VG Cats

VG Cats (short for Video Game Cats[2][3]) is a webcomic written and drawn by Canadian cartoonist Scott Ramsoomair. Published on its own website, it follows the adventures of a pair of anthropomorphic cats, who often played the roles of characters in popular video games that are parodied in the strip.[4]

VG Cats
Logo with the two main characters, Leo (left) and Aeris (right)
Author(s)Scott Ramsoomair
Websitehttp://www.vgcats.com/
Launch dateSeptember 1, 2001[1]
Genre(s)Video game, parody

The VG Cats website also hosted Adventure Log, a Final Fantasy XI webcomic written and drawn by Ramsoomair, and Super Effective,[5] a webcomic parody of the Pokémon game series. Adventure Log has not been updated since 2008 and "Super Effective" has not been updated since 2014.

The comic series often includes video game-based humor and satire targeting the video game industry.[6][7]

History

Ramsoomair said that he began the strip due to boredom at work; he created comics during his lunch breaks.[8] The first VG Cats strip was released on September 1, 2001. (His answer on the FAQ page said it was bad timing, probably in reference to the September 11 attacks that happened that same month)[1] Prior to taking the VGCats.com domain, the comic was hosted at www.vgcats.cjb.net.[9] For a period, VG Cats was affiliated with BuzzComix.[10] During April 1 (April Fools' Day), Ramsoomair replaces the regular home page with fake pages, like a "Krug" page in 2003[11][12] or a Myspace profile for Solid Snake in 2007.[13]

In 2006, Ramsoomair made a strip depicting creatures from Maxis' videogame Spore, and Maxis created a version of the strip replacing all the drawn characters with in-game versions, and sent him custom figurines of the creatures.[14]

In February 2022, Ramsoomair announced the end of the webcomic in a now deleted post on Patreon.[15]

Development

Ramsoomair said that VGCats was "basically ... along the lines of Penny Arcade." The comic originally focused on 2 gamers;[2] Ramsoomair said by 2006 that within the preceding one to two years he began focusing upon parodies of video games instead of the two gamer format.[16]

Characters
Partial cast of characters
Partial cast of characters

VG Cats is not a plot driven comic, though there are several characters that are staples of the comic. Ramsoomair said that all of his characters "relate" to him "at some point."[17]

Joystiq has defined them as "adorable characters who feel most at home with violence, language, and sexual innuendo".[18] Central characters in VG Cats include:

Aeris

Aeris is blue-eyed female cat with pink fur. She had a hot temper and lashed out at Leo frequently. Aeris was introduced on September 4, 2001 in Strip 2, "Pika?".[19]

Leo Leonardo, The Third

Leo Leonardo, The Third[20] is a green-eyed male cat with grey fur. Leo was named after one of Ramsoomair's real cats; Ramsoomair describes the association as "in name only."[2] Ramsoomair euthanized the real-life cat Leo on July 19, 2010.[21] Leo was introduced on September 4, 2001 in Strip 1, "Feelin' Gassy".[22]

Pantsman

The alter ego of Scott Ramsoomair, Pantsman is an incompetent superhero who concealed his identity by wearing trousers and sometimes underpants on his head. His greatest weakness is vodka cooler, which causes him to drop his trousers and transform into "Peter Pantsless".[23] He also wore a pair of jeans around his neck, to provide a two tailed cape. He was introduced in Strip 37, "I Like Bunnies", to help explain the inconsistent updating of the comic.[24]

Animated series
The logo for VG Cats: The Animated Series

Chris Boe, a friend and associate of Ramsoomair, created an animated adaptation of VG Cats.[25][26] Only the first half of the first episode, "Episode 1: A Tale of Two Kitties", has been produced, and was released on January 21, 2006. Boe wrote and animated the episode.[27]

Bad Mushrooms, a sprite comic created by Ramsoomair prior to the creation of VG Cats, is hosted on VGCats.com.[9]

Adventure Log, the official Final Fantasy XI webcomic written and drawn by Ramsoomair.[28] It has not been updated since 2008.

Super Effective, also done by Ramsoomair, began in April 2008 as a comic parody of the popular game series Pokémon.[5] It is also hosted on the VGCats website. It has not been updated since 2014.

