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[Raticus79]

Genuinely liked it. I rewatched that Halloween special a few times. I was actually pretty disappointed to hear it was frowned upon as a marketing grab when I got older.

I used that eye style for doodles for quite a while. That reminds me, Fallout 4 has a perk that uses it: Idiot Savant

 

[jstripes]

Then there was the week when Jim Davis did something truly bizarre:

http://www.retrojunk.com/article/show/417/the-death-of-garfield

 

[SuperBanana]

Garfield without Garfield is the best.

 

[Krejlooc]

basically

 

[Currygan]

found it very repetitive, it's got nothing on Bloom County or Dilbert as far as American strips go

 

[Stabby McSter]

basically

of course the internet ruined garfield

how do you ruin garfield

it's basically already ruined

fuck you internet

 

[Chmpocalypse]

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Eix1CDVHYE

Holy shit

How have I not read G minus G before

It's amazing

 

[Mathieran]

I was a huge fan of Garfield as a kid and basically learned to read by having my brother read and I would follow along. I had all the collections and watched the cartoon.

 

[Sheroking]

It was never Calvin and Hobbes, but the first decade or so was solid. The TV show was fun, too.

Garfield was kind of my first anti-hero. I'll always have a soft spot for it because it was a big part of my childhood.

 

[GreatestHits]

Saying Garfield isn't funny isn't some dangerous stance to take or some shit though.

If you said Calvin & Hobbes or Peanuts or something, you might get some kind of reaction.

Mindblown.gif

Context: I owned over 39 garfield books as an aspiring cartoonist when I was young then never read them again after being exposed to calvin and hobbes. Of course I proceeded to buy all of the books in that collection.

My assessment: Garfield is for people who have been dulled by their soul being sucked away from the slave life, and Calvin N Hobbes is for people with lots of soul

 

[Operations]

Schulz had all of our numbers before most of us were even born.

Damn, lol.

 

[Not]

Referring to Garfield as an "it" makes me giggle.

 

[ZackieChan]

found it very repetitive, it's got nothing on Bloom County or Dilbert as far as American strips go

I bet you hate lasagna too

 

[bengraven]

It was appealing to the demographic at the time.

- the design was good and creative

- he had quirks and people liked it

- slice of life type jokes

- like Sonic he was just a bit more attitude in a genre full of pure characters

 

[poppabk]

Then there was the week when Jim Davis did something truly bizarre:

http://www.retrojunk.com/article/show/417/the-death-of-garfield

Garfield without Garfield is the best.

Combine these two posts and Garfield is the most amazing comic ever written. Garfield dies and the rest of the comics are Jon talking to his deceased cat as he descends into madness and depression.

 

[Fink]

I used to have one of those books of his comics and would read them in the car as a kid. Not sure how old I was, maybe 7? These days I can only laugh at how bad they are.

This website has sketches from Jim Davis himself and the asking prices are pretty ridiculous. The original comic strip art is $2000 per strip. I wonder how often they actually sell these things.

Some of the fanmade things around it are great too, i.e. Garfield Minus Garfield. My friend and I are big fans of lasagnacat's re-enacting of the comic strips.

 

[Patapwn]

Garfield was cat videos before cat videos

 

[The Real Abed]

This is funnier than any Garfield comic.

Even if there is a Garfield comic that makes this joke, this post is funnier than it.

Sad thing is I think there actually might have been. Someone needs to find it if it exists.

Holy shit

How have I not read G minus G before

It's amazing

I own the book.

 

[SpiralZilla]

Sad thing is I think there actually might have been. Someone needs to find it if it exists.

Multiple Garfield comics explain that Garfield hates Mondays because they're his bad luck days.

Also, that Garfield without Garfield link has another link to the Garfield.com website. I can't believe those minigames are still there! I used to play the Scary Scavenger Hunts and Bean Me from time to time when I was in elementary school! How are those still up?

 

[Elfforkusu]

So the thing about Garfield is that something happened to it in the late 90s. And by something happened I mean that it stopped being in any way clever or funny. If you look at strips made before this time frame (as a kid I had a bunch of the compilation books!), they are actually pretty good. Not C&H or Far Side level of course, but that's not a fair comparison.

I always figured that was the time Jim Davis mentally checked out.

As for why it still exists -- are any comic strips funny these days? I feel like it's an inertia thing. What's going to displace it? Some equally awful comic strip without the name recognition?

 

[Valhelm]

I think Garfield really latched onto the early-80s nihilism that emerged due to the materialism of that decade. The cast was as lazy and misanthropic as we all believe ourselves to be, and was rude to his superior in a way we can only dream of. And in 1980, his snark was pretty edgy and new compared to usual comic strip humor.

 

[Currygan]

I bet you hate lasagna too

psh, I cook sublime lasagne

 

[The Albatross]

Garfield and Cathy are basically the same,or share like 90% of the same humor

 

[Sou Da]

Reading Heathcliff is such a surreal experience it's almost antihumor.

 

[epmode]

Reading Heathcliff is such a surreal experience it's almost antihumor.

Fred Basset is pure antihumor. I need to make a thread about it someday.

 

[Etzer]

why does garfield hate mondays

he doesnt even work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8BYawpeRNg

 

[Remembrance]

So the thing about Garfield is that something happened to it in the late 90s. And by something happened I mean that it stopped being in any way clever or funny. If you look at strips made before this time frame (as a kid I had a bunch of the compilation books!), they are actually pretty good. Not C&H or Far Side level of course, but that's not a fair comparison.

