''Rose Is Rose'' is a syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

, written by Pat Brady since its launch on April 16, 1984, and drawn since March 2004 by Don Wimmer. The strip revolves around Rose and Jimbo Gumbo, their son Pasquale, and the family cat Peekaboo. Rose and Jimbo are deeply in love with each other, sometimes exchanging love notes or kissing under the stars, and they dote fondly on Pasquale. ''Rose Is Rose'' is unusual, especially in modern comic strips, in that it has a generally positive and cheerful outlook on life and deals heavily with the emotional states of its characters, especially Rose and Pasquale. Rose and sometimes Jimbo are drawn as little children to emphasize " inner child" experiences. Rose is sometimes shown leaning against her "let it be" tree when dealing with heavy burdens. The strip also features highly daring "camera angles" and perspectives, often giving the illusion through frames of real motion. The strip often shows an alternate point of view based on the characters' fantasies. Rose often sees herself as Vicki, a

biker chick "Biker Chick" is a song by American country music artist Jo Dee Messina. The song was written by Kelly Archer and Max T. Barnes and recorded by Messina during late 2006 in Nashville. The song was produced by Messina and Jerry Flowers, and release ...

, when faced with a conflict between selfish desire and social obligations, or when confronted with challenges to her usually mild-mannered personality. On the rare occasions when she and Jimbo are fighting, she usually sees herself locked away as a prisoner in a "dungeon of resentment." Jimbo, who would like his wife to gain weight, sometimes fantasizes about her being plump and round-faced. Pasquale's "dream ship" sequences get much play, as does his relationship with his beloved

guardian angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played ...

or the bathtub's dreaded drain monster. Even Peekaboo has elaborate fantasies. From the comic's debut in 1984 until the strip published on 9 August 1991, Pasquale spoke only in a 'phonetic baby talk.' Since then, all of the characters (save for Mimi) have been portrayed as speaking coherent English. The comic is distributed by

United Features Syndicate United Feature Syndicate, Inc. (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media ( ...

. As of 2005, Pat Brady has been nominated eight times for a

Reuben Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

by the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year. He won the 2004 award in that category for the first time. The strip has also won the Religious Public Relations Council's Wilbur Award for Editorial Cartoon/Comic Strips.

Characters

*Rose Gumbo - Wife and mother. Rather shy in public situations, she makes the lifestyle of an everyday housewife appear adventurous and highly glamorous. She is witty, well read, sews sweet costumes for her son, bakes brownies, takes in a sunset almost daily, and teases her husband with her strawberry shampoo. She can hold a pleasant conversation with anyone, from her next-door neighbor to the birds living in the tree in her front yard. She is always there with a huge hug to comfort her husband and son, and never misses a night to tuck her little Pasquale in bed. Like Jimbo has to spiders, Rose has a deep fear of

dust mites House dust mites (HDM, or simply dust mites) are various species of acariform mites belonging to the family Pyroglyphidae that are found in association with dust in dwellings. They are known for causing allergies. Biology Species The curren ...

, derived from when she once saw a magnified image of one, and in her vivid imagination they tend to take on rather exaggerated proportions. *Jimbo Gumbo - Husband and father. From the way he dresses, apparently works at a

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...

job. Enjoys placing love notes all around the house and especially in his wife's tea cabinet. He's an all around handyman, takes out the garbage when asked, loves

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, but fear prevents him from coaxing a spider out of the shower. Despite such admirable qualities, he needs a little advice from time to time, which he seeks from The Amazing Perplexin - an occasionally recurring character in the comic strip. Jimbo also finds women sexier if they are a bit on the heavy side and occasionally tries to get Rose to gain weight - much to Rose's dismay. *Vicki the Biker - Rose's alter-ego. The adventurous biker chick, with a leather miniskirt and a rose tattoo on the outer thigh of each leg, who lives on the edge and takes all those risks that one can not quite get away with as a housewife. She loves jalapeños and

rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genus, genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting sm ...

chili. Most likely to be seen riding her

Harley Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, i ...