VG Lewds

After comic #380 in 2018, Scott created a Patreon account for furry-themed pornography based around Leo and Aeris among other video game related characters titled VG Lewds.[29] On the same day as the aforementioned comic, Scott stated in a blog post that the site's advertising revenue was no longer able to sustain him financially,[29] and asked his users to help "support me in this newest venture". Ramsoomairt later disabled adverts on the VG Cats website altogether in 2020, citing ethical reasons.

As of March 2022, the VG Lewds Patreon was shut down without comment, with Ramsoomair later stating that he wanted to focus on an ending for the strip.[30][15]

Merchandise

In 2003, Ramsoomair designated CafePress as the provider of the VG Cats store; Ramsoomair soon ended the relationship with CafePress. On June 16, 2004 Ramsoomair announced that he established his store on Hyperion Press.[31][32] Afterwards ZeStuff hosted the VG Cats Store.[33] As of 2008 Shark Robot hosts the VGCats store.[34] As of 2008, Ramsoomair is no longer affiliated with CafePress, but it still sells VG Cats merchandise on its website.[35]

Awards

VG Cats has been nominated for several Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards, winning 2 awards in 2005 and 1 in 2006.

References
  1. FAQ. VG Cats
  2. "All About the Site" Archived October 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, VG Cats
  3. "Internet provides new way to get daily dose of funnies" The Rocket page 2 Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Maragos, Nich (November 7, 2005). "Will Strip For Games: Gaming Comics Online". 1UP.com. p. 3. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  5. "Super Effective", VG Cats
  6. "Geeks' favourite Web comics". New Straits Times.
  7. "Interview: DC's Web Comics Imprint", IGN.
  8. "NYCC 2008 VG Cats Interview", Tokyopop.
  9. "#01 Bad Bushrooms", VG Cats
  10. "Archive of the home page of" BuzzComix
  11. "welcome to kgug!", VG Cats
  12. "Main.htm", VG Cats
  13. "April Fool's Alert #8: VG Cats gets a makeover ... Metal GEAR?!". Joystiq.
  14. Sources:
  15. "VG Cats is creating Comics & Art | Patreon". March 12, 2022. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  16. "About the Site." VGCats. October 17, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
  17. "Gonzo Gaming: An Interview with Scott Ramsoomair of VG Cats" Archived December 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. ComixTalk.
  18. "VG Cats tackle the next-generation of consoles". Joystiq.
  19. "#02: Pika?", VG Cats
  20. "#97: Behind the Scenes, Part 1", VG Cats
  21. Ramsoomair, Scott. "." Twitter. July 20, 2010. Retrieved July 25, 2010. "Put Leo down yesterday."
  22. "#01: Feelin' Gassy", VG Cats. Retrieved February 13, 2009.
  23. "#87: It's Lightish Red", VG Cats
  24. "#37: I Like Bunnies", VG Cats
  25. https://web.archive.org/web/20210516104441/http://www.vgcats.com/oldnews.php, (see entry for Thursday, January 19, 2006)
  26. "VGCats.htm", Chris Boe
  27. "VG Cats: The Animated Series Episode 1 part 1 & 2" Archived March 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. SheezyArt. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  28. Adventure log Archived April 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Vg Cats
  29. Ramsoomair, Scott. "Lewdity". Archived from the original on March 4, 2019.VG Cats
  30. "VG Lewds is creating Lewd Comics, Pinup Art, and Rule34".
  31. "Main Page", VG Cats
  32. "VG Cats Items", Hyperion Press
  33. "VG Cats" ZeStuff, January 8, 2007
  34. VG Cats: T-Shirts, Prints, Buttons and More! Archived December 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Shark Robot
  35. "VG Cats online stores on CafePress:
    • Krug Keel: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=krugkeel
    • Pac Cat: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=paccat
    • Pantsman: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=pantsman
    • Snowy Day: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=la_snowyday .
    • Grr Baby/Kitty Thong: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=grrbaby.
  36. "2003 ceremony of Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards". Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
  37. "The 2004 Cartoonists' Choice Awards". Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
  38. "The 2005 Cartoonist's Choice Awards". Cartoonist's Choice Awards. 2005. Archived from the original on May 3, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  39. "Outstanding Use of Color". ryanestrada.com. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  40. "Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic". ryanestrada.com. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  41. "Outstanding Gaming Comic". ryanestrada.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  42. "The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards – 2008 Winners & finalists". Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
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