but with pat saying "dig"? and this, i reckon it's more likely it took stad a while to realise he had a prize central character, and a prize dickhead, on the cards with the cat trio.
Well, remember -- Pat did go through a pseudo-hipster phase,
all up with his porkpie hat. He discarded it quickly, though, although that was probably as much Ray's fault as anything.
With Beef, I think it's actually a vital part of his character progression. His primary development path has been away; he started as sort of
overly-attached to Ray, almost servile, and totally emotionally helpless, but as he's gone on he's become more independent, more capable of expressing anger and frustration with Ray and his plans, and generally more capable of living his own life.
(Favorite minutiae I discovered while totally CortJstr'ing my strip references: the wide variety of crotch-coverers used by Ray in lieu of a thong in the
Todd's Thong Theft storyline. Also rediscovering the "intermittently in color" Achewood days.)