Garfield is boring. Admit it. It is very difficult to read a Garfield strip and have any kind of reaction at all. Here’s an example:
It’s a comic strip about a lonely guy and his two pets, one of which is a lazy cat. Is this a comic for lonely people? Is it a comic for cat owners? Because those are both un-hilarious categories of people. I should know; I have been both.
What’s more, the official Garfield website is the ugliest website that I’ve seen in a long time. If you want to make your own Internet experience this ugly, check out the Geocities-izer.
The thing about Garfield, though, is that everyone is familiar with it. And when something becomes familiar, creative people start to get derivative.
Perhaps you’ve heard of some of these….
Check out Garfield Minus Garfield. It’s basically a series of comics in which Jon talks to himself. And apparently Jim Davis himself finds them funny, so beat that. Here’s one:
If that doesn’t do it for you (though it should), check out Garfield without thought clouds:
After browsing through those, watch a few live versions of the comic strips by Lasagna Cat (notice how finely detailed they are, right down to the inexplicably shifting background shades). Plus, there are weird songs at the end.
That’s all for me for the day. Just trying to brighten up your syndicated comic strip experience.
Know of any other hilarious Garfield adaptations?
I used to LOVE Garfield when I was a kid. Maybe because I really liked cats? He was also easy to draw! Maybe I was just a weird kid…
There’s also Realfield : http://blog.org.es/realfield/ (Garfield replaced with a more realistic cat) – they’re pretty great, and Jon’s neuroses really come into focus.
Excellent stuff! Thanks Brian.
You’ve covered the most important Garfield mashups out there and this website seems to try to cover them ALL: http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/about.php
Funny cartoonist David Malki has also covered the Garifeld problem very well through a blog post (http://wondermark.com/the-comic-strip-doctor-garfield/) and a comic of his own (http://wondermark.com/189/).
I am impressed with these links, and your Garfield mashup knowledge. Thanks for sharing!