Heathcliff

Heathcliff is the swaggering orange tabby created by cartoonist George Gately, who first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1973 — a full five years before Garfield — and went on to become a syndicated fixture in papers around the world. Where the later Garfield was a lazy, lasagne-loving homebody, Heathcliff is his rougher, more roguish cousin: a streetwise alley cat with a taste for mischief, mayhem and outsmarting everyone around him.

Heathcliff’s world is built on comic conflict. He torments the local dogs, raids the fish market, romances the neighbourhood cats, and generally treats the town as his personal playground, always staying one clever step ahead of the humans and animals trying to keep him in line. He is less a cuddly pet than a small, furry force of chaos — and that anarchic energy is exactly what made him popular.

The character crossed over into animation, headlining television cartoon series in the 1980s that introduced him to a new generation and cemented his place alongside the other great cartoon cats of the era. There was even a feature film, and a wave of merchandise built around his cocky grin.

Though sometimes overshadowed today by the cat who came after him, Heathcliff remains a genuine pioneer of the funny-cat comic — proof that long before Monday-hating tabbies ruled the funny pages, there was already an orange cat causing trouble and getting the last laugh.