# Do you find Garfield (comic strip) funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626 "2012-03-23T18:48:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/1 "2012-03-23T18:48:11Z")
This is going on the belief that you actually read Garfield regularly or semi-regularly. If you don’t, then why are you opening this topic at all? :dubious: So because of that, I didn’t include a “I don’t read Garfield” option. A friend of mine informed me today that I am the only person alive who finds Garfield funny. Obviously she was just making a hyperbole…but that did get me wondering, is Garfield not usually liked? I always thought it was one of the funniest strips in the paper. Surely there has to be a good number of people who do find it funny, right? I can’t really be the only person alive in that group… ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/2 "2012-03-23T19:00:04Z")
There was a time when it was one of the most consistenly funny comics out there. Unfortunately, that time was 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/3 "2012-03-23T19:00:51Z")
There is a common notion that Garfield just isn’t funny anymore and it seems to be popular to agree with it, whether one reads the strips or not. When I was much young, I used to love it and, in fact, own every Garfield strip up to that date (like up into the late 30s in books). I haven’t read it much since then, but haven’t really read many strips since that age at all. I do think that the funniest days were years ago and that its not uncommon that the same joke has been reused a dozen times before. But for a strip that’s been running for over 30 years, that should be expected, not unlike how the same is said about the Simpsons. Though, honestly, even if Garfield isn’t really all that funny now, there’s a huge number of strips I never really found very funny and over the years that Garfield has been running, there’s definitely a fair number of pretty funny strips. So, sure, I’d say its still one of the better strips. All that said, it probably could have stood to have been ended years ago and it might instead have the same kind of reverence of a strip like Calvin and Hobbes or, as a Simpsons comparison a sitcom like Seinfeld, that ended near their primes. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/4 "2012-03-23T19:08:46Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > There was a time when it was one of the most consistenly funny comics out there. Unfortunately, that time was 30 years ago. What he said. Some comic artists know when they are about to run out of material, and quit before they become unfunny. Others milk the strip as long as they can. I used to love Garfield. Now, I still read it, but mostly out of habit. Sometimes there’s one funny strip in a week. That’s a GOOD week. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/5 "2012-03-23T19:12:02Z")
My second objection to _Garfield_ is that the character has no cat-like qualities at all. My main objection is that the strip isn’t funny, but that is very subjective. But _Garfield_ does not generally behave in ways that are based on normal cat behavior. There is a rich lode of humor to be found in cats - look at Kliban’s work. In Gilbert Shelton’s _Fat Freddy’s Cat_ the humor was from the cat living in the home of three hippies, and the actions and thoughts were all ones you could easily attribute to a cat. _Garfield_ is an office worker in a cat suit, a cold and cynical attempt to capture the same demographic that enjoys _Cathy_ and _Love Is…_ By the way, I believe that the characters in _Garfield_ came from a National Lampoon meta-cartoon comic strip called _Famous Cartoon Artist’s School_. Each month was a lesson. One was “Every famous cartoonist needs characters. Here are three you can use.” The three characters were _Dipshit Dog_, _Cocksucker Cat_ and _Badass Bunny_. The first two were _Garfield_ and _Odie_. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/6 "2012-03-23T19:14:00Z")
Wow, judging from the votes so far, I just _ **may** _ be the only person alive who finds Garfield (still) funny. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/7 "2012-03-23T19:29:07Z")
It is somewhat funnier than it was five years ago. Maybe a decent strip every month now. But once you remove Jon wears a garish suit, Garfield steals his dinner, Garfield pushes Odie, and Garfield crushes a spider, what do you have? Not much. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/8 "2012-03-23T19:33:34Z")
It was funny when I was a kid. Two things to consider: 1. I was a kid. 2. That was 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/9 "2012-03-23T19:33:50Z")
Someone linked this a few years ago - it’s brilliant. [Garfield Minus Garfield](http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/10 "2012-03-23T20:08:48Z")
Not since I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/11 "2012-03-23T20:20:35Z")
It trended upwards a bit a few years back when Liz finally started going out with Jon, as that provided fodder for some new jokes. They jumped the shark, and for once, it actually worked. That’s starting to get old now, too, though. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/12 "2012-03-23T20:24:42Z")
I used to have a link to a page that posted three random Garfield panels in a random order. It was usually funny than the actual published strips. Edit: Apparently there are several; [Here’s one](http://www.bgreco.net/garfield/). ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/13 "2012-03-23T21:07:49Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > My second objection to _Garfield_ is that the character has no cat-like qualities at all. My main objection is that the strip isn’t funny, but that is very subjective. But _Garfield_ does not generally behave in ways that are based on normal cat behavior. In the early years, cat behavior was common fodder for gags. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/14 "2012-03-23T21:28:29Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Someone linked this a few years ago - it’s brilliant. > > [Garfield Minus Garfield](http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/) On the rare occasions that I bother to read the strip, I almost automatically see if it would be able to work as one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/15 "2012-03-23T21:59:54Z")
When I was a young’en in the 80s I found Garfield pretty funny and collected the first 25 books plus a few anthologies. Then I stopped. Maybe I outgrew the humor. Or maybe the jokes had just ran stale at that point. I’m not sure which. I passed on my books to my niece and nephew, who are 12 and 8, and both of them got a good amount of enjoyment reading them. So the early strips appear to have a timeless quality to them, at least to pre-teens. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/16 "2012-03-23T22:29:31Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > In the early years, cat behavior was common fodder for gags. And in the early years, the strip was more consistently funny. Garfield used to walk on all fours, but then Davis had the bright idea of having Garfield walk on his hind legs like a human. One of the things that I like about the Simon’s Cat videos is that the Cat ACTS like a cat. There are some human behaviors (like wielding a baseball bat), but for the most part, the cat is a cat, and is motivated by what a cat wants, and what it doesn’t want. The Cat wants food, or doesn’t want to share its food, or it is puzzled by the snow. And it acts like a cat, not a little human in a fur suit. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/17 "2012-03-23T23:02:12Z")
Garfield jump the shark a decade ago. I was a big fan in the 80’s. Bought the books and read them dozens of times. But then the storys started repeating themselves. I still occasionally read the strip along with the other comics. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/18 "2012-03-23T23:04:46Z")
Still read it, still like it. It’s one of the five or so funnies I can stand to look at. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/19 "2012-03-23T23:14:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It trended upwards a bit a few years back when Liz finally started going out with Jon, as that provided fodder for some new jokes. Is Liz the veterinarian? Are they still dating now? My newspaper doesn’t have Garfield so I haven’t read it in years. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626/20 "2012-03-23T23:23:11Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > Is Liz the veterinarian? Are they still dating now? Yes to both. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-garfield-comic-strip-funny/616626.md?page=2)