Get Fuzzy
After submitting his Gary Larson-esque efforts to syndicates for years, a few representatives advised Conley that a strip with regular characters and some continuity might prove easier to "sell". As an animal lover, Conley decided to feature a cat and dog; some fine-tuning resulted in the strip Get Fuzzy.
Comics syndicate United Media agreed in 1999 to publish Conley's new strip, which first appeared in September of that year. Get Fuzzy began its run in 75 papers, an unusually high number for a newcomer. But the strip’s runaway popularity was even more unprecedented. With remarkable rapidity, the circulation had more than doubled, the first book of collected strips was published, and talks were being conducted over the production of plush toys, a TV show, and even a movie.
Get Fuzzy has been called one of three break-out comics in the 2000s, the others being The Boondocks and Pearls Before Swine.
Conley has admitted that he considers himself more of a "dog person" than a "cat person", and Satchel Pooch was based partially on his beloved childhood pet Patch. Despite Satchel's endearing characteristics, it is unquestionably Bucky Katt who has proven the most popular character of the strip. The idea for Bucky's character came from a friend's Siamese who seemed to hate Darby no matter what he did. Darby drew several versions of Bucky with his ears up, until he hit on drawing Bucky with his ears constantly pinned down. Conley was intrigued by the idea of a cat who was so unrelentingly hostile that his ears were permanently flattened against his skull, and the unique look of Bucky was born.
Read more about this topic: Darby Conley