Get Fuzzy is one of the most down-to-Earth comic strips I've ever read.
I didn't used to like Get Fuzzy, when I was a kid. There was something . . . scuzzy about it, compared to the other comics on the Sunday Funnies page. Something to do with the line quality. Errant hairs suggested a level of reality removed from the likes Dilbert or Garfield. Sure, the kids in Baby Blues would make a mess. But the texture in Get Fuzzy was, to me, more life-like, to the point that it felt like I could smell Rob Wilco's apartment. Unsettling.
Now that I'm an adult I relate to Get Fuzzy differently. Living on my own, I identify with Wilco's financial woes and potential for video game addiction. I don't have pets, but I have friends who have pets, and so I have friends who have pets who are as ornery as Bucky and as sweet as Satchel. The dynamics between these three characters are instantly recognizable and largely relatable. Reading Get Fuzzy is like hanging out with a couple of your buddies: very chill, and if you're not into, say rugby, that's okay, no judgement.
Scrum Bums is a collection of of Get Fuzzy strips published, presumably, in 2005. I love me some newspaper comics, but I'm not ingrained enough in the culture anymore to debate the merits of one comics compilation over the other, nor to comment on the development of the strip over time.
What I can say is this: Scrum Bums is a fun read. And, at times, heartfelt too. There's a series of strips in which Rob's cousin William is coming back from Iraq, his leg missing. Rob arrives at the airport at 3 in the morning, and wonders why these military guys aren't flying in at a time when family and friends can greet them. William arrives, and he and Ron bond over long donuts, because Dunkin Donuts doesn't sell crullers anymore. It's a short series but incredibly impactful. Lacking pointed political commentary on the issue of war, Conley lets silent panels speak Rob's feelings. And when he reunites with William, their relationship feels honest, real. Whereas other comics address the military in its abstractest terms, Get Fuzzy focuses on the individual and their relationships, giving this subject of war a very human context.
I think Get Fuzzy is majorly underrated. Conley is a fabulous artist with a clear grasp of perspective, illustrating angles I don't see from many other comics. And like I said, the writing is chill. This is Rob. This is Satchel. This is Bucky. This is their life. Either you get fuzzy with them or you don't. And if you don't, that's totally okay.
Check it out if you like newspaper comics but are looking for something a little . . . different. If you're a Bloom County fan, let's say. It's a quick read, but a good one.