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This article is about a comic strip. For the character, see Garfield (character). For other uses, see Garfield (disambiguation)
Garfield
File:Garfield.JPG
Garfield
Author(s)Jim Davis
Current status/scheduleRunning
Launch dateJune 19, 1978
Syndicate(s)Universal Press Syndicate (current) (1994-present)
United Feature Syndicate (former) (1978-1994)
Genre(s)Humor

Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis, featuring the cat Garfield, the pet dog Odie, and their socially inept owner Jon Arbuckle. As of 2006, it is syndicated in roughly 2,570 newspapers and journals and it currently holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip.[1] The popularity of the strip has led to an animated cartoon show, several animated television specials and two feature-length live-action films, as well as a large amount of Garfield-related merchandise.

Overview

File:Garfield Comic 190678.gif
The first Garfield comic strip, which appeared on June 19, 1978.

Garfield debuted on June 19, 1978, which is considered Garfield's birthday. The strip pokes fun at pet owners and their relationship with their pets, often portraying the pet as the true master of the home. Garfield also struggles with human problems, such as diets, loathing of Mondays, apathy, boredom, and so on. Garfield is able to understand anything that Jon or other humans say. He supposedly cannot talk back, but often Jon seems to be able to tell what he is saying just from his expression or gestures which are much like those of a human.[2] However, Garfield is able to talk in "thinking" to Odie and the other animals. Odie understands what Garfield says to him, but in general cannot communicate back to Garfield except by barking because he is the only character that doesn't seem to have any normal way of communicating. Although, Odie did have two thought bubbles with words in the strip.[3] In an earlier strip, Odie is shown poking his previous owner (Lyman) and it is written in his thought bubble "I'm hungry." In a second strip, Odie is on the fence in the alley with Garfield and it is written in his thought bubble "O sole mio." Most of the other animals (Arlene, Nermal, mice, and the other dogs) are capable of a two-way conversation with Garfield. Garfield, apparently, is able to type, and he has written messages that Jon has read and understood (typically letters to Santa Claus); however, this happens very rarely. He is also apparently able to tell time (although this, as well, has often been the subject of controversy because he repeatedly states that he can't).

Over the course of the strip, Garfield's behavior and appearance evolved. Initially, he was drawn extremely obese with flabby jowls and small round eyes. Later, his appearance was slimmed down and his eyes enlarged. By 1981, Garfield started walking on his hind feet from time to time (these rear paws are now drawn as proportionally huge), due to being too fat to walk on four legs. By the middle of 1983, his familiar appearance—featuring oval-shaped eyes—had taken shape. By this time, Garfield was walking on two feet, and the strip emphasized sitcom situations such as Garfield making fun of Jon's stupidity and his inability to make social connections. Jon and Odie have also evolved quite a bit, from being thin and starkly colored to the more believable cartoons they are today.

Like many comic strips, Garfield is not exclusively drawn by its creator. Jim Davis still writes and makes rough sketches for the strip, but his company, Paws, Inc., employs cartoonists and assistants who do most of the work of drawing and inking, while Davis's final job is usually confined to approving and signing the finished strip. Otherwise, Davis spends most of his time managing the business and merchandising aspects of Garfield.

Learning from the indifference his previous comic strip creation Gnorm Gnat met with, Jim Davis has made a conscious effort to include all readers in Garfield; keeping the jokes broad and the humor general and applicable to everyone. As a result the strip typically avoids the social or political commentary present in some of Garfield’s contemporaries, such as Boondocks, Doonesbury, Dilbert, and Cathy. Although a couple of strips in 1978 addressed inflation and, arguably, organized labor, as well as Jon frequently smoking a pipe or subscribing to a “bachelor magazine,” these elements were ultimately pruned from the product with the intent of maintaining a more universal appeal. Davis adamantly disavowed social commentary in an interview published at the beginning of one of the book compilations, joking that he once believed that OPEC was a denture adhesive.

The characters and situations in Garfield have often been constant-with no change or development for the past several years. While this was not unique to Garfield, as Calvin in Calvin and Hobbes and the children of Peanuts never aged, other strips such as For Better or For Worse, Cathy, and Doonesbury maintain a continuity with characters who develop, age, and may even die as the strip proceeds. In one particular sequence, however, leading up to Garfield's 25th birthday (which is always marked by Garfield complaining about his age along with the rest of the characters making subtle references to it), Davis brought back the Garfield from 1978, the one that waddled and always had a frown under his pinpoint eyes. The old and new Garfields talk and find that, although they look different, they are still both too greedy and territorial to stand even themselves.[4] On 17 July, 2006,[5] a new storyline began with the promise of changing Garfield’s life forever (according to the strip's official website). During the next two weeks, Garfield and Jon accidentally spotted Garfield's vet Liz in a restaurant with another date. After an embarrassing meeting, Liz admitted that she actually liked Jon, and the date culminated with a kiss[6] on 28 July (both Jon and Jim Davis's birthday), when Jon finally could say that he had a life.

The comic strip was turned into a cartoon special for television in 1982 called Here Comes Garfield. Actor Lorenzo Music, previously known as the voice of Carlton the doorman on the show Rhoda, was hired to portray the voice of Garfield. Soul singer Lou Rawls provided musical accompaniment. Twelve television specials were made (through 1991) as well as a television series, Garfield and Friends, which ran from 1988 to 1995.

