The newspaper comic strip Krazy Kat by George Herriman (1880-1944) concerns a love triangle between Krazy Kat, Ignatz Mouse, and Officer Pupp: Krazy loves Ignatz, Ignatz hates Krazy, Pupp loves Krazy. Ignatz feels compelled to express his hatred of Krazy by tossing a brick at the unoffending cat's head. Krazy longs for the bricks as tokens of the mouse's love. Not realizing that Krazy desires to be pelted by masonry, Pupp pursues Ignatz in order to arrest the mouse before the brick is thrown. One of the strip's major themes is obsession: Ignatz is obsessed with throwing the brick, Krazy with receiving it, and Pupp with stopping it. From this simple premise, Herriman's imagination produced a unique series that many consider the greatest comic strip ever produced.

The action takes place in Coconino County, Arizona, a desert landscape of buttes and mesas. Other residents of Coconino...