#gene catlow

[str8aura-no-not-that-one]

i love this catlow panel not least of all because it looks like theyre heading into the backrooms

[chaifootsteps]

re: your comparison of Viv and Gene Catlow.

when I was a fresh face in the furry fandom, all of 14yo and knowing literally nothing about the internet, I ran afoul of more than one predator on some of the art archives like side7. I had no idea and just thought I had cool older internet boyfriends. it was Albert who picked up on what was going on due to my posts on the GC forum, contacted me, and very gently explained that I was being taken advantage of and how to get away from them. i basically had to rebuild my internet presence from scratch because of personal information i'd shared with them, but compared to the trouble i could have been in, it was worth the effort. he literally never asked anything of me in return, and wished me well when i eventually left the board as part of my rebuilding.

Thank you for sharing this, Anon. This was a wonderful story.

I think the fact that it's something you're sharing here and now, several years after Albert's death, really speaks to the guy's character. This was something he did in the shadows simply because it was the right thing to do, and he never got anything out of it save knowing he'd helped a kid. And that was enough. He was a good old Gene.

Also, glad you made it out of that situation, and that you were okay.

[clawheld]

[goddamnwebcomics]

My Not-so-Brief Review of Gene Catlow (Part 6)

In the final part we wrap up the characters talk, as well as talk about my overall thoughts on the comic as a whole.

Characters (Part 5)

And then we have Cydnee. Cydnee starts off good, she is a matagot whose powers were repressed by Jeremy because he is an asshole, and Matt ends up allowing her to become his bride as they take over the planet under Feline Empire. Cydnee and Matt have their differences, Cydnee can sometimes be bratty and even overestimate her influence with Matt, but Matt often keeps her in her place. It’s odd because it’s supposed to be a complete opposite of Gene and Catwhis’s relationship, but it never crosses to the point of abuse. It’s more like a student-mentor relationship than a romantic one, outside of the fucking. And then out of nowhere, Cydnee becomes fucking turboracist against dogs. It starts off as playful banter with Dorzoi, but it becomes more and more violent until Cydnee just straight up wants to murder every dog on Earth. Thankfully Matt finds her racism and her obsession with it very discomforting and it even costs them a mission. Cydnee’s racism really doesn’t make sense in this universe when there are dozens of other species in the universe. It is implied she would become a cat supremacist with her background, but why not make her turboracist against other species as well? Also there’s the whole thing where Cydnee randomly turns into Catwhis, which is implied to be Cydnee trying to predict Matt’s desires, but then we see Catwhis turn into Cydnee and really the whole thing just seems to discomfort Matt.

And speaking of, let’s finally talk about the shining light of joy and happiness, the best character in this comic and my favourite character in all of fiction, Praetor Matthias. Matt starts off as an ambiguous figure Gene has nightmares and flashbacks about, a really ugly cat who once abused Catwhis in their youth. He returns during Friendship Island arc and tries to assassinate Gene, but fails. It is implied Matt desperately wants Catwhis to come back to his life, but why though. Eventually we see more of him during Borzoi arc and there we finally see his true nature in full glory, he is a manipulative and powerful yet charming bastard who understands nature of reality better than any other character. He also manages to come up with a plan in a minute no matter what setbacks he faces. He is intelligent and also very handsome and both men and women want his D. He is also a really good boss, he treats his employees fairly, he lets them leave if they disagree with him, he compliments people when they do good job. He has bad temper sometimes but that seems to stem from his hatred of backstabbers, which is 100% justified, because earlier in this part of the review I had an ENTIRE SECTION dedicated to them. Why would anyone want to backstab such a charming and intelligent hottie? Well, it’s not what he is, but what people SAY he is. Every character that isn’t part of Matt’s group sees him as an evil demon, a monster, a tyrant, a turboracist, an irresponsible and incompetent moron who shouldn’t exist, but who also shouldn’t be killed because “he has already been punished”. Every character knows exactly what he is up to at any given time, whether it’s Gene, Catwhis, Simmy, Friendship Island, Toothy, Jeremy, one of the bodyguards, Dawn and Dusk, Borzoi, Dorzoi, Forzoi, Michelle, Big Cats and even Diane. He doesn’t get ONE FAIR SHOT, his plans are always instantly exposed and figured out. Matt really comes across like an underdog, he is eternally trapped in a game he can’t win because all of his opposition is OP. It would be different if Matt was stupid but he’s not. He’s extremely intelligent, it’s just that his luck just fucking sucks and all his enemies know everything what he is up to. He even gets his powers taken away from him, almost all the members of his group consider leaving at once and his girlfriend becomes a racist that seems to use Matt mainly for dog genocide rather than any real goals. And yes, Matt has done some morally corrupt things but he is more or less 100% justified, because Matt hates, hates, FUCKING HATES Backstabbers. Borzoi backstabs him, he reduces him to a bloody pulp, Webcats consider backstabbing him, Matt sends one of his CGI cat puppets to assassinate them, Dorzoi implies he knows about Matt’s assassination attempt of the webcats, Matt fucking kills him. And when you think that I’ve ranted about his enemies for half of this fucking review, you know that Matt is right, and the universe is out to get him. And yet many characters still think that Matt might CHANGE. I am glad that we will never ever know how Matt would’ve been defeated.