For his work on the strip, creator Jim Davis received the National Cartoonist Society Humor Strip Award for 1981 and 1985, and their Reuben Award for 1989.

In June 7, 1999, newspapers began to offer full-color Garfield weekday strips.

A live-action movie version of the comic strip, Garfield: The Movie had its debut in the United States on June 11, 2004. The film employed a computer-animated Garfield and live-action Odie. Lorenzo Music had died prior to the filming of the movie, and Bill Murray was cast as the voice of Garfield. Murray’s laid-back, deadpan delivery has often been compared to Music’s; indeed, Music provided the voice of Murray’s Peter Venkman character in The Real Ghostbusters, the cartoon version of Ghostbusters. Murray became the fourth actor to provide a voice for Garfield: Tommy Smothers voiced the role in a cat food commercial, and an unnamed Music sound-alike was used in another TV spot. Prior to Murray being cast, it was widely reported that actor John Goodman had been picked to provide Garfield’s voice for the film.[citation needed]

Garfield's second live-action feature film, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, was released on June 16, 2006.

Main characters

Main article: List of Garfield characters
Garfield
Garfield

Garfield

Main article: Garfield (character)

First Appearance: June 19, 1978

Garfield is the central character. He is a lazy, overweight, orange tabby cat who enjoys eating and sleeping. He hates Mondays (Especially Monday The 13th) due to his consistent streak of bad luck on them. He also hates February and calls them "The Monday of the year" and considers himself to be more intelligent than humans, dogs, or other animals. Garfield was born in the kitchen of Mama Leone's Italian Restaurant and developed a taste for lasagna the day he was born. Ever since then, it has always been his favorite food. As a kitten, he fit in a tiny bed and only weighed eight ounces, surprisingly. Later in his life, Garfield runs across his Mother again one Christmas Eve, accidentally, and meets his Grandfather for the first time. According to the TV special Garfield Gets a Life, in the end of the episode, Jon’s car is shown driving away and his vehicle registration plate says Indiana on it, indicating that Garfield lives in Indiana. Jim Davis added this in possibly because he is from Indiana. In his cartoon appearances, Garfield usually causes mischief in every episode. In June 1983, comic strips introduced Garfield's alter-ego, Amoeba Man, yet he was only shown in 6 strips (6-20 through 6-25). Amoeba Man is only one of his few imaginary alter egos though. The Caped Avenger is one of the more common ones. It was revealed on 01 July, 1983 that he doesn’t like raisins.[7] It has also been implied that they are his least favorite food in a comic strip where Garfield saves time by instead of making a list of things he wants for his birthday, he made a list of things he doesn’t want. The only thing on the list was raisins. Garfield weighs about 170 to 180Lbs. His birthday is June 19, 1978.[8][9][10]

Jon
Jon

Jonathan Q. "Jon" Arbuckle

Main article: Jon Arbuckle

First Appearance: June 19, 1978

Garfield's 30-year-old owner, as of 23 December, 1980 (although his birthday is July 28, the same as Jim Davis's). He has poor social skills and his attempts at dating women have usually failed, but Garfield is happy as long as Jon keeps him fed. He has a terrible sense of fashion and has several dull hobbies, including accordions, stamp collecting, and organizing his clothes. His mother often refers to him as Johnny, and his full name was revealed on December 6, 2001 to be Jonathan Q. Arbuckle, but he usually just goes as Jon. Jim Davis got this name from an old coffee commercial. He thought the name fit the poor sap who would be stuck with a cranky feline with an overactive appetite. Even though he introduced himself as a cartoonist in the very first strip, Jon is never seen drawing cartoons, but his job was once referenced, as seen in the 1984 Christmas Sequence when Jon left for a cartoonists' convention. (However, Garfield is seen in a couple of strips using Jon's easel and ink, presumably his cartooning tools. In one strip, Garfield draws a cat.) Jon seems to understand Garfield in some of the later comics, but only sometimes. In the July 13, 1998, comic, he even reacted to Garfield even though Garfield hadn't even thought anything.[11][12] In recent comic strips Jon has had his first success in love and finally hit it off with Garfield’s vet, Dr. Liz Wilson (following the path of the Second movie). Jon is of at least partial Italian decendency.

Odie
Odie

Odie

Main article: Odie

First Appearance: August 8, 1978

Jon's pet dog (although technically owned by Jon's friend Lyman, who hasn’t been seen in the strip for 18 years, last appearing in only one panel on Garfield's tenth birthday). A yellow, long-eared beagle who is always drooling and walks on all four legs. He is very stupid and naïve (although he has been shown on rare occasions to be the exact opposite). Because of his naïveté, Garfield likes to play tricks on him, particularly taking advantage to give him the boot—quite literally—when he is standing on the edge of a table. Odie is the only animal character who doesn't communicate with any form of dialogue (except in one comic where Odie actually speaks in Garfield's dream, once when he tries coffee and says 'rowr...' and another when he sings on a fence "O sole mio" and another one, the June 15, 1980 comic where he's

File:Ga060818.gif
A strip showing Odie.

poking his original owner, Lyman, and saying he's hungry[13]), solely communicating with body language and his enthusiastic barking and other dog sound effects. Also, Odie didn’t appear in the very first comics; he made his debut on August 8, 1978,[14] which is considered his birthday. Odie was originally going to be named Spot, but Davis thought the name “Odie” better indicated stupidity. (Odie was the name of the village idiot in Davis' Car Ad) Odie used to have black ears, but Davis was told that he looked a little like Snoopy; Odie’s ears are now brown. Sometimes Odie catches on to Garfield’s tricks; one time as Odie was sleeping on a rug, Garfield creeps up and pulls the rug out from under him, spinning him into the air. As Garfield settles in, Odie gets back by stamping his foot into the floorboard, shooting Garfield into the ceiling.[11] Another favorite trick of Odie's is sneaking up behind Garfield while Garfield is eating, and barking loudly, which results in Garfield being startled and pitching forward face-first into his food bowl.

