30 Days of Batty: Day 18

Battyfact: Batty liked to get all up in yo business.

30 Days of Batty: Day 17

Battyfact: Batty was indifferent, to Carter while the other cats hid.

30 Days of Batty: Day 16

Battyfact: Batty's white cat hair got EVERYWHERE.

30 Days of Batty: Day 15

Battyfact: Batty's fur, where white, was almost blindingly white. She was cottony soft. Not as soft as Rufus, but Rufus has an almost oily slickness to her softness. Bumble Buzz is not all that soft, and Reggie was sorta bristly.

30 Days of Batty: Day 14

Battyfact: Kim bought Batty from a trailer park in Chula Vista, paying $60 for her because she didn't know much about cats and was hoodwinked into thinking one of Batty's parents was an "Australian Marble Snow Leopard" showcat (no such thing.) She also picked Batty because Batty was the smallest of the litter, and had a cold, so when Batty was brought home, she was sneezy and sickly.

She would recover, of course, but her kidney issues started showing up around 2003-2004.

30 Days of Batty: Day 13

Battyfact: Batty was the only cat who would let us dress her up for the holidays.

30 Days of Batty: Day 12

Battyfact: Batty traveled just fine. When we moved from San Diego to Seattle we tried to dope her up (and the other cats) and she did not like. She tried to chew her way out of the vinyl dog carrier we were transporting her to.

The second leg of the trip, from Yuba City to Seattle, went fine, as did long distance moves from Seattle to San Jose and San Jose to Phoenix. Batty would be content, and hardly make a peep.

30 Days of Batty: Day 11

Battyfact: Back when we had a fish tank, Batty was the only one who noticed we had fish, and would like to stare at them, and bat at the fish tank (no pun intended.)

30 Days of Batty: Day 10

Battyfact: Batty would always let you pick her up and pet her. ALWAYS. None of the other cats were as remotely and consistently accommodating.

30 Days of Batty: Day 9

Battyfact: Batty was always the first to come out of hiding and check things out when visitors or strangers came to the house.

30 Days of Batty: Day 8

Battyfact: Batty liked run outside, but you could always lure her back by shaking a bag of treats. She was a sucker for treats.

30 Days of Batty: Day 7

Battyfact: Batty loved to sit in laps. She was so graceful and omnipresent you would often look down and see her sitting on your lap and have no recollection of her jumping or climbing upon you.

30 Days of Batty: Day 6

Battyfact: Batty loved to chew on paper. Netflix envelopes were her favorite, and there's no telling how many comic books she destroyed.

30 Days of Batty: Day 5

Battyfact: Batty was a mischievous cat. She would love to go places she was not supposed to. Run outside or into rooms we did not want her to. Eat what she was not supposed to. We had to always be on guard against the naughty sneakiness of the Bat.

30 Days of Batty: Day 4

Battyfact: Batty got along with everybody. She would snuggle with Reggie, she would snuggle with Rufus, she would even sleep near grumpy Bumble Buzz. Plus, she was nice to the feral cats we brought home periodically. And when we occasionally dog-watched, she would be the cat who would the least freaked out, and you just know if we kept the dog around long enough Batty would have made friends with them too.

30 Days of Batty: Day 3

Battyfact: Was a moochy cat. If you opened the fridge, you would find her underfoot. She would steal shrimp from your plate, or lunchmeat, and if you were pouring yourself a glass of milk she would demand her own tribute, or headbutt you until you gave her some of your own.

30 Days of Batty: Day 2

Battyfact: Batty loved chicken.

30 Days of Batty: Day 1

Battyfacts:

Batty died on January 25, 2010. She was born in 1997. She was born in San Diego, moved to Seattle, moved to San Jose, and died in Phoenix.

She lived in Pacific Beach, Rancho Peñasquitos, Hillcrest and Golden Hill in San Diego.

She lived in Upper Queen Anne and Green Lake in Seattle.

She lived in East San Jose and Saratoga in California.

She died in Gilbert, Arizona.

RIP Batty Ray Ruggles

1997-2010


1997-Jan. 25, 2010

Holy crap, I have a comic that is actually doing well.

Yessiree, much to the surprise of pretty much everybody on the face of the planet, CHEW: TASTER'S CHOICE, by Ol' Layman and Rob Guillory, hit the #7 spot on the New York Times best seller's list.



Not only that, but it garnered all sorts of end-of-the-year accolades and shout-outs on various best-off lists.

It was named IGN's "Best Indy Comic of 2009."

MTV Splash page picked it as "Best New Series of the Year."

Comic Book Resources named CHEW #4 on their "Top 100 of 2009"

We got shout-outs from places as far-ranging as Fangoria and NPR, and on the "Best of 2009 Meta-List," an aggregate of combined best of lists, we nabbed the #16 slot.

So, uh, things are going well.

Thanks for your support, everybody, and here's a look at what's coming up in the months and weeks ahead:




Chews 8, 9, 10 and 11


And the second TPB, "International Flavor," on sale April 14.