Garfield Plus Garfield


I have to admit, I was secretly delighted when I found this little remembered Garfield comic strip from 2003. Written to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the comic, and therefore, Garfield's 25th birthday on June 19, this strip has the early version of Garfield visiting the modern one. As all fans know, Garfield evolved quite a lot during the first fifteen of the comic until Jim Davis finally settled on the slightly smaller incarnate who could walk and had large and very expressive eyes. (On a side note, his stripes are now far less visible, making him less time consuming to draw.) And, in my opinion, by 2003 the comic had pretty much reached its lowest point. The jokes were no longer funny, none of the characters seemed to do very much and Jon's stupidity was beyond repetitive. The comic seemed little more than a vehicle to distribute the endless, tacky Garfield merchandise that was being churned out by Paws Inc.

And then this series of comic came along.

The week Garfield spends with his former self reads very much like a reconciliation between the old comics and the newer ones. Shortly afterward, the humour began to pick up. Jon found a girlfriend and several tired running gags such as Spluts (pies that randomly appeared and would hit Garfield in the face,) were retired or used less frequently. Even Clive, Garfield's invisible friend was last seen in July 2003. 

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