Supporting characters

Main article: List of Garfield characters

Arlene

First Appearance: December 17, 1980

Garfield's female friend. She is a pink cat with a long neck and buck teeth. She once wished their relationship would take a few steps, but Garfield does not seem to notice. Garfield once quipped in the early strips that he and Arlene have an apparent love-hate relationship: Garfield loves himself, and Arlene hates that. Garfield loves to tease Arlene about the gap between her front teeth, which also infuriates her. She seems somewhat cleverer than Garfield and repays his teasing with witty comebacks.

Nermal

First Appearance: September 3, 1979

"The world's cutest kitten." Garfield hates him and hates especially when he comes to show everyone how cute he is. Nermal especially does this on Garfield's birthdays to remind him of how he is getting older. Nermal is a male kitten, but his voice actress in the cartoon (Desirée Goyette) and long eyelashes have led to some confusion over his gender. He once mentioned that he is going to stay cute and small forever because he's a midget. ("I think small," he once quipped, "and the coffee and cigarettes don't hurt.") However, there is evidence that Nermal preserves his cuteness by mud packing his face. In exasperation and feelings of being degraded for ugliness and advancement in age, Garfield ultimately attempts to ship Nermal to Abu Dhabi. In later strips Nermal grows up and appears to be in what could be considered adolescence, but retains his vanity and continues to poke fun at Garfield.

Dr. Elizabeth "Liz" Wilson

First Appearance: June 26, 1979

Garfield's veterinarian and Jon's biggest crush. Even though Garfield hates going to the vet, Jon often forces him to go. Sometimes the visit is just an excuse for Jon to ask Liz out for a date. Jon and Liz shared their first kiss on December 19, 1981. However it was after another kiss during slight dating fiasco on July 28, 2006, and a second kiss was shared on September 3 of the same year. In the past, Liz showed great dislike and little respect for Jon; her attempts to show him that she was not interested in him were generally futile, although she did deliver some pithy comments. Once Jon asked her what she would suggest for an animal who is madly in love (referring to himself), and Liz countered with "neutering."

The relationship between she and Jon started on the July 20 strip of 2006. Jon, on a date with another woman, sees Liz and attempts to trick her into breaking up with the date she was with. On the 26th, Liz admitted to Jon and her date that she liked Jon, and they've been dating since.

From this point on, Liz has been Jon's girlfriend (she called him "Sweetie".)

Pooky the Teddy Bear

First Appearance: October 23, 1978

Pooky is Garfield's teddy bear and best friend (Also considered by Garfield as his "Confidant") who Garfield discovered stuffed in a drawer. Despite the fact that Pooky is a stuffed animal, Garfield acts as though he can communicate with him. Once Garfield pretended to teach Pooky how to jump through hoops then Garfield turned and talked to Jon when he turned back Pooky was on the other side of the hoop. While Garfield is usually overprotective of Pooky, when he had amnesia from falling off a table he renounced him, saying he was a grown cat and did not need such a childish toy. At this, Jon, Odie, and even Pooky shed a tear. This however, only lasted until Garfield got his memory back.

Lyman

First Appearance: August 7, 1978
Last Appearance: April 24, 1983

Lyman was Jon's roommate and Odie's owner. He stopped appearing in the strip after a few years, apparently because he was considered superfluous. Jim Davis explained how the character was created to give Jon someone to be friends with and talk to, but as Garfield’s character evolved and ended up holding the conversations through his thought bubbles, the conversations became more Garfield-Jon oriented. This made Lyman's character unneeded; thus, Davis stopped including Lyman in the strip with little to no explanation. However, Jim Davis later gave humorous scenarios of what happened in the Garfield 25th Anniversary Book. One clue, supplied by Davis, indicated "Don’t look in Jon's basement!" In the online game "Scary Scavenger Hunt", this clue materialized: Lyman's head can be found in the oven and under a cloth. Lyman himself is found in the bathtub. Upon discovering Lyman in the basement, the Psycho music plays [1]. Although his last in-strip appearance was in April 24, 1983, he makes a cameo five years later in the title panel of the strip that was published on Garfield's 10th birthday.

Mom

First Appearance: February 13, 1980

Jon’s mother lives on a farm and is known to be a great cook (she can make just about anything out of potatoes, proven in a 1980s strip when she creates five dishes of potatoes using five different techniques). Based on Jim Davis' mother Betty Davis, Jon's mother is also known for sending him and Garfield cooked meals in packages. Jon once got mashed potatoes and Garfield got gravy, which started to leak from the corner of the envelope. On one Christmas occasion, after Dad said, "Please tell me they were adopted.", her response "I don't know, I was out at the time" implies she had gone through two Caesarean sections on the days Jon and Doc Boy were born.

Dad

First Appearance: February 13, 1980

Jon's father; lives on a farm, and is completely useless when it comes to modern equipment. Calls Jon "Jon Boy". Based on Jim Davis' father, James William Davis.

