I have a suspicion Rick Griffin has played THUG2...
To keep you in the know, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, or THUG2, was a skateboarding game released in 2004, and if you've heard of THUG Pro, THUG2 is the game on which it runs. I say he might have played it after looking back through his DA, his comic Housepets!, and other art he's posted over the years and finding clues (mostly weak ones tbh) that might indicate he played the game—which, oh boy, do I hope he did cause I got something to show him.
Exhibit A (my strongest clue): Guana
The strongest clue I've found thus far are his most recent illustrations of his OC, Guana, posted right before the first ever HP comic strip.
Honestly, the fact that of all skateboard deck brands Rick chose Sobe makes me think that Rick played THUG2 because that's the company whose logo you see on Mike Vallely's shirt. Although I wasn't alive back then, let alone old enough to learn how popular was Sobe among skaters, I can kinda guess that compared to other, more renowned brands like Birdhouse, Baker, Flip, etc., Sobe wasn't as popular given there were less decks of theirs in the game compared to those brands and that no sponsor video existed of them in the game. That is to say Sobe is a really specific pick. Either Rick just wanted a skater OC and got lucky in finding a reptile themed deck brand, or... maybe he did play THUG2 and that's how he came to know the brand. I don't know.
Exhibit B: Housepets!
How could a romcom furry comic pull any reference to a skateboarding game? Well, it didn't, but there are references throughout the comic that serve as parts of the big picture, that being the possibility Rick played THUG2.
Clue 1: Both Barcelona and Australia are actual places; the former only being mentioned by Tarot a few times, and the latter being where Tarot and Bailey were taken to finish the Cosmic Game.
The thing is, both Barcelona and Australia were made into THUG2 levels.
Clue 2: Masked chainsaw killer trope...
...which was also seen in THUG2.
Clue 3: Zach refers to a rap song, whose lyrics did Rick feature in the alt text.
If that lyric didn't ring a bell, it's from the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight," which was actually featured in the THUG2 soundtrack.
Again, not one of these clues on their own can lead me to believe Rick may have played THUG2, but rather the fact that I can tie all these references to the same game.
Exhibit C: Non-Comic Art
There's not much of his art outside the comics that I know of which can somehow support my suspicion. There is this, a sketch of Miles' cubs as a reference to Jackass.
Honestly, how can you not talk about THUG2 without discussing Jackass, especially concerning the story of that game? THUG2 was an oddball among the NS (Neversoft) series in that the story was not based around skateboarding in the slightest, but instead was full of Jackass-inspired antics. Plus, Bam Margera starred in both the movie and the game.
As for the content of the image, there are a) shopping cart stunts, which actually could double as a reference to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (refer to Bam's pro challenge); and b) a ring of fire. Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" was also featured in the THUG2 soundtrack.
With all that being said,
I do think that Rick could be telling us that this game was a part of his early life. I don't know whether he outright confirmed that and, if he did, where and when it was stated. Still, even if my suspicion turns out to be false, I would still like to imagine that the author of one of my favorite-of-all-time comics has played a game from one of my favorite-of-all-time franchises.
The Sobe deck sold it.
Honestly, it makes me all the more proud I made this edit of one of his strips before he confirmed he did play THUG2.
I just remembered the fact that Grape is a purple cat, and there just happened to be a purple cat in Skatopia, another THUG2 level. Make that exhibit B, clue 4.