I always figured that was the time Jim Davis mentally checked out.

As far as I can tell, the 90s were when the rightsholders seriously started flooding the whole globe with licensed merchandising. Weird stuff like ice skating shows, store and restaurant chains, and plans for theme parks (which fell through because it wasn't Universal Studios, basically). Countries like China ate this stuff up just because it was a Western cartoon character.

As a result the comic had to be written so all the jokes were universally translatable in every culture. Of course, when you write (G-rated) jokes so that literally every person on the planet can get them, you have to cut out most of the remotely funny ones.

 

[Box of Kittens]

Reading Heathcliff is such a surreal experience it's almost antihumor.

The last time I read a Heathcliff I seriously couldn't decide whether or not it was attempting to tell a joke.

 

[SNURB]

I enjoy the Garfield comics up to a certain period. I say that the strip hit its peak in the 1980s when there was genuinely funny stuff but took a nosedive somewhere in the 90s (maybe sometime after the Saturday Morning cartoon).

The TV specials are great though. Especially the early ones since they have that Peanuts look to them (same artists/animators worked on both).

I still get a kick out of Jon drinking that cup of dog sperm at the vet.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Lorenzo Music

 

[『Inaba Resident』]

Osomatsu-san is the Japanese Garfield!

Umaru is Japanese Garfield

 

[TheRedSnifit]

 

[davepoobond]

it was all worth it for Lasagna Cat

 

[Chuckie]

What is 'lasaga' mister president?

I used to like Garfield a lot as a kid. A lot more than peanuts.
Calvin and Hobbes is the best though.

 

[casinoman921]

Love Garfield and own a lot of books. Older stuff is better, and newer strips kind of just rehash old topics. Pretty sure the biggest breakthrough in recent times is Jon finally getting with Liz.

Watching Garfield and Friends on Saturday mornings was the highlight of my weekends growing up. Lorenzo Music was perfect.

 

[Always-honest]

Like Sonic

 

[Richie]

And, yes, Garfield & Friends was pretty good for a kids cartoon. It was really based more on Mark Evanier's humor than Davis's, and honestly that's for the best.

Damn right. Just take a look at Mistakes Will Happen.

 

[Frozenprince]

"Hey, Jon. It's me, Gazorpazorpfield. Boy, fuck you, Jon, you fucking dumb, stupid idiot. You dumb, stupid, weak, pathetic, white, white... uh-uhh... guilt... white-guilt, milquetoast... piece of human garbage."

The fact that this entire episode was nothing but improv is the best.

 

[Mr Swine]

I still read Garfield from time to time. I agree that it's not what it used to be but it's enough for me, still my favourite comic series. I do like Calvin & Hobbes and Peanuts so yeah

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Like Sonic

I wonder if there's a large, awkward fan base for Garfield that sexualizes all of the characters and has them marrying one another in weird fan fiction.

 

[Frozenprince]

I wonder if there's a large, awkward fan base for Garfield that sexualizes all of the characters and has them marrying one another in weird fan fiction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn3_XHot5Do

 

[magnetic]

I found an example of the marketable design and quality writing of the early strip.

Early Garfield looked morbidly obese with these big hanging cheek flaps and sunken eyes.

 

[Coulis]

It brought us First of the Borf Star, so it cannot be that bad.

 

[Boss Doggie]

The strips are amazing.

 

[User 73706]

I found an example of the marketable design and quality writing of the early strip.

Oh hey, it's like CAD before CAD was a thing!

 

[tiggerkiddo]

So the thing about Garfield is that something happened to it in the late 90s. And by something happened I mean that it stopped being in any way clever or funny. If you look at strips made before this time frame (as a kid I had a bunch of the compilation books!), they are actually pretty good. Not C&H or Far Side level of course, but that's not a fair comparison.

I always figured that was the time Jim Davis mentally checked out.

As for why it still exists -- are any comic strips funny these days? I feel like it's an inertia thing. What's going to displace it? Some equally awful comic strip without the name recognition?

Yes, that's around the time where the strip didn't seem to be as funny or clever anymore. It's too bad, but occasionally I go back to read a bunch of them to see how it is, haven't read it in a while so maybe things have picked up? Who knows.

I still need to go back and get all of the older ones.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Oh hey, it's like CAD before CAD was a thing!

Except without the racism, sexism, panels with so many words you can barely see the copy-and-paste "art" beneath, and a pretentious, thieving creator who thinks his work is infallible.

 

[bounchfx]

as a kid, i loved garfield. i had the comic strip books 1-26 or something like that. I found it entertaining, but I can't really remember shit Lol, there were some parts later on that were more story-like in those though, not sure if they were ever in the newspaper. stuff like going to grandmas for thanksgiving and whatnot - it was a lot more than just the 3 panel format. hell, my aunt even signed me up for the garfield can club and I think I still have my membership card, aha.

 

[Andrew J.]

He hates Mondays, just like me!

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

You have to keep in mind that Garfield's been around since the late 70's. Yeah, he's not funny now, but that's because the whole apathetic, sarcastic smartass schtick has been done to death by this point. In the 70's and 80's this was not the case and his strip was fresh and legit funny at the time. It was so much more hip/edgy than Peanuts, Blondie, Hagar, and Snuffy Smith, etc.

It's the same reason The Far Side and FoxTrot got super-popular a littler later on. They were bucking the trend of wholesome, gentle, lowest-common denominator comic strip humor. Both of those strips are better than Garfield but Jim Davis beat them to the punch.