Doc Boy

First Appearance: May 17, 1983

Jon's brother who lives on a farm with his mother and father, and often fights with Jon, calling him a "city slicker". Based on Jim Davis' brother David "Doc" Davis, who's not nearly as goofy as his cartoon counterpart; he's goofier.[11]

Spiders

Small spiders appear numerous times throughout the strip (implying that Jon's house may be infested with them), and try to have conversations with Garfield; unfortunately for them, he takes great pleasure in swatting them with a rolled-up newspaper, and does so every time he encounters one. Despite this, being swatted apparently isn't fatal for them as they have been seen getting up and stumbling away or thinking to themselves afterwards. The spiders occasionally show a desire for revenge, but are usually friendly; one particular spider named Lorenzo (possibly named for Lorenzo Music, Garfield's late voice actor in the TV show) makes repeated appearances, seeming to share an awkward friendship with Garfield. The spiders were initially drawn with six legs, although now they are generally drawn with eight.

Mice

Garfield has had many mice friends (and some enemies). Most of them are nameless but there are a few that have been identified. Three mice named Herman, Floyd, and Squeak make occasional appearances. The mice usually get along with Garfield but they also humiliate him sometimes and care very little about it. They know that Garfield is too lazy to chase them (although there have been a few occasions) so they tend to take advantage of their freedom and casually walk around the house, sometimes stealing food from the kitchen. As Jon expects Garfield to catch and eat the mice, he gets disappointed when he has to dispose of them by himself. He sometimes coaxes Garfield into doing his natural tasks by telling him he won't get dinner if he doesn't catch them.

Irma

First Appearance: June 9, 1979 (though not by name until October 19, 1979)

The waitress and manager of a greasy, lowbrow diner (Irma's Diner), Irma takes no shame in the obvious low quality of her establishment, often oblivious to the disgusting foodstuffs she serves Jon and Garfield and the chaos that goes on under her nose. She doesn't seem to be very bright and is very literal in her tasks as a waitress: once, when Jon ordered what the person next to him was having, she simply snatched the plate from the customer and gave it to Jon. She is the only person who can make Garfield lose his appetite.

Lately, her appearances in the comic have become quite rare.

Mrs. Feeny

Although she has never appeared physically or with a voice bubble, she and her little dog are constantly tormented by Garfield resulting in her calling Jon and complaining, at one point sending Jon a cake that turned out to be a balloon, splattering Jon and Garfield with icing when it popped. Although Garfield has tormented the entire neighborhood, Mrs. Feeny is considerably Garfield's biggest target. Mr. Feeny was mentioned in a strip in 2005, but that was the only time he was mentioned. Other one-shot characters included Mr. Talbot.

Ellen

Of all of the women Jon calls for a date and ends up getting rejected, Ellen is the most common. She was introduced as a blind date for Jon November 9, 1990 and recently appeared in person after Jon convinced her to go on a date because she had amnesia and couldn't remember how much she despised him. This didn't last long though. In the middle of their date, Liz (Garfield's vet) revealed that she liked Jon and since Ellen had amnesia, she didn't even remember that they were on a date together.

Binky the Clown

One of the more recognizable local entertainers in the comic, Binky first appeared outside the context of television or Jon's coffee mug when Garfield ran away to be with the circus. Binky the Clown hired Garfield as an assistant before Garfield left, deciding that the circus life didn't agree with him. In one TV cartoon, he was addressed as "mad," and in another, he was hired by Jon as a handyman after being fired from show biz for a while and was noted that Garfield and Odie were his only fans. The pets weren't good fans, either.

Themes and settings

Usually, the standard setting is Garfield standing on a table or floor, always flat. Occasionally, Garfield ventures elsewhere and when he goes somewhere else, he usually spends a week or two in that area.

