs, which frightens her date and she has to be taken to the emergency room where she is treated for the "TexAvery [[EyePop Virus]]."

* HotMom: Maureen, the creators actually received fanmail praising them for having an "office hottie" who was a single mother.

* SequelHook: The final daily strip hints at "Santa vs. Dracula" being developed as a movie. The joke being that Ed Power and Melissa [=DeJesus=] are working on a comic of the same name.

The strip ran from May 6, 2007 until it was suddenly [[TooGoodToLast canceled]], with its finale running on October 31st, 2010. Ed and Mel's blog for the strip seems to have expired after some severe technical difficulties, but the strip has been in reruns on [[http://www.gocomics.com/mycage gocomics.com]]. Additionally, the creators announced plans to try and revive the series as a webcomic in the future once the rights to the characters revert back to them.

* LampshadedDoubleEntendre: Subverted. Norm mentions to Rex that even though he wasn't able get a dinner reservation he and Bridget still have "plans" (complete with ribbing and winking). Rex correctly guesses that said "plans" are eating mac and cheese in front of ''{{Heroes}}''.

* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Norm is a platypus, but he's blue.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091020&name=My_Cage Emil the Emo Emu]]
* AfterTheEnd: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081109&name=My_Cage Maureen explains to Lily that humans disappeared off the Earth a long time ago and animals evenutally took over society.]]

* AuthorGuestSpot: Ed Porker and Melissa [=DeHaresus=] appear in the "[[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091101&name=My_Cage Meet]] [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091108&name=My_Cage Your]] [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091115&name=My_Cage Maker]]" story.
* BishieSparkle: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080724&name=My_Cage Maureen does her impression of a "celebutante".]]

* CallBack: Norm tells Bridget that [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20070522&name=My_Cage Ashley is a 300-pound crack addict with a rare skin disease.]] About five months later [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20071002&name=My_Cage Ashley returns the favor.]]

* {{Catchphrase}}: Ashley tries to make "[[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090303&name=My_Cage Gorilla Cookies]]" a catchphrase, which turns out to be [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike quite popular.]]
* CatGirl: Ashley, who will [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20071214&name=My_Cage quickly remind you]] that she is a Bengal Tiger.

* CharlieAndTheChocolateParody: Norm imagines a remake with [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20071021&name=My_Cage Oompa-Lumpa Ninjas.]]

* ChirpingCrickets: Chris pulls this trope after one of Max's attempts at a motivational speech. [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20070805&name=My_Cage Easy to do since he actually is a cricket.]]
* CoolBigSis: Though she started out as a simple GoldDigger, Maureen has started to evolve into a workplace equivalent of this to Norm, [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090228&name=My_Cage in a strange sort of way.]]

* {{Crossover}}: With [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20071220&name=My_Cage Slylock Fox]] and [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20071223&name=My_Cage Cassandra Cat]]
* CrustyCaretaker: The Creepy Janitor as seen [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20070926&name=My_Cage here.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Violet
* DevilInPlainSight: Max. He even wields a pitchfork in one strip.
* TheDitz: Jeff.

** [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20100506&name=My_Cage Here, for instance]].

* EyePop: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091114&name=My_Cage In the form of a contagious disease]] known as "TexAvery Virus."
* FantasticRacism: Norm's neighbor is a "[[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20070807&name=My_Cage flight supremacist.]]"
** The Technicolor Cast also comes into play during the 2008 elections were Max didn't want to vote for Bearack Obama because he was [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080930&name=My_Cage "White-Furred".]]
* FetusTerrible: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091111&name=My_Cage In this strip]] during Violet's ultrasound the doctor is quite terrified that the baby's heartbeat sounds like the theme from ''Film/{{Jaws}}''.
** And now that little Sunny is born, there's [[EnfantTerrible no sign of it stopping.]] [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20100520&name=My_Cage Here she is attempting to summon the]] ArmyOfDarkness.

* FourGirlEnsemble: Norm admits everything how knows about women is what he's seen on TV, as depicted in [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090611&name=My_Cage this strip]].

* GeekyTurnOn: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081002&name=My_Cage Norm has a thing for smart women.]]
** [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090904&name=My_Cage Its also why Norm and Bridget belong together. Doubles as a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming]]
* GenderEqualsBreed: Subverted in [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090503&name=My_Cage this strip]] were Bridget (A Dog) has a daydream about her future children with Norm (A Platypus): A platypus girl and a puppy boy. However, their hair colors do match gender.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Showed up from time to time, and the official blog used to run the ones that did get caught. It became increasingly common during the final couple of months, culminating in [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20101019&name=My_Cage This]]. Bask in the glow of its glorious blatancy.
* GoldDigger: Maureen, Oh excuse me I mean "[[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20071127&name=My_Cage Poverty Avoider]]" though she's been shown to have HiddenDepths.

* [[{{She Cleans Up Nicely}} He Cleans Up Nicely]] Bridget comments how good Norm looks in a suit. He tells her to savor the image as the suit makes him [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20071102&name=My_Cage sweat in buckets.]]
* HilarityEnsues: Subverted and Lampshaded as Violet gets ready to have her baby, and its [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20100517&name=My_Cage not as "wacky"]] as she'd thought it would be.

* {{Homage}} Or rather [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080421&name=My_Cage recycling]].

