Housepets!

Rick posted an update on the current status of Housepets and his plans for the brand in the future. Posting it here for those who are not in the Semi-Official Housepets Discord or the official Housepets Telegram.

I for one am curious how things will turn out, and looking forward to whatever it may be.

D-Rock wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 4:56 pm Rick posted an update on the current status of Housepets and his plans for the brand in the future. Posting it here for those who are not in the Semi-Official Housepets Discord or the official Housepets Telegram.

I for one am curious how things will turn out, and looking forward to whatever it may be.

Thanks for keeping folks informed, D-Rock. I'm saddened to learn Rick has gone through so much turmoil. And people should recognize, after all, it is HIS creation, not some politburo's.

Indeed. What’s the point of sharing a world if you feel restrained by what others feel it should be? Here’s hoping this helps keep his spark up for this series. Letting himself be free seems to do wonders with his other projects.

Kind of scared where this is going, honestly. As a minor, I'm really hoping he doesn't make the comic "sexier", and as a Christian not entirely keen on making it more "blasphemous". But I'm sure Rick knows what he's doing.

NHWestoN wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:58 pm Thanks for keeping folks informed, D-Rock. I'm saddened to learn Rick has gone through so much turmoil. And people should recognize, after all, it is HIS creation, not some politburo's.

After becoming a Star Wars fan, I rapidly began to despise George Lucas for destroying the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy and even shipping a copy of the Special Edition to the Library of Congress when they wanted a print of the theatrical cut of A New Hope. After a while of this I began to think about an interesting idea: if you have a work, and it becomes hugely successful, does it even belong to you, the creator, anymore, or does it belong to the fans?

I honestly I'm very interested in seeing where Housepets goes after this arc. I'm glad that Rick is finally letting himself do what he wants with his comic. I know I have had my fair share of issues with things in the comic over the years but it is better for the creator of the work to do what they want with it rather than holding themselves back. So here's to what comes next for this universe and its characters.

Rydr Warklub wrote: ↑Sun Aug 15, 2021 3:04 pm I'm really hoping he doesn't make the comic "sexier"

Rick has stated elsewhere that he doesn't intend to go any farther than this comic already has (and this comic does enjoy pushing the rating in your mind at times ), so I'm not particularly worried on that front

Rydr Warklub wrote: ↑Sun Aug 15, 2021 3:04 pm If you have a work, and it becomes hugely successful, does it even belong to you, the creator, anymore, or does it belong to the fans?

I posit a "Yes and No" answer to this question. "Yes" in the sense that something that has been created now lives in the minds of its fans, and they have ideas about it that are their own. Further, a sufficiently large fan base will necessarily express their expectations, desire, what ifs, etc. The work becomes something greater than itself which then belongs to all who partake in it. But in another sense, "No" it doesn't because a creator is not beholden to the part which belongs to the fans (the expectations, desires, what ifs, etc). They are their own person with their own expectations, desires, what ifs, etc, and no one should deny them that. If the creator feels stifled and restricted by the fans, they can't create the work that they want. So, I'm glad Rick is trying to free himself of that.

To build but slightly on Obbl's very valid observations, both tradition and law underscores the primacy of the artist. Many great works of art came into existence because wealthy patrons ("fan") commissioned them, but remember them by the artist who brought those creations into existence. The great prolifration of fanfics devoted to Housepets characters certainly epitomizes fans making Peanut, Grape, Karishad, and the gang "their own" but these tributes honor Rick; they do not obligate him. If anything, Rick seems more than a little tolerant of these variations, certainly more so than, say, the Disney people - although there have been a couple instances where he has acted against artists who abused his critters.

By definition, an artist's olibation is to the art they create, not to the critiquers - although they might benefit from their observations, even the more pointed ones. There's always been a debate on this forum about how much Rick takes fan-suggestions into account, but I meinselbst can think of no occasion where a fan suggestion has become a story, an episode, a personality nuance for a character... but he (wisely) does not confide such things in me. Outside of the occasional good-humored nudge to bring back a character from earlier times (Daisy or Yeltsin), I've kept my interjections minor, respectful, and minimal. Not all his stories have resonated with me - but I cannot think of one that offended me.