  • The table is the most common setting in the strip. Common scenarios for these strips include Garfield sleeping on his back, eating, drinking coffee (usually with Jon), kicking Odie off the table, or sitting beside Jon (who is often calling women on the phone to ask for a date--mostly getting rejected). This is likely because Garfield usually needs to be face-to-face with Jon to interact with him. In strips such as ones taking place in the living room or outdoors, the drawings are made smaller to fit both Jon and Garfield in. Sometimes, the table is actually important to the story, such as being cut up to get Jon's dinner plate, a gag with a round table, and to cover up Odie while Garfield was using him as a stool to get hot chocolate during December.
  • The TV Chair is one of Garfield’s favorite places, where he entertains himself with shows like Binky the Clown and others. Many of the shows mentioned are absurd and stupid, and give Jim Davis an opportunity to comment on pop-culture. In a few early strips the chair had a floral print, but Garfield sneezed it off after having an allergic reaction to the flowers.
  • On the Lawn, Garfield has confrontations with various characters, such as dogs (more vicious than Odie), birds, worms, and even conscious flowers. "Beware of Dog" signs abound, and Garfield often tries to torment the chained-up dogs as some kind of revenge. Garfield also tries to capture birds in the birdbath, often unsuccessfully. Garfield does occasionally kill and consume his prey but not always. He finds it a lot easier to capture flowers though, and often eats them.
  • Early in the strip, Garfield would spend time on the window ledge and sometimes get trapped in the roll-up blinds. One of these events culminated in a two-week storyline in which Garfield, Odie, Jon, two complete strangers, and even a street lamp all got trapped in the blinds.[citation needed] This was one of the few storylines in which a Sunday strip was part of the regular story arc. After this, Jon bought Venetian blinds (which Garfield, somehow, still manages to get stuck in).
  • The Fence in the Alley is an area where Garfield often tells bad jokes or caterwauls, in an homage to vaudeville. Odie joins the act from time to time, once as a ventriloquist’s dummy, once as "Mr. Skins", who accompanied Garfield on the drums, and once as a cue card boy. Garfield is frequently the target of disgusted fans (usually unseen), who throw shoes, vegetables, and houseplants, and other things that would hurt, at him and once burned down his fence with burning arrows (Garfield’s temporary replacement, a plastic flamingo, just "didn’t feel the same"). Garfield, however, loves the attention he receives, and once complained that he thought a joke deserved more than a single shoe. He does sometimes get applause from his audience, though one time the audience consisted solely of his mother. He apparently has to be booked onto the fence by an agent (in one strip, his agent booked him a gig on a barbed wire fence).
  • Up the tree is another area where Garfield often traps himself. Garfield knows not to climb, but ironically can never overcome the urge. A firefighter usually has to save him on the last day of the week. Once, Jon got stuck up the tree trying to rescue him. And once, Garfield tried to run down a tree, crashing into the ground.
  • Occasionally, Garfield will be taken to the vet’s office, a place he loathes. In this setting, Jon always tries to get a date with Liz, the vet, and usually fails badly. Liz sometimes does go out with Jon. At the end of one date, Jon got a kiss, his first of only three so far in the comic. (However, with his having officially "gotten a life" as of July 28, 2006, when he received his second kiss, this could change.)
  • Sometimes Jon takes Garfield to the park. Jon tries to meet girls in the park, but always fails miserably and humorously. ("She acknowledged my existence!" Jon joyfully declared after a female passer-by told him to "Shut up" before he could even say anything.)
  • Vacations are taken by Jon and his pets every so often, usually to exotic places. Early in the series, Garfield had to sneak along in Jon’s suitcase (this tactic is also used in the second Garfield film, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties). But at some point Jon gave up and took him along as an equal, albeit sometimes dressed as a child. Most often Jon will choose some undesirable tourist trap in a tropical setting. In a particular storyline, Jon takes Garfield to an isle called Guano Guano which actually means "bat feces" in Spanish. Although Jon does say "Aloha" to a native, therefore speaking Hawaiian it is not said where the isle is on the map. Greeting the native with "Aloha" was implied as ignorance that Americans have towards tropical cultures because when he greets the native, it is implied that the native gives Jon an obscene gesture.
  • The Beach can be a sub-setting that falls under a vacation destination but it is implied that Jon takes Garfield to the local beach. This is yet another hot spot for Jon to try to pick up dates but he always fails. Garfield hates the beach simply because it has no TV, and is too hot; however, he does like the fact that he thinks he can "go" wherever he wants. This theme often shows up in the summer.
  • An Airliner is a sub-setting for vacations. Earlier in the strip, Jon and Garfield had to ride in third class, but when they visited Guano Guano, it is not implied what section they were in. Garfield and Odie also had to be dressed as children so as not to ride with the luggage.
  • Campsites are sometimes accompanied by the fishing in a small boat sub-setting.
  • Jon’s Car is a common setting when Jon is taking Garfield to his parents’ farm to visit, to the vet, or when Jon and Garfield go to a fast food drive through. Sometimes the destination is not implied.
  • Irma's Diner is another occasional setting. Irma is a chirpy, but slow-witted and unattractive waitress/manager, and one of Jon’s few friends (although she is probably the only woman he has known that he hasn’t asked out). The terrible food is the center of most of the jokes, along with the poor management. Along with Irma's Diner, other no-name restaurants, from fancy to tourist trap, are sometimes used as a setting.
  • Jon periodically visits his parents and brother on the farm. This results in week-long comical displays of stupidity by Jon and his family, and their interactions.
  • Stores & Shopping Lots are usually on and off settings where Garfield sometimes wreaks havoc. Some include the grocery store, the pet store, the furniture store, fancy restaurants, the florist, the refrigerator store, the Christmas tree lot and the used car lot.
  • Cinemas are rare settings but appear on and off. In a particular setting where Liz reluctantly goes on a date with Jon, he takes her to see a film called Sludge Monster VII: The Oozing. When Jon asks Liz if she wants a bucket of popcorn, she asks for just the bucket.

Short storylines

Garfield comic strips have occasionally featured some members of Jim Davis's other cartoon strip, U.S. Acres (known as Orson's Farm outside North America).

Garfield often engages in one to two week-long interactions with a minor character, event, or thing, such as Nermal, Arlene, the mailman, an alarm clock, a talking scale, the TV, Pooky, spiders, mice, balls of yarn, dieting, shedding, pie throwing, fishing, Mondays (The Monday That Wouldn’t Die), birthdays, lasagna, the "Caped Avenger" (Garfield’s alter ego), Mrs. Feeny, colds, hallucinations with birthday displeasures or dietary complications, talks with his grandfather, etc.

