Catana Comics are short, mostly black-and-white strips by American cartoonist Catana Chetwynd about the small, everyday moments of life with her partner, John. They started as private doodles and became one of the most popular relationship comics online after John shared them on the internet, a story the publisher of her first book tells in its own description.
Chetwynd grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York, and studied psychology at SUNY Plattsburgh. According to her Wikipedia biography, John Freed encouraged her on Thanksgiving Day 2016 to draw a comic about their relationship; she made one shortly afterwards and five more over the following days. By the time this selection first appeared in 2017, her audience had passed 300,000 followers, with new comics arriving weekly. Two years later Comics Beat counted 2.4 million followers on Instagram alone.
Below are some of the early strips that made readers fall for the bearded boyfriend and the round-eyed girlfriend, with a short note on each.
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From doodles to a bestselling book
The comics moved from social media into print quickly. Andrews McMeel Publishing released Little Moments of Love, a 160-page collection, on 28 June 2018. The publisher's description says the drawings began as casual sketches on scraps of paper and became popular online after her partner posted them. A second collection, Snug: A Collection of Comics About Dating Your Best Friend, was announced in 2019 for release in February 2020, and later books include In Love & Pajamas and You Are Home.
Chetwynd now works on Catana Comics full time and lives in North Carolina with John and their dogs. The early strips shown here come from before most of that success, when the series was still a weekly post shared by a few hundred thousand readers.
The comics
A hug that works like a phone charger: the girlfriend's battery fills from red to full green the longer she is held. It is a neat visual way of saying that affection recharges you.
Strangers keep assuming the couple are newlyweds or in the honeymoon phase, and they keep replying that they have simply been together a while and still like each other. Even with a baby in the final panel, the answer to "you'll get sick of each other" is a firm "nope".
He asks what smells so good, she says she bought new cologne, and the punchline reveals who is really wearing it. A lot of Catana's humour comes from the girlfriend being the more mischievous one.
A five-step guide: wait for your partner to shower, steal their towel, warm it in the dryer, return it, and feel good about yourself. Small acts of care are the backbone of the series.
A chart of "feelings of safety": a seatbelt, a helmet and a locked door all score lower than snuggling with your partner, which hits the maximum.
A cat finally settles in her lap, and she calls for John to cancel all plans and grab the camera. Anyone who has waited for a shy cat to trust them will recognise the panic of not wanting to move.
Asked how he keeps his girlfriend so happy, the boyfriend explains that a kiss on the forehead keeps her content for a couple of hours. The last panel shows her blissfully asleep, proving his point.
After a 30-minute shower she emerges with her hair wrapped in a towel and the triumphant announcement: no hair anywhere. The comic plays on the very real rituals people do not usually talk about.
A robot vacuum arrives and she insists on giving it googly eyes before both of them watch it, entranced, from the sofa. Turning household objects into pets is a recurring joke.
"Flirting in a Long-Term Relationship": he is working at his desk, she pops up beside him and casually mentions she is naked. The deadpan delivery is part of the joke.
After a rough day she is offered a burrito, and then he wraps her up in a blanket like one. Comfort food and comfort itself become the same thing.
Then and now: when he first called her pretty she was delighted, and now, years later, she is still blushing. The comic is a simple reminder that compliments do not stop mattering.
"When people come over after 10 PM": a guest asks who the little boy in the kitchen is, and the answer is that it is his girlfriend without makeup. It is a joke at her own expense, and a very common one in the series.
She zip-ties his belt loop to his chair so he will have to take his trousers off to escape, then sits down to watch. The strip shows the playful, slightly ridiculous side of the relationship.
"When someone's checking out babe a little too hard": the girlfriend appears behind him with a fierce, protective stare. Mild jealousy is played for laughs rather than drama.
He comes home, she greets him wearing a fake beard and announces that she is him. Imitating a partner's look is an affectionate form of teasing that many couples will recognise.
