Cast
The main characters are a pair of sibling Russian Blue cats named Ebenezer (a.k.a. Eben or Benny) and Snooch. The strip is invariably written from their point of view, albeit with a tone and approach which has led to the comic being described as "the Anti-Garfield". Other characters make occasional appearances: Grant himself appeared in the second strip (in a parody of Garfield's debut), and Hynes herself partially appears with some regularity as the owner (or "Mom") of Ebenezer and Snooch. The cats don't talk as such, but communicate by means of thought bubbles, facial expressions, and tail-twitching.
Ebenezer is the smart one. He is often portrayed deep in thought, doing complicated mathematical equations in his head, or pretending to be an Indiana Jones-type explorer, and is often shown as being frustrated by the antics of his less-intelligent brother. Eben's personality is sarcastic and snarky, usually playing the straight cat to Snooch's blundering buffoonery. He occasionally breaks the fourth wall.
Snooch is obese, clumsy, and not very bright. When danger threatens him or his brother, he is utterly fearless, bordering on psychotic (which side of that border is left up to the reader). He comes up with compelling reasons for why cats do the things they do, such as the 2 AM Crazies (well known to any cat owner).
The cats are based upon Grant and Hynes's real-life pet cats, Raistlin and Caramon (named after the brothers in the Dragonlance novels). Ebenezer is patterned after Raistlin, and Snooch was patterned after Caramon. Caramon died unexpectedly from kidney failure in 2009, which was documented in the strip. Grant assured readers that Two Lumps would go on as always and the character of Snooch would not be discontinued, as Snooch would be the best way to keep Caramon's memory alive. On the morning of 23 June 2011, J. Grant announced that Raistlin had died at the age of 14.
Read more about this topic: Two Lumps
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