As I've said before, it's Rick's World - I'm a guest in it. If he takes it in directions that no longer enchant me, then - at my age and my stage - there are other fields where I can seek enjoyment. But I can't see that happening.

Sounds like the present arc is going to be the end of the original "Housepets" and he's going to be rebranding and making some significant changes.

I'm not too surprised; it's obvious that Rick enjoys drawing certain things from his other comics, and Housepets being SFW is very divergent from his uh, very very many NSFW interests.

It's all Rick's stuff, and he can do what he wants with stuff. If I'm still interested, I'll stick around; if not, well, it's not like I was actually paying him anything to draw stuff I liked, so I can hardly complain ;P

Such is always the way of things. Some webcomics I've stayed up with while others have fallen by the wayside as I've lost interest in them.

There's no point in doing something like Housepets if it is making you miserable, though. I mean, really, if it wasn't going to change, it'd probably just flat-out die because he lost interest in it and was working on other things.

So there's no real downside to him changing things, anyway.

We'll see where it goes.

Creators have always been stressed and driven to hate their greatest creations by the fan(atic's) need for that character. I'm reminded of one in the earliest days of the 20th century where a successful play hd been put on in New York. The telegram from the owner read "May I marry Holmes?"
Arthur Conan Doyle's response? "You may marry him, or murder him or do what you like with him." At that point Doyle hated Holmes and never wanted to write him again. It took time away from him for Doyle to learn to live with him amongst his other creations. And Rick's doing the same now. He'll be back and the future will be slightly different, that's all.

Rick really is losing interest in housepets as we know it huh? I understand if he wants to end the original housepets after this final storyline.

Hopefully this split will keep the forums SFW and that NSFW forum will be somewhere else completely seperate.

But regardless, I will be looking forward to this Countdown to Destruction.

It sounds like that the only thing he is doing is changing the name and revamping some storylines and a little bit of the premise of the comic but the characters will be the same. So it still will have a Housepets! feel but be a bit different if that makes sense.

MikeNelsonMythril wrote: ↑Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:29 am Rick really is losing interest in housepets as we know it huh? I understand if he wants to end the original housepets after this final storyline.

Hopefully this split will keep the forums SFW and that NSFW forum will be somewhere else completely seperate.

But regardless, I will be looking forward to this Countdown to Destruction.

He's not losing interest, just revamping and doing things his way instead of worrying/caring so much about what fans think. If anything, this will increase his interest in Housepets!.

I can also officially confirm that the forums will remain SFW. It is possible there'll be a new place for discussing Rick's more adult works, however, and we'll keep you all informed if/when that goes ahead. For now, rest assured that it's business as usual for these forums. ^^

I do wonder what Rick is planning to do in terms of the rebrand though and what ideas he has about it. I don't think it is going to be DRASTICALLY different but it will be interesting to see how the comic changes even if it only does so slightly.

He's tweeted that it's going to he more of a magazine style, like his other comics. I think the actual art style won't change though, just the format. But don't quote me on that.

So pretty much just the format changing and nothing else besides the title maybe? I can definitely take that as long as the comic isn't completely cancelled.

Wonder how many of the long-standing cast will be eliminated? With over a 100 plus characters, that would seem likely. Kinda sad since there's many and many of them I'd like to see again, even if just in one-shots and relationships that could be expanded and explored.

That said, there's a few I wouldn't miss at all - but no names; every one has a fan or twelve and wouldn't want to hurt feelings.

And, after all, it is Rick's world .....

If I had to take a guess at which characters would be cut, it might be characters that have a low appearance count in the comic. I am in no way saying this will happen, but this is just what I am guessing is possible.

I could easily see Res, Tiger, Marvin, Spo, Squeak, Falstaff, Truck, Dallas, Trinket, Cory, Itsuki, Keys, Fiddler, Boris, Yeltsin, Sten and Griswold being cut from the comic. Once again, this is just a guess.

Amazee Dayzee wrote: ↑Sat Sep 11, 2021 3:15 am If I had to take a guess at which characters would be cut, it might be characters that have a low appearance count in the comic. I am in no way saying this will happen, but this is just what I am guessing is possible.

I could easily see Res, Tiger, Marvin, Spo, Squeak, Falstaff, Truck, Dallas, Trinket, Cory, Itsuki, Keys, Fiddler, Boris, Yeltsin, Sten and Griswold being cut from the comic. Once again, this is just a guess.

