Augustus’s dad
 | This page is pretty raw LLM output. |
| Augustus's dad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gender | Male |
| Species | Cat |
| Family |
|
| Debut | Ten Seconds to Midnight, page 1 December 3, 2012 |
Augustus’s dad is Augustus’s father, and one half of the couple whose run-down house Augustus eventually leaves behind. He is seen exactly once, passed out on the couch on New Year’s Eve, and heard once more shouting through a bedroom wall.
Personality
Nobody in the comic ever really gets to know Augustus’s dad, and the little that is shown of him is grim. He spends New Year’s Eve unconscious on the couch among the empties, and the one time he is awake and audible he is screaming at his wife over what’s for dinner. He is never drawn awake, and the only later scene to give him a voice is the fight Lucy hears through the wall.
Most of what the comic says about living under his roof comes from Augustus, told to other people well away from the house. There is no curfew at home; Alejandro decides this means the parents “don’t give a shit”, and Augustus hangs his head rather than answering him.[1] Later, after Augustus brings Alejandro’s group a tableful of stolen food, Melanie jokes that his parents must not need to buy a thing, and Augustus says they don’t.[2] That neglect is not quite the same as indifference. Veronica has since said his birth parents do care about him, but are in such a bad state mentally and financially that they are used to his disappearances and focused on keeping themselves alive. Augustus also helped them with groceries a lot of the time.[3] As for the fighting, Augustus shrugs it off to Lucy as pretty ordinary.[4]
Appearance
Augustus’s dad is a cat, and that is about as far as the comic goes. His single on-panel appearance has him lying asleep on the couch in a dark, trashed living room, and by the end of the page he is face down in it.[5] In Escape Route he is only a voice from another room.[6] He is never drawn awake and upright.
Significant events
Augustus’s dad debuts in Ten Seconds to Midnight, on New Year’s Eve. The living room is a mess of bottles, a dirty ashtray and a television showing static, and he is snoring on the couch in the middle of it. Augustus tidies up a dripping bottle and heads out into the snow. The last panel of the page has his father passed out face down and his mother asleep on the floor.[5]
He turns up again only in a flashback in Escape Route, after Lucy has followed Augustus home. She is left alone in Augustus’s bare bedroom, and through the wall she hears him arguing with his wife. He starts swearing at her, something smashes in another room, and Lucy covers her face while she listens.[6] When Augustus comes back, Lucy remarks that his parents fight a lot, and he tells her this is all pretty ordinary.[4]
Major relationships
Augustus
In his only scene with Augustus, his father gives him nothing back, not even a civil word. In Ten Seconds to Midnight it is Augustus who rights the fallen bottle, and the only thing his dad has to say to him all New Year’s Eve is a complaint about who opened the damn door. Augustus answers with “Happy new year to you too.” and shuts it behind him.[5] The father never gets a second scene with his son, and Augustus only ever talks about him from a distance. Fighting at home is so routine that his verdict to Lucy is “You get used to it.”[4] It is a home Lucy’s parents eventually replace with their guest room, once they have heard about his circumstances.[7]
Minor relationships
He and Augustus’s mom are found in the same state on New Year’s Eve, him on the couch and her on the floor.[5] The one time they are heard speaking to each other is the shouting match in Escape Route, which he opens by asking about dinner and closes by screaming her down.[6]
Quotes
Who opened the damn door.. Augustus’s dad, greeting the new year from the couch in Ten Seconds to Midnight
SHUT UP!! Augustus’s dad, to Augustus’s mom, overheard by Lucy in Escape Route
Trivia
- Veronica has said Augustus’s parents are “not just alcoholics that’s for sure”, and that she used “the alcohol bottles as more of a symbol they’re Not Doing Well, with the hope it implies there’s more they’re doing”.[8]
- His second appearance exists because the house sequence in Escape Route is a redraw of the retired members-only comic Another Trip, which Veronica said was “too good to leave there”.[9]
See also
References
- ↑ Chapter 86: Trapped, page 12
- ↑ Chapter 86: Trapped, page 15
- ↑ “Ask response on Augustus’s birth parents”. 2026-03-10.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chapter 102: Escape Route, page 21
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Chapter 73: Ten Seconds to Midnight, page 1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Chapter 102: Escape Route, page 18
- ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 45
- ↑ “Ask response on Augustus’s parents and the bottles”. 2026-05-06.
- ↑ Chapter 102: Escape Route, page 9