* IdeaBulb: Parodied; when Jeff has an idea about making the office more green, [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090422&name=My_Cage he conjures up a compact-fluorescent bulb.]]

* LampshadedDoubleEntendre: Subverted. Norm mentions to Rex that even though he wasn't able get a dinner reservation he and Bridget still have "[[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080104&name=My_Cage plans]]" (complete with ribbing and winking). Rex correctly guesses that said "plans" are eating mac and cheese in front of ''{{Heroes}}''.

* NoodleImplements: It's probably best we not know what Ashley was planning to do with [[http://mycagecomic.com/?p=569 a welding torch and Norm's work ID]].

** Lily once did a report on her mother's job for Take Your Daughter to Work Day. [[http://mycagecomic.com/?p=540 All she discovered was that they had free internet access and limited supervision]].

* OhMyGods: "[[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080904&name=My_Cage The Cartoonists]]" are the supreme beings. [[{{Peanuts}} Charles Schulz]] is the most powerful of all.
* OscarBait: Norm writes a screenplay called "[[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20070910&name=My_Cage Saving Private Gump]]" were Tom Hanks plays a mentally challenged soldier during World War II.

* PrankDate: Serves as both [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080211&name=My_Cage Maureen's most horrifying experience]] and Creepy Janitor Guy's CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20071123&name=My_Cage Or a Red Dog anyway...]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Max and Norm. [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091016&name=My_Cage Lampshaded]].

** The strip for [[http://www.seattlepi.com/fun/comic.asp?feature_id=My_Cage&feature_date=2010-10-17 October 17th, 2010]] made another shout to the Comics Curmudgeon community and its founder, Dean's Comic Booth, The Daily Comics Review, and several Curmudegeonites and other fans of the strip by name.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Rex.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081017&name=My_Cage Kenny The Unicorn is definitely not Max's illegitimate son.]]
* TakeThat: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091023&name=My_Cage A]] [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091030&name=My_Cage recent]] [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091031&name=My_Cage arc]] [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091102&name=My_Cage mercilessly rips]] on fellow comic ''FunkyWinkerbean'' for its CerebusSyndrome.
** [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20090510&name=My_Cage Norm and Bridget's off-panel break-up]] was also intended as a slam against ''ForBetterOrForWorse'', which ended its run with a WallOfText epilogue after a main character's wedding that attempted to explain what should have been shown in the strip in only a few panels. In ''MyCage'', the only people happy after the wedding are the bride and groom, because they hated the wedding and the honeymoon and they thrive off being miserable.
* TakeThatCritics: [[http://www.seattlepi.com/fun/comic.asp?feature_id=My_Cage&feature_date=2010-10-06 In one of the final strips,]] the authors made a special mention of a Comics Curmudgeon forumite named kahvigirl who had written a diatribe where she accused ''My Cage'' of being nothing more than "''{{Cathy}}'' in furry drag". They awarded this poster the Golden Squishy for "Best insult of 'My Cage' on the Internet".

* UglyGuyHotWife: Used in this [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080817&name=My_Cage sitcom parody]], and then later made official with Norm and Bridget's marriage. In still more LampshadeHanging, [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20100207&name=My_Cage Maureen once complained]] about people expecting her to go through with this trope. Cue Norm's panicked attempt to distract Bridget.

* TooDumbToLive: Jeff, on [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20100224&name=My_Cage occasion]].

* WingdingEyes: Apparently in this universe such pupils are medical condition. When Maureen learns her date makes 500K a year, [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091113&name=My_Cage her eyes bug out with dollar signs]], which frightens her date and she has to be taken to the emergency room [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091114&name=My_Cage where she is treated for]] the "TexAvery [[EyePop Virus]]."

-->'''Ashley''':And Norm, if you tell anyone about this, I will hurt you in ways The ThreeStooges would envy.

* DuelingShows: The strip has been strongly compared to ''{{Dilbert}}'', simply because they're both set in an office. Lampshaded a few times.

** To JohnHughes in a Sunday Strip shortly after his death.

* {{Animesque}}: King Features boasts of it being the first anime-inspired newspaper comic. [[DidNotDoTheResearch Despite evidence]] [[TheBoondocks to the contrary.]]

* TedBaxter: Rex.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Readers were irate when Norm was depicted with a [[ExposedAnimalBellybutton belly button]] in a November 2009 strip. Claiming that he wouldn't have one since he was a platypus who was hatched from an egg. [[DoubleStandard No one seemed too upset]] about the [[NonMammalMammaries large chested fox woman]] standing right behind him though.

* FetusTerrible: [[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091111&name=My_Cage In this strip]] during Violet's ultrasound the doctor is quite terrified that the baby's heartbeat sounds like the theme from {{Jaws}}.

The strip ran from May 6, 2007 until it was suddenly [[TooGoodToLast canceled]], with its finale running on October 31st, 2010. Ed and Mel's blog for the strip seems to have expired after some severe technical difficulties, but the strip has been in reruns on [[http://www.gocomics.com/mycage gocomics.com]] since early March. Additionally, the creators announced plans to try and revive the series as a webcomic in the future once the rights to the characters revert back to them.

* IfYouKnowWhatIMean: Norm mentions to Rex that even though he wasn't able get a dinner reservation he and Bridget still have "[[http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080104&name=My_Cage plans]]" (complete with ribbing and winking). Rex correctly guesses that said "plans" are eating mac and cheese in front of ''{{Heroes}}''.