Valentine #2 May 1964
In "Stay," a 1964 IPC comic from the Valentine series, a day that began with joy takes a surreal turn when Betty, eager to spread happiness, offers to help a stranger mourning the loss of a beloved cat named Melissa. What starts as a simple act of kindness spirals into chaos when she's unexpectedly tasked with caring for the cat—only to find herself stranded in a tree after the feline causes mayhem at work, with her boyfriend, and finally escapes on its own. Carlos Freixas delivers the story with expressive, fluid art, capturing the quiet absurdity of a moment that feels both tender and strangely timeless.
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As a fireman tries to get Betty out of the tree, she tells him she doesn't want to be rescued. When the day had started, she had felt on top of the world and she wanted everyone else to be happy. Then she meets a stranger pining for Melissa to come back and Betty offers to help. The stranger quickly accepts her offer, but she discovers that Melissa is a cat that she gets stuck with for the day. The cat causes havoc at work, with her boyfriend, and eventually ends up in the tree that she climbs, trying to get it down. She ends up in the tree alone when the cat comes down by itself.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).