# Garfield. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905 "2017-06-13T23:19:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CastletonSnob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ea924/32.png) [@CastletonSnob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/1 "2017-06-13T23:19:58Z")
Was Garfield ever good, in your opinion? And is it true that Garfield was always meant to be a cashcow? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/2 "2017-06-13T23:24:23Z")
I still have my book from when I was in fourth grade, 1988. I thought he was funny then. I was 9-10 years old and I laughed and enjoyed the simplicity of the comic. Calvin and Hobbes and Far Side were just a year or two past me at this point. But, no, it wasn’t every really funny. Not for adults. Yes, he was invented to sell products. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/3 "2017-06-13T23:25:53Z")
Leaf weasels… Hee hee… ---
**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:** [June 13, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/4 "2017-06-13T23:39:07Z")
It’s varied in quality over the years (and not uniformly downwards, either), but it was never one of the greats. And I’m sure that when Davis was just starting out, he didn’t dream of how lucrative it’d end up being, but as soon as he did see the opportunity, he took it. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/5 "2017-06-13T23:47:11Z")
Really, he was a rather splendid man in his life’s journey; the horror of his killing obscures the rest of his incumbency — he was only 49, but his photos look 10 - 20 years older, but that’s the 19th century for you — somewhat of a rascally imperialist; a fine soldier; he did a lot for civil rights, such as they were, and civil service reforms. As for being a cash cow, congress found him so in the Salary Grab of '73, although not something he chose; and I myself would tend to exonerate him in the _Crédit Mobilier._ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/6 "2017-06-13T23:56:19Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Really, he was a rather splendid man in his life’s journey; the horror of his killing obscures the rest of his incumbency — he was only 49, but his photos look 10 - 20 years older, but that’s the 19th century for you — somewhat of a rascally imperialist; a fine soldier; he did a lot for civil rights, such as they were, and civil service reforms. > > As for being a cash cow, congress found him so in the Salary Grab of '73, although not something he chose; and I myself would tend to exonerate him in the _Crédit Mobilier._ You wouldn’t know it to look at him but he was quite the ladies man and cheated on his wife numerous times. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/7 "2017-06-14T01:06:49Z")
Seriously, Garfield was funny when it started in 1978. People loved it. Then it became beaten into the ground so far that it looked up to the Marianas Trench. But for the first few years it had whatever magic a cartoon needed. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/8 "2017-06-14T01:45:34Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Seriously, Garfield was funny when it started in 1978. People loved it. Then it became beaten into the ground so far that it looked up to the Marianas Trench. But for the first few years it had whatever magic a cartoon needed. Yeah, that’s what I remember as well. When it first started, it was funny, and it was very well liked. But that was many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/9 "2017-06-14T02:07:05Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Yeah, that’s what I remember as well. When it first started, it was funny, and it was very well liked. But that was many years ago. …and by the time the movie(s) came out, it was so over and done that even the actors said about the paycheck, “No, add a zero… no, add a zero… ok, slap my ass and call me a whore, I’ll do your movie.” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/10 "2017-06-14T08:45:35Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/11 "2017-06-14T10:39:18Z")
Yes. Originally it even had HEART. There was a series of early strips when he went back to the pizzeria he was born in that were quite something. Oh, it ended up as the lowest common denominator for humor, sure. That doesn’t mean it didn’t reach his popularity with one-note crap. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/12 "2017-06-14T10:50:35Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > There was a series of early strips when he went back to the pizzeria he was born in that were quite something. Are you sure this was published as daily strips? All I remember is a TV special and subsequent [comic book](https://www.amazon.com/Garfield-Town-Jim-Davis/dp/0345315421) release. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/13 "2017-06-14T11:56:33Z")
I loved Garfield as a kid. It was never hilarious (or deep), nor, I don’t think, was it meant to be. Maybe it depends if or how much you like(d) cats. I named my adorable grey kitten [Nermal](https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield/images/5/57/Nermal.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140219181443). ---
**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:** [June 14, 2017, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/14 "2017-06-14T12:12:27Z")
There have been some inspired sequences here and there. Old Garfield (as in how he was drawn at the start) visits New Garfield and has a chat, then we have the mindfuck sequence where his entire world becomes this surreal nightmare… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/15 "2017-06-14T12:25:37Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > …and by the time the movie(s) came out, it was so over and done that even the actors said about the paycheck, > > “No, add a zero… no, add a zero… ok, slap my ass and call me a whore, I’ll do your movie.” Woody Harrelson: Do you have any regrets? Bill Murray: Well…maybe Garfield. [everyone nods sadly and knowingly] ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/16 "2017-06-14T17:32:10Z")
I liked Garfield when it was new. I also liked Ziggy. They were just comics. I didn’t expect world-class humor. Just a good chuckle. They used to do that. I also like Garfield minus Garfield. ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/17 "2017-06-14T17:38:48Z")
It’s funnier [without Garfield](http://garfieldminusgarfield.net). ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/18 "2017-06-14T17:49:13Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > Are you sure this was published as daily strips? All I remember is a TV special and subsequent [comic book](https://www.amazon.com/Garfield-Town-Jim-Davis/dp/0345315421) release. I had the comics when I was a kid. I assume they were dailies, since they were in comic strip form. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/19 "2017-06-14T18:25:38Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > then we have the mindfuck sequence where his entire world becomes this surreal nightmare… You mean [this](http://comicsalliance.com/ask-chris-218-the-scariest-comic-of-all-time-is-a-garfield-story-from-1989/) one? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905/20 "2017-06-14T18:27:44Z")
I thought Garfield was very funny for a long time. His hate of Mondays, his fear of spiders (and arguments with them), his disdain for Nermal and Jon, the irrepressible Odie. It definitely got repetitive in the later years though, at least based on the rare times I have read one in the last few decades. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garfield/788905.md?page=2)