In a nutshell, Matt is a fucking great character, but a terrible villain, because he is the hero in the greater context of this comic. Why else would he share a name with one of the disciples?

And that was all the characters worth talking about in Gene Catlow, and only one quarter of them are likable.

Conclusion

Gene Catlow is a comic I will never forget, I encourage anyone who thinks they’ve seen it all to read it, and try to comprehend it’s themes and messages. Maybe they will find its themes to be genius, and its story to not be as batshit as I thought. Either way, more people should read Gene Catlow.

Albert Temple may not be the most perfect storyteller in the world, but he was very passionate, and seeing him die before his epic could be finished, is tragic to say the least. Nobody deserves it, not Kentaro Miura, not J.R.R. Tolkien, not him. I found myself getting invested in the world he had created, his characters may be many things but boring is not one of them…even if one of the characters was literally named Mr. Boring. I hear stories about Albert Temple being a very sweet and nice guy who was always talking with people. Sure, he may have pulled a harmless long con, but nobody really felt betrayed or angry by that revelation. The more I hear what a kind person he was, the more bad I feel for dragging on his flaws. Yes, you can make bad art even if you’re a good person, but Albert is a special case. His works do deserve to be read and studied by a lot of people. I want his works to receive a fanbase. He will always leave a hell of an impression no matter what he does. That alone makes him one of a kind.

Rest in Peace, Albert Temple. You were loved.

[jtfo]

mr catlow

[beaglebabe1]

Here’s a pic I did of Gene and Catswhiskers back in 2015. I’m not taking this well at the moment. It’s hard to process that he is gone :(

[synfritz]

My sympathies and deepest condolences to the friends and family of Albert Temple aka Gene Catlow, who has passed away from natural causes at the age of 59 this past week.

Albert was well known in the furry community as a creator and unflinchingly supported everything and everyone he came across. He was a fan and follower of everyone. This was a man who never said a negative word about anyone, to even imagine him being angry is impossible… and those who knew him will say it was an honor to have him as a friend.

Thank you for your hard work Albert and being a kind soul. May you find peace and happiness on the other side.

Rest in peace.

[sgpsketch]

RIP Albert ”Gene Catlow” Temple

...it’s terrible that the thing that snaps me out of my non-drawing funk is the untimely death of one of the cornerstones of the webcomic community, abruptly putting his seventeen-year-running(!!) comic on permanent hiatus.

This inadvertently doubles as a thanks to David Hopkins for drawing my story, “You’re So Mean” (Jack Arc XLVII), but there’s really no more appropriate tribute, I think.

Michelle was gonna be her own picture, but I’m not THAT far out of my funk just yet =(