"Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope."

~ Gilbert Shelton

Fat Freddy's Cat first appeared in 1969 in underground newspapers as a character in The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers strip. He soon gained his own small spin-off topper strip, in imitation of the early Krazy Kat strips below The Family Upstairs by George Herriman. Some full-size stories also featured Fat Freddy's Cat.

Many of these strips have been collected in comic book form by Rip Off Press in a series of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers compilations and later The Adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat, which ran for four small size issues in the 1970s. Fat Freddy's Comics and Stories (one-shot, 1983) also included several stories about the Cat.

The Adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat were reprinted and expanded (starting over from #1) in six comic book size issues in the 1980s. They included new longer stories about the Cat. A seventh edition was released (in the US only) in 1993. After the demise of the underground newspaper, the Cat continued to appear in various comic books. His last appearance to date was in a 1990 strip reprinted in The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers #12.Fat Freddy's Cat is much smarter than Freddy, and while sharing many of his preoccupations such as drugs, food, sleep and sex, his stories also feature a fair amount of defecation. Like Garfield (whom he predates) he is laid back, but in his personal habits and outlook he is more like the Freak Brothers. However he tends to regard the Freak Brothers with amused contempt, frequently expressed by defecating in inappropriate and inconvenient places, such as stereo headphones.

Like Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes he has a fertile imagination. He is apt to tell tall stories to his three "nephews". One storyline features him playing the role of "F. Frederick Skitty", an undercover agent sworn to stop the distribution of "Tee Hee Hee", a drug that turns people into homosexuals.[Fat Freddy's Cat Issue 1] Another story involves a scheme by Fat Freddy to replicate Dick Whittington's success and sell the Cat to the (fictional) small, oil-rich nation of Pootweet to deal with mice[Fat Freddy's Cat Issue 5] [source: Wikipedia]

Fat Freddy's Cat was my first encounter with underground comics. I read some issues that I purchased at a head shop, off the newstand in Ann Arbor, Michigan at their Annual Street Art Fair back when it was first published in digest form, I was around 9 or 10 at the time which makes me think I probably shouldn't have been reading that kind of thing! I wish I would've bought and preserved a bunch of copies when I had the chance as they're extremely difficult to come by in great shape, especially the first printings. His iconic look is what first caught my attention and the type of humor was certainly different than what I was used to at the time. I hope you enjoy browsing through my descriptions and scanned images as I am intent on creating a world class set!