Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics, Diesel Sweeties, entertainment, oni press, R. Stevens, There is a Cat on the Internet, webcomics

There Is A Review On The Internet For There Is A Cat On The Internet! A Look At The Third Diesel Sweeties Collection

By Cameron Hatheway

The webcomic Diesel Sweeties has been around since April 2000, and has been providing humor to the unwashed masses in both digital and print form ever since. Running Sunday through Thursday on a weekly basis, R. Stevens tackles every subject imaginable from sex with robots to bacon, cats, and everything else in between. It's shocking that only in the past few years the popular pixelated comic has been finally collected, thanks to Oni Press.

There is a Cat on the Internet! is the third collected volume, following I'm a Rocker, I Rock Out (collecting the best indie music and hipster strips), and Bacon is a Vegetable, Coffee is a Vitamin (collecting the best bacon and coffee strips). As the title suggests, this volume collects the best cat and computer/internet strips in all their pixelated glory.

While there aren't any story arcs—all strips are pretty self-contained—there is a rotating roster of usual suspects since the focus is on felines and technology. The dynamic duo of Roger the Cat and Jon Stamos (not the Jon Stamos, but rather a black kitten) steal the spotlight every strip starring them and their ongoing problems of why they haven't been fed and who the hell keeps stealing their treasures from the litter box. Roger licking himself at inappropriate times was one of my favorite ongoing jokes.

The internet/technology jokes can seem a little outdated at times, but that's technology for you. Therefore Clango Cyclotron, Red Robot #C-63, and Menace-11 are the robots that are the focus of much of the humor, often interacting with the cats and the humans who constantly seek out their help ("Can you fix the internet?"). Other minor characters include Uncle Grandpa, a curmudgeonly original Macintosh, who hates the cats for their constant laziness and any new technology.

The collection is a perfect gift for that one friend who's obsessed with their cats or is constantly speaking in memes/explaining internet jokes. While it could make for a nice coffee table book, chances are you'll have a more enjoyable time with it while sitting on the porcelain throne (also, you probably aren't the kind of person to own a coffee table). It's a great taste of what Stevens has to offer, and chances are after reading any of the three available volumes that Diesel Sweeties will soon be in your RSS feed. It's one of the best ongoing webcomics, period. Diesel Sweeties is just as nerdy as Penny Arcade, has the smarts of XKCD, and even more relationships than Questionable Content.

With 14 years of material to choose from, Stevens won't have any problems continuing the ongoing collections through Oni. Simply a volume dedicated to just the robots alone would be entertaining, or have an omnibus filled with all the relationships/love triangles (because there are several). Bottom-line is: there's a cat on the internet, and you better check it out. Play me off, Keyboard Cat!

Diesel Sweeties Volume 3: There is a Cat on the Internet! (Oni Press)
by R. Stevens
136 Pages, FC
$19.99

Cameron Hatheway is a reviewer and the host of Cammy's Comic Corner, an audio podcast. You can show him your favorite cat on Twitter @CamComicCorner.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!