I can't disagree, Dayzee. The names you mention represent either characters that never appeared that often or else represent special castings/humor themes (like Tiger and Marvin or "the four nerds" like Dallas & Company) that no longer interest Rick. In the last year, he seems to feel he needs new characters to sustain his plots, his humor, and his interest - and maybe the whole "hiatus" thing is his way of saying (to himself at least) " this is NOT working."

So ... I guess we'll see.

We really have no other choice because at the end of the day Rick will do what he wants. We just choose to be along for the ride.

Amazee Dayzee wrote: ↑Sat Sep 11, 2021 5:28 pm We really have no other choice because at the end of the day Rick will do what he wants. We just choose to be along for the ride.

Exactly.

Amazee Dayzee wrote: ↑Sat Sep 11, 2021 5:28 pm We really have no other choice because at the end of the day Rick will do what he wants. We just choose to be along for the ride.

I've gotten off the ride.

Well like i said before, I'm glad you are still on the forum. Even if it is under a different name. LOL

Oh, by the way, update from Rick on Housepets! in case yall missed it:

First pass on HECKRAISER REVELATIONS done. Its ~100 pages long

He's been writing out the story as a script, and from there will turn it into the comic. Looking forward to the result ^^

Epic !

Amazee Dayzee wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 12:00 am Well like i said before, I'm glad you are still on the forum. Even if it is under a different name. LOL

I thought "Harry Johnathan" would be an interesting alter ego.

I too also look forward to see what Rick has done with the script for HECKRAISER REVELATIONS when he makes it into a comic! I am sure it will be really fascinating and I will love to see what he has planned!

https://twitter.com/RicksWriting/status ... 8447300608 <- Small little update from Rick

And second pass done. Comic should be resuming later this month!

Going to miss these guest comics though. Well, This is going to be one heck of a climax.

Wonder if he'll have all the strips posted in time for putting them in publication for Book Twelve?

I’m thinking book 12 will be the conclusion of I was Teenage Squirrel through about May of this year. Heckraiser will probably be in the next volume. I could be wrong of course, that seems to be the way books have gone.

I am just glad that we are gonna be having regular comics again! I really did miss Rick's storytelling!

Update - https://twitter.com/HousepetsComic/stat ... 0725000205

So you've noticed we're back! As part of this, and Housepets going full-page format (most of the time), there's a new update schedule: every Tuesday and Friday, a comic page will be posted to
@RGriffinComics
. This is going to be either Housepets, A&H Club or a new comic

SeanWolf wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:10 pm Update - https://twitter.com/HousepetsComic/stat ... 0725000205

So you've noticed we're back! As part of this, and Housepets going full-page format (most of the time), there's a new update schedule: every Tuesday and Friday, a comic page will be posted to
@RGriffinComics
. This is going to be either Housepets, A&H Club or a new comic

We'll see how this works out. I'm not "twitterpated" but, whatever, welcome back, Rick!!

So its possible on a Tuesday and Friday during a week we might not get Housepets! at all? Because it sounds like he is doing a comic page once on those days and it will either be Housepets!, A&H Club or a new comic. So possibly one week could be A&H Club and a new comic with no Housepets! is what it seems like?

Yes, Housepets! will update at least once a week with a full page comic and sometimes twice a week

No I mean from the way he phrased that Housepets! could NOT update a week at all. Like if he has a new comic he is working on, then he does that and then A&H Club. Look at the quote. He says "Housepets, A&H Club or a new comic" so that's three which means one of them might not get updated.

Amazee Dayzee wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:30 am No I mean from the way he phrased that Housepets! could NOT update a week at all. Like if he has a new comic he is working on, then he does that and then A&H Club. Look at the quote. He says "Housepets, A&H Club or a new comic" so that's three which means one of them might not get updated.

In response to that, have a look at this from the official Housepets! facebook page.
And this small thread from the official twitter.
As you can see, there's no need to worry. Housepets! is guaranteed at least once a week!

... and that's what we wanted to hear. Oh, serious Yays!!
(I still hate facebook)

Really happy that he won't possibly be skipping a week of the comic for his other works! Housepets! is the one I enjoy the most and I'm glad it will be around for the foreseeable future!

The future is ... NOW?