# Does Jon Arbuckle have a job? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260 "2007-09-24T03:18:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/1 "2007-09-24T03:18:24Z")
I’ve been reading the archives of _Garfield_, and I’ve noticed that while he has a cat and dog, and feeds them regularly, not to mention himself, as well as going to the vet and going out on dates and to the diner, not once do we see him go to any job, nor do we see Garfield or Odie react in any way to him getting home after a day at work. So what is it? Rich uncle? Trust fund? Or Jim Davis not thinking about it? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/2 "2007-09-24T03:20:03Z")
According to the very first _Garfield_ cartoon, which ran on June 19, 1978 (Garfield’s “birthday”), Jon is a cartoonist. Whether or not he still is, I’m not sure. I’m guessing that aspect of Jon went the way of Lyman. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/3 "2007-09-24T03:20:36Z")
It’s been shown several times that he’s a cartoonist, IIRC. Not so much recently, but a lot in the early days. And speaking of Garfield, I don’t read it a lot anymore, but I have noticed Jon is going on a LOT more dates with the vet. Are he and her officially an item now, after some twenty-odd years? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/4 "2007-09-24T03:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] It’s been shown several times that he’s a cartoonist, IIRC. Not so much recently, but a lot in the early days. And speaking of Garfield, I don’t read it a lot anymore, but I have noticed Jon is going on a LOT more dates with the vet. Are he and her officially an item now, after some twenty-odd years? [/QUOTE] Yup, they had about a ten strip arc where she admits she liked him. It’s so sad I know that. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/5 "2007-09-24T03:30:07Z")
I believe Jon and Liz are now an item, yes. She finally fell for Jon in [July 2006](http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?2006-ga060728). ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/6 "2007-09-24T03:33:17Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] According to the very first _Garfield_ cartoon, which ran on June 19, 1978 (Garfield’s “birthday”), Jon is a cartoonist. Whether or not he still is, I’m not sure. I’m guessing that aspect of Jon went the way of Lyman. [/QUOTE] Which is ironic, because Odie was originally Lyman’s dog. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/7 "2007-09-24T03:51:08Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] Are he and her officially an item now, after some twenty-odd years? [/QUOTE] Y’know, that’s 140 in people years. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/8 "2007-09-24T07:03:28Z")
[QUOTE=Enfant Terrible] Yup, they had about a ten strip arc where she admits she liked him. It’s so sad I know that. [/QUOTE] Did you know about the week long pre-Halloween arc where Garfield discovered that he lived alone in an abandoned house? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/9 "2007-09-24T07:14:48Z")
[QUOTE=Enfant Terrible] It’s so sad I know that. [/QUOTE] I can outsad you, dude. _I know what happened to Lyman._ [Click here to learn the horrible truth!](http://www.garfield.com/fungames/scavengerhunt/scavengerhunt.html) (Game, kid-safe, somewhat time-consuming.) ---
**Author:** ![juliet325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@juliet325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/juliet325)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/10 "2007-09-24T08:49:03Z")
Just like most people know, It’s a fact that he’s a cartoonist, IIRC. And there is not too much about his other career ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/11 "2007-09-24T08:58:23Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] According to the very first _Garfield_ cartoon, which ran on June 19, 1978 (Garfield’s “birthday”), Jon is a cartoonist. Whether or not he still is, I’m not sure. I’m guessing that aspect of Jon went the way of Lyman. [/QUOTE] I miss Lyman, he gave the strip a certain something. I find it interesting how some of his foibles (like wearing ridiculous outfits when he went out to impress women) were transferred to John after his disappearance. I have a few Garfield collections, one is a reissue of the first three, another is “Garfield’s 9 lives” and I believe was all entirely new content (nothing from actual papers), the 5th treasury, and one or two others from back in the day. I liked the strip, but am wholly in the camp of those who feel that it’s been a long time since Davis was at his peak. To this day most of my favorite stuff is from that “fat-cat 3 pack” (the aforementioned first three collections). Incidentally, anyone here ever seen the strips where someone edited out all of Garfield’s word balloons? I think it was here that I first saw the link to them. It becomes a dark, surrealist comic about a man who’s insane, and Garfield’s mugging to the audience often comes off as kind of creepy. It’s fun to read, and fascinating how simply removing the cat’s “dialogue” changes so much about the work. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/12 "2007-09-24T09:35:41Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] Incidentally, anyone here ever seen the strips where someone edited out all of Garfield’s word balloons? I think it was here that I first saw the link to them. It becomes a dark, surrealist comic about a man who’s insane, and Garfield’s mugging to the audience often comes off as kind of creepy. It’s fun to read, and fascinating how simply removing the cat’s “dialogue” changes so much about the work. [/QUOTE] Like [this?](http://www.truthandbeautybombs.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4997) ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/13 "2007-09-24T10:02:15Z")
Yup, that’s it. I saw them on another site, I believe, because some of the ones at your link weren’t there, hence my interpretation of it. Thanks for the link, **Shoshana**. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/14 "2007-09-24T10:53:37Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] Incidentally, anyone here ever seen the strips where someone edited out all of Garfield’s word balloons? I think it was here that I first saw the link to them. It becomes a dark, surrealist comic about a man who’s insane, and Garfield’s mugging to the audience often comes off as kind of creepy. It’s fun to read, and fascinating how simply removing the cat’s “dialogue” changes so much about the work. [/QUOTE] I can’t find them, but I’ve seen strips with Garfield removed entirely. Jon comes across as totally insane. I couldn’t stop laughing when I first saw them. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/15 "2007-09-24T11:29:08Z")
If I’ve figured out Photobucket, [this](http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc308/Bryaxis_photos/lonelyjon1.jpg) should yield an example of “Lonely Jon”. It’s both sad and hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/16 "2007-09-24T14:41:18Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles] I have a few Garfield collections, one is a reissue of the first three, another is “Garfield’s 9 lives” and I believe was all entirely new content (nothing from actual papers) [/QUOTE] Incidentally, the TV version of “Garfield’s 9 Lives” is one of my favorite cartoon movies ever, especially the end. ---
**Author:** ![Obligate\_Carnivore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Obligate\_Carnivore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obligate_Carnivore)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/17 "2007-09-24T18:35:25Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] Incidentally, the TV version of “Garfield’s 9 Lives” is one of my favorite cartoon movies ever, especially the end. [/QUOTE] My god, I love that. Did they ever release it to DVD? The Diana (with the piano) one alway reduced me to tears. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/18 "2007-09-24T20:08:08Z")
[QUOTE=Obligate Carnivore] My god, I love that. Did they ever release it to DVD? The Diana (with the piano) one alway reduced me to tears. [/QUOTE] > **[Amazon.com: Garfield: Fantasies (Garfield's Babes and Bullets / Garfield's...](https://www.amazon.com/Garfield-Fantasies-Garfields-Bullets-Feline/dp/B0007PAM3I)** > > The Garfield Fantasies DVD is a group of thematically consistent television specials that were developed and aired on CBS. They are all focused around Garfields vivid imagination and ability to day dream. Babes and Bullets and Garfields Feline... And the Diana story gets me teared up too. In a manly non-teary fashion, of course. I’m also a big fan of the army experiment one. ---
**Author:** ![Obligate\_Carnivore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Obligate\_Carnivore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obligate_Carnivore)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/19 "2007-09-24T20:29:01Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] > **[Amazon.com: Garfield: Fantasies (Garfield's Babes and Bullets / Garfield's...](https://www.amazon.com/Garfield-Fantasies-Garfields-Bullets-Feline/dp/B0007PAM3I)** > > The Garfield Fantasies DVD is a group of thematically consistent television specials that were developed and aired on CBS. They are all focused around Garfields vivid imagination and ability to day dream. Babes and Bullets and Garfields Feline... And the Diana story gets me teared up too. In a manly non-teary fashion, of course. I’m also a big fan of the army experiment one. [/QUOTE] Thank you! I’m going to order it! God, I’m getting all teary eyed thinking about watching that segment again. ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260/20 "2007-09-24T20:49:00Z")
One of my favourite Garfield spoofs is “Barfield loses his lunch” [Barfield Loses His Lunch](http://www.thereverend.com/barfield/index.html) It gets raunchier as the strips go on - I bust a gut not trying to giggle at some of them at work. Warning - in poor taste, and very juvenile! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-jon-arbuckle-have-a-job/420260.md?page=2)