8.29.2007

Improving on Garfield, Part 1

A denizen of a message board recently posited a theory that Garfield's humor can be assumed to be at a level of 0. Therefore any attempt to alter or recontextualize the strip cannot help but improve upon it.

Method 1: Assume that Garfield has been dead or starving to death since 1989.

A series of strips published just before Halloween in 1989 paints a startling picture of a world in which Garfield's house is abandoned and his friends have disappeared.

While Jon Davis apparently meant the series as a comment on the fear of loneliness, it make things more palatable to imagine the present banal strips as the last defense mechanisms of a starving cat in the throes of denial.

Method 2: The Crazy Jon theory


Removing all of Garfield's thought bubbles places the focus on Jon Arbuckle and results in a more surreal and occasionally hilarious comic strip. More examples can be found by clicking on the picture and by clicking here and here.

Method 3: Consider it a lost cause and move on.

This is probably for the best, but it's fun to freak Tara out with the "Garfield is Dead" theory.



Update:

Method 4: Condense the entire strip to one panel.


Nice.

Method 5: Googly Eyes

Yikes.

6 comments:

Josh said...

We're opting to comment on the unspoken takeout, could this have been ours? We've left this calling card in many a fridge. If so, our bad.

tara d. said...

why would you WANT to freak me out?

...why?

you are a horrible roommate.



also, why is the googly eyes one way funnier than one would guess?

Rich said...

Those Silent Garfield strips are the funniest thing ever. Thank you for making my day.

Rob said...

This one is my favorite.

Travis said...

Where does this scale put Marmaduke? I'd say at least -34.

Reverend Brick Salad said...

Where can I find the original pages for the second two?