(++++) CAT-ASTROPHES AVERTED

Breaking Cat News 6: Pucky, Prince of Bacon—A “Breaking Cat News” Adventure. By Georgia Dunn. Andrews McMeel. $11.99.

     Anyone who shares living space with a cat, and many who don’t, will immediately understand and relate to the continuing antics of Elvis, Lupin and Puck – and, occasionally, Tommy – as they gallivant around the place where the Man and the Woman and their child (later, child plus newborn) are simply trying to live everyday lives. The cast of Breaking Cat News makes things anything but everyday, at least from a feline perspective – and the feline perspective is the whole point of Georgia Dunn’s ongoing stories.

     The premise here basically makes no sense and perfect sense at the same time. It is all about the lives of thoroughly unrealistic but somehow almost possible cats that just happen to wear news-reporter and news-anchor clothing, carry microphones, and report on news that matters to cats in ways that almost seem real. The cats occasionally interact directly with their humans, which does not mean they actually talk in any understandable way – they just say what cats would say if they could. For instance, when the Woman complains about a chewed-through electrical cord, given how much money she has spent buying actual cat toys, she is told, “We both know I only want old plastic bags and hair ties – which you never give me.” Well, yes. Furthermore, these cartoon cats, just like their real-world counterparts, snuggle up in boxes, shred tissue paper, leap around rooms and wrestle in the middle of the night, and hide packing peanuts all over the place.

     They also have heart, as all cats do when something engages them sufficiently. In the latest collection, this comes through most clearly in an apocalyptic battle with the vacuum cleaner, which the cats feel has been getting unusually territorial lately (the Woman has been doing a lot of cleaning). Determined to distract the vacuum long enough to cut its power cord, the cats hatch a brilliant plan that goes awry when Puck peeks into the hall closet, where the vacuum is kept, and discovers a dust buster – or, in cat terms, a baby vacuum. These cats adore babies (human and otherwise), and when Puck accidentally turns the dust buster on, he tells it not to cry and asks, “Do you need to be burped? Do you have a dust bunny?” All this almost makes perfect sense, like so much in Breaking Cat News. Eventually Puck proves to Lupin that “the vacuum is a mom” and therefore to be respected and left alone, and even Elvis eventually understands – and ends up commenting for the BCN audience as the Woman uses the dust buster, comparing the small vacuum to a human baby and discussing the “balancing act of holding on and letting go.” This does not imply general acceptance of vacuum cleaners by cats, of course, but at least there is a truce: “You leave our tower in peace and we’ll stay out of the hall closet.” And a good time will be had by all.

     It is all about good times in Breaking Cat News, even when the cats have disputes among themselves. Elvis and Lupin, for example, have an on-air argument about candy wrappers: “Playing with candy wrappers is loud and inconsiderate,” opines Elvis, and Lupin responds, “Viewers are reminded that Elvis’ opinions do not reflect those of CN news network,” which leads Elvis reasonably to ask, “Cat Network news network?” Well, never mind that, says Lupin: “Viewers are reminded that Elvis is kind of a jerk.” There is then a fight about Elvis hiding candy wrappers for later play, claiming they are being “banished under the couch forever,” while Lupin says “the report indicates you’re hiding them all for yourself” – which must be correct because “it was peer reviewed.”

     There is just enough non-absurdity within the overall absurdity here to keep Breaking Cat News fresh and funny. The cats have the usual preoccupations of felines – getting enough food is a constant one – but they also manage just enough commentary on their own situation to keep the self-awareness enjoyable. At one point, for example, Pucky is asleep and making little kitty noises, leading Elvis to comment for BCN viewers that “cuteness has reached threat level cupcake!” Elsewhere, the cats ask “why do open books make the best cat beds?” and then provide individual answers by lying on books of various types and sizes, in various locations. Still elsewhere, after the baby is born and the Man goes off to work on “the Woman’s first day alone with a toddler and a newborn,” the infant cries, so the toddler cries, so the woman cries, and the cats stand by as “an emergency popsicle meeting has been called, and spirits are stabilizing.” It seems just right that, at that point, superimposed words at the bottom of the panel – the sort that appear at the bottom of the screen throughout news broadcasts – say, “Popsicles Save the Day Again!”

     At a certain level – at many certain levels – Breaking Cat News makes no sense whatsoever. But at the levels that count, including those of amusement and unexpected flashes of warmth, it is as sensible (and, often, as sensitive) as it is possible to be.