Some more unique themes are things like "Garfield's Believe It or Don't", "Garfield's Law", "Garfield's History of Cats", which show science, history and the world from Garfield's point of view. Another particular theme is the "National Fat Week", where Garfield spends the week making fun of skinny people. Most of December is spent preparing for Christmas, with a predictable focus on presents. Every week before June 19, the strip focuses on his birthday, which Garfield dreads because of his fear of getting older. This started happening after his sixth birthday. Occasionally the strip celebrates Halloween as well with scary-themed jokes. There are also seasonal jokes, with snow-related gags common in January or February and beach or heat themed jokes in the summer.

File:Garfieldfear.jpg

One storyline, which ran the week before Halloween in 1989, is unique among Garfield strips in that it is not meant to be humorous. It depicts Garfield awakening in a future in which the house is abandoned and he no longer exists. In tone and imagery the storyline for this series of strips is very similar to the animation segment for Valse Triste from Allegro Non Troppo, which depicts a ghostly cat roaming around the ruins of the home it once inhabited.

Although there was some speculation about what these strips meant Jim Davis is reported to have actually "laughed loudly" when informed of the rumors circulating on the internet that Garfield was either dead or starving to death in an abandoned house.[15] In Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection, in which the strips are reprinted, Jim Davis discusses the genesis for this series of strips. His caption, in its entirety states:

"During a writing session for Halloween week, I got the idea for this decidedly different series of strips. I wanted to scare people. And what do people fear most? Why, being alone. We carried out the concept to its logical conclusion and got a lot of responses from readers."

Criticism

Despite the widespread popularity of the comic strip, Garfield has been the subject of negative criticism over the years. Like many comics, it is no longer written and drawn exclusively by its creator. Jim Davis still writes and makes rough sketches for the strip, whereas assistants complete the artwork and brushing.

Also, for the past few years the strip has shown little development of character and used increasingly more repetitive storylines. However, on July 28, 2006, Garfield's owner Jon finally got Liz the vet as his girlfriend, having his first ever success in his love life [2].

Bill Watterson, creator of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, is one of those most vocally critical of Garfield, calling Garfield "consistent" and US Acres an "abomination." Berke Breathed, creator of Bloom County, Outland, and the Sunday-only Opus, has been likewise harsh, ironically referring to the cat as "that funny little consistent bastard." His character Bill the Cat, first introduced in Bloom County, is partially a parody of Garfield's marketability — a deliberate attempt to make a variant so disgusting (with such traits as drooling and saying little other than "Oop ack!") as to prevent commercial possibilities.

Marketing and products

As a result of the worldwide proliferation of the comic strip, Paws, Inc. has become a global licensing powerhouse, selling the characters’ images for production on a wide variety of products, including common objects like food, toys, and household items. A franchise of stores selling exclusively Garfield-brand products has become popular outside of North America.

In North America, the most mainstream appearances of Garfield are traditionally compilations of the comic strip, as well as other entertainment media, such as television, as the franchise expanded over time. However, Garfield's main success has come from the comic strip only. The Simpsons have dominated Garfield in every form of merchandise, except in comic book sales.

Books

Compilations

These books, generally released twice a year by Ballantine Books, contain reprints of the comic as it appears in newspapers daily. These books were originally printed in black and white, but recent volumes have been in color. Each book collects approximately six months of comics, including the larger weekend comics (in black and white in all except the recent editions).

The titles of these books were styled as double entendres alluding to Garfield's weight. These books introduced the “Garfield format” in publishing, whereby the books are horizontally oriented to match comic strip dimensions; Davis has recalled having to invent the format in order to better fit the books on store shelves. They are currently being reprinted in a larger format, showing the Sunday strips to be formatted in a size as they usually are, instead of shrunken-down to meet the book size. Newer versions of the books will be released in paperback only, with every comic in full color, not just the Sunday strips. So far, the first twelve books have been reprinted.