into the sunset. *Pasquale Gumbo - Rose and Jimbo's son. Dreads having Jimbo cut his hair, as he occasionally instead cuts his ears. Loves to sit atop his cushy bed and look through his 3-D glasses at his

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

s. Quite an inspiring

Play-Doh Play-Doh, also known as Play-Dough, is a modeling compound for young children to make arts and crafts projects. The product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s. Play-Doh was then rewor ...

artist, as well as an exemplary young student who loves school and getting homework, to the disdain of classmates. He and his cousin Clem become glued to the television set when ''Ranger Rory'' is on. He is timid about the bathtub drain monster and about playing baseball for his dad, but not so when it comes to sledding down the hill, doing cartwheels or catching

fireflies The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

. He is the

only child An only child is a person with no siblings, by birth or adoption. Overview Throughout history, only-children were relatively uncommon. From around the middle of the 20th century, birth rates and average family sizes fell sharply for a number of ...

of the Gumbo family and embodies the innocence that we only find in youth. Most of Pasquale's adventures take place with his guardian angel, his cousin Clem, or while he is fast asleep, flying about in his dreamship. And as with most young boys, his dad is his greatest hero. (In an interview, Pat Brady has stated that "Pasquale" was a childhood nickname given to him by a family priest, after the name of a character in the 1940s radio program ''

Life with Luigi ''Life with Luigi'' is an American radio situation comedy series which began September 21, 1948, on CBS Radio and broadcast its final episode on March 3, 1953. The action centered on Luigi Basco, an antique shop owner, and his experiences as a ...

''.Celebrity Cafe interviews...Pat Brady
/ref>) *Peekaboo - The family

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

. Aloof and good-naturedly disdainful of the humans in her life. Like most cats, she spends her days on the quest for

belly rub Petting is the act of gently stroking or touching animals, typically pets or other domesticated animals, as a form of affection, comfort, or communication. It is a common form of tactile interaction between humans and animals, often employed to str ...

s and the perfect sunny spot to snooze the day away in. She is also a sucker for "minty-fresh breath", craning her ever-extendable neck to capture the scent from her humans, and has an extraordinary ability to extend everything else in order to claim a favoured spot. Jimbo can not sit anywhere without Peekaboo getting in his lap. However, she also provides a more humorous side to the difficulties that cats and cat owners go through. She has a habit of getting her claws snagged on various objects, an incident referred to as a "claw snag". *Clem - Pasquale's selfish cousin. Loves to tease Pasquale and play

practical joke A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...

s on him, often engaging in

one-upmanship Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, individ ...

with him; every toy he owns is always twice as spectacular as Pasquale's toys. His alter ego is the "Toweled Crusader". A

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

has Clem throwing water balloons or snowballs (depending on the season) at Pasquale on a semi-regular basis. *Fanny - Rose's sister, Clem's mother. It appears that Clem gets his selfishness from his mother (as seen in a few strips where Rose goes back to her childhood). *Mimi - The next door neighbors' baby girl who speaks in phonetics (though in early strips she only spoke in tiny peeps). Mimi spreads happiness and joy to those around her in that unique way that only toddlers can. *Corky and Abby - Mimi's parents. *Pasquale's guardian angel - Usually depicted as a ghostly copy of Pasquale with fairy wings and a robe who becomes a gigantic and fearsome warrior when any kind of disturbance appears. From time to time will go overboard, and will subsequently receive an admonishing call from "

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

". *Rose's Mother - Rose's mom, Pasquale's grandma (aka "Meemaw"). She turns up now and again via phone calls and visits in her RV. She is a large woman, which makes Jimbo wish Rose would become more like her mother. She also has her own biker-chick alter-ego. *Ms. Harris - Pasquale's teacher, young, blonde and always happy. *Murphy - One of several squirrels.

Rose Is Rose books

References

* Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index''. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. . * ''The Comics Since 1945'', by Brian Walker, published in 2002.

External links

''Rose Is Rose'' at gocomics.comNational Cartoonists Society News Page
{{United Media Comics 1984 comics debuts American comics characters American comic strips Comics about married people Fictional families Gag-a-day comics Slice of life comics