Nearly four decades ago, Jim Davis set the template for the internet phenomenon known as Grumpy Cat: Take a distinctive looking house cat, fill its head with sarcastic grousing suitable for hanging in the workplace, and watch the merchandising money pile up. The mixed-breed meme also known as Tardar Sauce brought things full circle in 2016 with her own comic, The Misadventures Of Grumpy Cat And Pokey, and now Dynamite Entertainment and BOOM! Studios are set to reunite Grump Cat and grumpy cat for the first time since their face-to-face at (where else) the 2015 Licensing Expo.
Grumpy Cat and Garfield will meet on the page this summer, in a limited series with a story by Davis. “These are the two most famous felines in the world,” Dynamite CEO and Publisher Nick Barruci said in a press release. “I can’t wait to see what trouble these two get into!” The remainder of the release is unfortunately devoid of references to Mondays and lasagna, and it gives no indication (beyond the characters’ general disposition) whether this will be meeting on friendly or acrimonious terms. There is, however, a mention of Garfield as “the original cartoon cat,” a designation that can’t sit well with Felix, Sylvester, Tom, or Snagglepuss partisans. Heathcliff, who debuted in the funny pages a full five years before Garfield, might also object, if he weren’t too busy starring in a series of increasingly incomprehensible panels.