She proudly calls a friend "my girl", then hears her boyfriend say the same about her and melts. The comic plays on the different shades of the same phrase.
She refuses to give back his hoodie, explaining that she wants it to smell like him again before she returns it. "Borrowing" a partner's hoodie is one of the most popular themes in relationship comics.
"Signs your girlfriend is a cat": she sleeps most of the day, stares constantly, appears when there is food and makes strange noises when petted.
At a noisy party he asks if she wants to go home and drink wine in the tub, and in the next panel they are doing exactly that. It is a comic for anyone who prefers a quiet night in.
He threatens to tickle her, and she warns that if he does not stop she will ruin him. The strip is pure slapstick, drawn in only four panels.
"A Night Out in Heels": expectation shows her walking elegantly, reality shows him carrying her home. Uncomfortable shoes are a universal problem.
"When I'm sick" versus "When he's sick": she shrugs off pneumonia, while he dramatically asks her to pull the plug over a head cold. The joke leans on the familiar "man flu" stereotype.
At six she wanted Prince Charming, at fifteen a rock star, and at 21 she decided she would never be in love. Now, sitting next to him, she wonders how she could want anything else.
She complains her hands are freezing, he offers to feel them, and she puts them straight on his face. Cold hands on a warm partner is a classic winter prank.
He drops to one knee while she watches, and the moment ends with her asking how he can live like this. Like many strips in the series, it builds up a romantic expectation and then lets it fall flat.
"What I Want" is a spontaneous kiss; "What Actually Happens" is her asking him to lean down because he is too tall. Height difference is a running gag in the series.
He asks if she has remembered everything, she says yes, and then she has to turn back for the bag sitting on the stool. A small, very relatable moment of everyday forgetfulness.
"Physical Touch Back Then" was a shy, thrilling brush of the hand; "Physical Touch Now" is her announcing she is going to lick his face. The comic sums up how comfort replaces nervousness.
"Mornings": he wakes up fresh and well rested, she wakes up as a mess of hair, and he still says good morning, beautiful.
He is full and offers her the rest of his food, and she is already there with her mouth wide open. Food-stealing is one of the series' favourite jokes.
"Pajamas Then" is a cute nightdress; "Pajamas Now" is his sweatshirt, which she has claimed as her own. Another nod to the stolen-hoodie theme.
"Date Night: Then" means rushing to an 8 o'clock reservation; "Date Night: Now" means wine and a Harry Potter marathon at home.
He starts a story from "the before time", she asks whether he means before they met, and the very idea is met with a dramatic crash. The strip jokes about how hard it is to remember life before a long relationship.
"Signs your girlfriend is cold": she tells you, and if she does not, trust me, you will know, usually because she is demanding your body heat.
The old saying about letting someone go if you love them is illustrated in silhouette, then dismissed in the last panel: "nope, never letting go".
She texts "I miss you" from across the room, then asks him to come closer. Texting someone on the same sofa is a very modern kind of affection.
She presents a large gift box, he opens it, and she pops out shouting surprise: it is a lifetime supply of her unconditional love. A sweet ending to the selection.
Why these comics feel so familiar
The drawing style is deliberately simple: round heads, large eyes, a beard for him and long black hair for her, and almost no backgrounds. That simplicity lets readers project themselves onto the characters, which is a big reason people tag their partners in the comments.
The subjects are just as ordinary: stolen hoodies, cold hands, sick days, staying in instead of going out. None of them are dramatic, but they are the moments most couples actually spend their time on. The comics are of course selected and exaggerated for a punchline, but they rarely feel invented.
Kind humour as a formula
Relationship comics like these also work because they are kind. The jokes are about habits and quirks, not about one partner being foolish, and there is almost always a moment of warmth in the last panel.
Sources: comics by Catana Chetwynd; Wikipedia: Catana Chetwynd; Little Moments of Love (publisher listing); Comics Beat.
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