  1. Garfield At Large: His First Book (1980) (Comics from June 19, 1978-january 22, 1979)
  2. Garfield Gains Weight: His Second Book (1981) (Comics from January 23, 1979-September 22, 1979)
  3. Garfield Bigger Than Life: His Third Book (1981) (Comics from September 23, 1979-March 30, 1980)
  4. Garfield Weighs In: His Fourth Book (1982)(Comics from March 31, 1980-November 2, 1980)
  5. Garfield Takes the Cake: His Fifth Book (1982)(Comics from November 3, 1980-June 7, 1981)
  6. Garfield Eats His Heart Out: His Sixth Book (1983) (Comics from June 8, 1981-January 10, 1982)
  7. Garfield Sits Around the House: His Seventh Book (1983) (comics from January 11, 1982-August 15, 1982)
  8. Garfield Tips the Scales: His Eighth Book (1984) (Comics from August 16, 1982-March 20, 1983)
  9. Garfield Loses His Feet: His Ninth Book (1984) (Comics from March 21, 1983-October 23, 1983)
  10. Garfield Makes It Big: His 10th Book (1985)(Comics from October 24, 1983-May 27, 1984)
  11. Garfield Rolls On: His 11th Book (1985) (Comics from May 28, 1984-December 30, 1984)
  12. Garfield Out to Lunch: His 12th Book (1986) (Comics from December 31, 1984-August 4, 1985)
  13. Garfield Food for Thought: His 13th Book (1987) (Comics from August 5, 1985-May 9, 1986)
  14. Garfield Swallows His Pride: His 14th Book (1987)(Comics From May 10, 1986-October 12, 1986)
  15. Garfield World Wide: His 15th Book (1988) (Comics from October 13, 1986-May 17, 1987)
  16. Garfield Rounds Out: His 16th Book (1988)(Comics From May 18, 1987-December 19, 1987)
  17. Garfield Chews the Fat: His 17th Book (1989) (Comics from December 20, 1987-July 24, 1988)
  18. Garfield Goes to Waist: His 18th Book (1990) (Comics from July 25, 1988-February 25, 1989)
  19. Garfield Hangs Out: His 19th Book (1990) (Comics from February 26, 1989-September 30, 1990)
  20. Garfield Takes Up Space: His 20th Book (1991) (Comics from October 1, 1990-December 2, 1990)
  21. Garfield Says a Mouthful: His 21st Book (1991)(Comics from December 3, 1990-Unknown)
  22. Garfield By the Pound: His 22nd Book (1992)(Comic from Unknown-Unknown)
  23. Garfield Keeps His Chins Up: His 23rd Book (1992)(Comic from July 8, 1991-February 4, 1992)
  24. Garfield Takes His Licks: His 24th Book (1993)(Comics from February 5, 1992-September 5, 1992)
  25. Garfield Hits the Big Time: His 25th Book (1993) (Comics from September 6, 1992-April 12, 1993)
  26. Garfield Pulls His Weight: His 26th Book (1994)(Comics from April 11, 1993-November 19, 1993)
  27. Garfield Dishes It Out: His 27th Book (1995) (Comics from November 20, 1993-June 11, 1994)
  28. Garfield Life in the Fat Lane: His 28th Book (1995) (Comics from June 12, 1994-January 10, 1995)
  29. Garfield Tons of Fun: His 29th Book (1996)(Comics from January 11, 1995-August 12, 1995)
  30. Garfield Bigger and Better: His 30th Book (1996) (Comics from August 13, 1995-March 11, 1996)
  31. Garfield Hams It Up: His 31st Book (1997) (Comics from March 12, 1996-October 12, 1996)
  32. Garfield Thinks Big: His 32nd Book (1997) (Comic from October 13, 1996-May 13, 1997)
  33. Garfield Throws His Weight Around: His 33rd Book (1998) (Comics from May 14, 1997-December 13, 1997)
  34. Garfield Life to the Fullest: His 34th Book (1999) (December 14, 1997-July 14, 1998)
  35. Garfield Feeds the Kitty: His 35th Book (1999)(Comics from Unknown-Unknown)
  36. Garfield Hogs the Spotlight: His 36th Book (2000)(Comics from Unknown-Unknown)
  37. Garfield Beefs Up: His 37th Book (2000)(Comics from Unknown-Unknown)
  38. Garfield Gets Cookin’: His 38th Book (2001)(Comics from Unknown-Unknown)
  39. Garfield Eats Crow: His 39th Book (2003) (Comics from November 5, 2000-May 30, 2001)

2001)

  1. Garfield Survival of the Fattest: His 40th Book (2004)(Comics from May 31, 2001-December 26, 2001)
  2. Garfield Older and Wider: His 41st Book (2005)(Comics from December 27, 2001-Unknown)
  3. Garfield Pigs Out: His 42nd Book (2006)(Comics from Unknown-Unknown)
  4. Garfield Blots Out The Sun: His 43rd Book (2007)(Comics from Unknown-Unknown)
  • In the UK, over 60 Garfield books, mainly “Pocket Books” or paperbacks, have been published by Ravette. The format is slightly different, as the strips are presented in a vertical style. In the Garfield 20th anniversary book, however, Davis said vertical stacking was the one type of comic anthology layout he wanted to avoid the most when compiling the above collections.

Additionally, adaptations of Garfield television specials have been published in comic format:

  • Garfield as Himself (2004) collects the following books:
  • Here Comes Garfield (1982)
  • Garfield on the Town (1983)
  • Garfield Gets a Life (1991)
  • Garfield Holiday Celebrations (2004) collects the following books:
  • Garfield in Disguise (Halloween special) (1985)
  • Garfield’s Thanksgiving (1988)
  • A Garfield Christmas (1987)
  • Season's Eatings (2003)
  • Garfield Travel Adventures (2005) collects the following books:
  • Garfield in the Rough (1984)
  • Garfield in Paradise (1986)
  • Garfield Goes to Hollywood (1988)

Other books

Early-reader adventure novels featuring Garfield

Garfield’s Pet Force is series of early-reader novels:

  • #1: The Outrageous Origin (1997)
  • #2: Pie Rat’s Revenge (1998)
  • #3: K-Niner: Dog of Doom (1998)
  • #4: Menace of the Mutanator (1999)
  • #5: Attack of the Lethal Lizards (1999)

Garfield Extreme is a series of children’s picture books.

Television

File:GarfieldThrowDish.jpg
Garfield as seen on Garfield and Friends

Video games

File:S20558c8cot.jpg
Title screen for Garfield: Caught in the Act

Garfield was also transported into video games, the first being a never-released Atari 2600 prototype, in 1983, and there was also an 8-bit Famicom game of Garfield made in Japan in 1989.

