I really, really wanted to like VG Cats, because on paper it has a lot of elements I normally would enjoy- nice art, fun character designs and an emphasis on gaming and pop culture. Sadly, it keeps falling into that old trap where it thinks its nihilism is inherently funny. That trick never works.
The two leads make me imagine what would happen if you took Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, the former hosts of G4’s flagship show X-Play, and replaced their senses of reason with fur and tails. They have almost the exact same sort of chemistry, except with their stupidity turned up to 11. And yeah, I read the strip where they tear X-Play a new one, but I’m sorry- that’s the first thing I thought of. If the show producers were given an R-rating, you would more or less have VG Cats: The Series.
Its premise is pretty cut and dry- one-off video game related gags with a moronic grey kitten named Leonardo (who wears the same colors as the Ninja Turtle of the same name, but with none of the discipline or fighting ability), and a pink cat named Aeris, the polar opposite of her Final Fantasy counterpart. Aside from her love of slash pairings, her whole purpose of living seems to be acting as aggressively “tsundere” as possible.
The one other major character is Pantsman, the alter-ego of the author who acts as the canon excuse for the infrequent updating.
Some of the jokes in VG Cats will depend on how you feel about whatever subject they’re tackling. I don’t want to say it’s like the Seltzer/Friedberg movies in his approach, because I know that’s pretty harsh, but a lot of the gags don’t stray too far from stuff that had already been picked apart by print time. Cloud not using the Phoenix Down on Aerith, Sora and Riku’s romantic overtones, the collateral damage in Man Of Steel, it’s all there.
The way it uses its gore and adult themes reminds me of how Davey Richards wrestles- visually impressive, but totally all over the place with no sense of logic. Whenever a character gets smacked or dismembered or killed or abused, that’s the punchline in and of itself. I’m not asking for a whole lot, but if you want to talk about the flaws in Final Fantasy 13, can I get something a little more thought out than Aeris sticking her hand in crap and possibly just copy/pasting a Reddit rant?
At the very least, it all looks nice. Scott has a very fun and cartoony art style with some odd facial expressions, though everyone is pretty much locked in the same angular, super-deformed character model.
So aside from the “Turtle Power” bit, I think VG Cats kinda sucks. I know it has a decent following, but I didn’t feel there was any real bite to its comedy. If you disagree, click here and enjoy the gamer-kitty insanity, but I won’t be touching this litter box again anytime soon.