Cathy
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Cathy, the comic strip character
Cathy is a daily comic strip drawn by Cathy Guisewite. Featuring a woman who struggles through the "four basic guilt groups" of life—food, love, mom and work—the strip gently pokes fun at the foibles of modern women's lives. Initially, the strip was based largely on Guisewite's own life as a single woman, but after her marriage and motherhood, Guisewite could no longer relate to the character as much as she had before.
The strip debuted in November 1976, and currently appears in over 1,400 newspapers. The strips have been collected into more than 20 books. Although in recent years the strip had become repetitive, with plot lines often indistinguishable from previous strips, many readers felt Ms. Guisewite breathed new life into her work by having Irving, Cathy's longtime boyfriend, propose marriage on Valentine's Day 2004.
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Main Characters
- Cathy -- the heroine of the strip
- Electra -- Cathy's dog
- Mom -- just as likely to provide frustration as inspiration
- Charlene -- one of Cathy's best friends, receptionist at her office
- Andrea -- one of Cathy's best friends, once an ardent feminist, now married with two kids
- Irving -- on-again-off-again love interest, now her husband as of February 5, 2005
- Mr. Pinkley -- Cathy's boss
The Four Basic Guilt Groups
Defined by Cathy Guisewite, the four basic guilt groups are four types of temptation that the character Cathy faces in her daily life.
Food
Cathy has a love/hate affair with food. She loves it, but hates what it does to her thighs. She is often shown in a department store fitting room trying to stuff herself into a bathing suit. She is constantly on a diet, weighs herself maniacally and many mornings fears to get up, believing that she has ballooned overnight. Cathy is particularly fond of chocolate.
Love
Cathy has dated extensively, but was unable to find "Mr. Right". Although a number of love interests have come and gone over the years, none has come back like Irving, who is now her husband.
Mom
Although well-meaning, Mom's advice often frustrates Cathy, especially when Mom is right. Cathy and her mother are from two different generations, of course. Cathy grew up in the era of feminism, women's rights and the sexual revolution. Mom is from an earlier, simpler time. Although an equal in her marriage to Cathy's Dad, Mom holds many old-fashioned ideas.
Work
Cathy has to juggle many tasks at Product Testing, Inc. Her boss, Mr. Pinkley, often asks the impossible, and Cathy always seems to pull through in the end and give him and the client exactly what they want, albeit with quite a bit of drama.
Books
Following are books featuring Cathy, illustrated by Ms. Guisewite. The chronological strips and special collections lists are believed to be complete; the other sections are not.
Note: capitalization appears according to the copyright page of the book.
Chronological Strips
The following books are collections of strips in the order they were published.
- Another Saturday Night of Wild and Reckless Abandon (September 1982, ISBN 0-8362-1201-0)
- A Mouthful of Breath Mints and No One to Kiss (August 1983, ISBN 0-8362-1120-0)
- Men should come with instruction booklets (August 1984, ISBN 0-8362-2055-0)
- Wake me up when I'm a size 5 (July 1985, ISBN 0-8362-2069-2)
- Thin thighs in thirty years (July 1986, ISBN 0-8362-2081-1)
- A hand to hold, an opinion to reject (August 1987, ISBN 0-8362-2092-7)
- Why do the right words always come out of the wrong mouth? (August 1988, ISBN 0-8362-1808-6)
- My Granddaughter Has Fleas! (August 1989, ISBN 0-0362-1855-8)
- $14 in the Bank and a $200 Face in My Purse (August 1990, ISBN 0-8362-1820-5)
- Only Love Can Break a Heart, But a Shoe Sale Can Come Close (August 1992, ISBN 0-8362-1893-0)
- Revelations Drom a 45-Pound Purse (August 1993, ISBN 0-8362-1722-5)
- The Child Within Has Been Awakened But the Old Lady on the Outside Just Collapsed (September 1994, ISBN 0-8362-1761-6)
- Understanding the "Why" Chromosome (August 1995, ISBN 0-8362-0423-9)
- Abs of Steel, Buns of Cinnamon (August 1997, ISBN 0-8362-3683-1)
- I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore (August 1998, ISBN 0-8362-6821-0)
- I'd Scream Except I Look So Fabulous (August 1999, ISBN 0-7407-0006-5)
- Shoes: Chocolate for the Feet (August 2000, ISBN 0-7407-0555-5)
Special Collections
The following books include strips already published in earlier books.
- Reflections: A Fifteenth Anniversary Collection (January 1991, ISBN 0-8362-1877-9)
- Cathy Twentieth Anniversary Collection (September 1996, ISBN 0-8362-2523-6)
- Food (December 2001, ISBN 0-7407-2112-7)
- Love (December 2001, ISBN 0-7407-2061-9)
- Mom (December 2001, ISBN 0-7407-2060-0)
- Work (December 2001, ISBN 0-7407-2062-7)
Gift Books
The following books are smaller than the works above. They have hard covers and are intended as gifts.
- Commiserations (September 1993, ISBN 0-8362-3048-5)
- Like Mother, Like Daughter (September 1993, ISBN 0-8362-3049-3)
- Confessions to My Mother (March 1999, ISBN 0-8362-8788-6)
- Affirmations (May 1996, ISBN 0-8362-1058-1)
- Shop till you drop, then sit down and buy shoes (May 1996, ISBN 0-8362-1068-9)
Other Books
The following books feature Cathy illustrations by Guisewite, but are not authored by her.
- Dancing Through Life in a Pair of Broken Heels, written by Mickey Guisewite, Cathy Guisewite's sister (April 1994, ISBN 0-553-37377-3)
- Lifestyles of the Trim & Healthy, written by Matthew Bennett (June 1994, ISBN 0-9629502-9-7)
External Link
- Cathy at ucomics.com (http://www.ucomics.com/cathy/)