  1. Garfield (1984) prototype for Atari 2600[16]
  2. Create With Garfield (1985) for Apple II and Commodore 64[17]
  3. Garfield: A Big Fat Hairy Deal (1987) for ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Commodore 64
  4. Garfield: A Winter’s Tail (1989) for Atari ST (will not work on Atari STe computers), Amiga, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64
  5. Garfield no Isshukan (A Week of Garfield) (1989) for the Famicom
  6. Garfield Labyrinth (Unknown year) for Nintendo Game Boy
  7. Garfield: Caught in the Act (1995), for Genesis, Game Gear and PC
  8. Garfield’s Mad About Cats (2001), for PC
  9. Garfield (2004), for PC and PS2 (UK Only)
  10. Garfield: The Search for Pooky (2005) for GBA
  11. Garfield & His Nine Lives (2006) for GBA
  12. Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) for Nintendo DS
  13. Garfield Bound for Home (2006) for Nintendo DS
  14. Garfield: Saving Arlene (2006) for Playstation 2
  15. Garfield: Movin' On Up (2007) for Nintendo DS, PC and Karoke CD
  16. Garfield The Third: The Video Game (2008) for Wii, GBA, Nintendo DS and PC

Films

Miscellaneous

  • His album: Am I Cool or What?
  • His suction-cupped kitties: "Stuck on You" were a phenomenon across America and took several years for production to meet the demand. They became popular on many car windows. The concept was created after an idea trade with Scott Adams in 1990, which involved what type of object could hold the thing other than sticky items; though in the Twentieth Anniversary book, it clearly states that these car hangers came out in 1988. One such suction-cupped plush Garfield appears in a window of a room in the sci-fi film The Abyss during an external shot. Another is seen in the 1996 introduction for the original format for the British motoring show Top Gear.[18] Additionally, Garfield mimics the concept one night while tailing Jon on his date with Liz.
  • His plush products and other toy replicas were licensed for production by the Dakin Company in the 1980s.
  • Garfield was featured in a 1988 advertising campaign for Maple Leaf Village Amusement Park. [3]
  • Garfield’s merchandising approach has been criticized by a number of commentators including Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, whose views against merchandising were explained at great detail in The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book. Watterson, when asked for his opinion of fellow cartoonists, including Jim Davis, once tactfully described Garfield as “consistent.” He also criticized Jim Davis’s U.S. Acres cartoon.[19] Chris Suellentrop of Slate accuses Davis of creating Garfield merely for the merchandising.[20]
  • In 2000 Garfield was used as a mascot/recruiting tool for Cub Scouting, appearing on many items, including 4 plush Garfields in Cub Scout uniforms.
  • Garfield and Odie also are featured on product packaging for the retail chain Meijer.
  • At Kennywood, an amusement park located near Pittsburgh, Garfield is the mascot. There are two Garfield themed rides. They are "Garfield’s Nightmare" a haunted house ride, and a free-fall ride for kids, the "Pounce Bounce". Lake Compounce, also run and owned by Kennywood, uses Garfield theming as well. Also, Silverwood Theme Park, over near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, has the Garfield theme.

Trivia

  • At one point a University of Washington student offered the "Eagle_Fire Garfield Randomizer" here (link now leads to an error page). He/she had found a backdoor into the comic files of ucomics.com, and thereafter had coded a page to yield panels from years of strips that could be combined and shown to friends. After uComics issued a "cease and desist" letter, the webmaster posted the letter on his/her former page along with the necessary code to recreate the original site. Another internet meme that emerged soon after this was the modification of comic strips to remove Garfield's thought bubbles. This had the effect of making Jon look like a lonely, insane man who talks to his uncomprehending pet all the time. [21]
  • Jim Davis drew himself into the comic strip for Garfield's tenth birthday on June 19, 1988. He appears in the title block between Jon and Irma. The final block carries a message at the bottom which reads: HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY, BUDDY, JIM DAVIS.[22]
  • On one epsiode of Garfield and Friends {Garfield trapped in a monster house-look closely Jim Davis has a non-speaking cameo as a cartoonist!!}
  • The character Milhouse has a Garfield binder on The Simpsons.
  • The Cheat from Homestar Runner wore a Garfield Halloween costume once.
  • Peter, in the syndicated comic strip FoxTrot, in order to promote Garfield: The Movie at the theater he works at in the summer, wore a Garfield costume for a week.
  • In one of the Garfield strips, Jon is at a high-school reunion. He talks to a man named Gary Barker, Gary Barker is Jim Davis' assistant that draws the blue-pencil products before they are inked and lettered.

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Most Syndicated Comic Strip". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  2. ^ "Garfield gestures". A Nice Gesture. 2006-04-20. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 1980-06-15. Retrieved 2006-12-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 2003-06-14. Retrieved 2006-12-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 2006-07-17. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 2006-07-28. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 1983-07-01. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 2006-06-19. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 2005-06-19. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 1978-06-19. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ a b c Davis, Jim: "Garfield: 20th Anniversary Collection", page 21. Ballantine Books, 1998
  12. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 1998-07-13. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 1980-06-15. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 1978-08-08. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Boing Boing: Death of Garfield mystery solved!". 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2006-08-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Garfield - Atari 2600 - Atari". AtariAge. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  17. ^ "Create With Garfield!". Apple II archive. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  18. ^ "YouTube-BBC Top Gear Opening Titles 1996". Retrieved 2006-09-09..
  19. ^ "Bill Watterson interview: Honk Magazine 1997". Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  20. ^ Suellentrop, Chris (2004-06-11). "Garfield: Why we hate the Mouse but not the cartoon copycat". Slate. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2006/02/dreadlines.html
  22. ^ The Garfield Vault Strip. Garfield.com (1988-06-19). Retrieved on 2006-08-30.

External links

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