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04/03/06

How to make Garfield funny

Filed under: Literature, ComicsKyle Email @ 07:06:54 pm

Websnark introduced to me the theory that the comic strip Garfield would be vastly improved simply by removing all of the fat one's own dialogue. It's an interesting thought. In the world of the strip, Jon apparently can't hear his cat's thoughts (an illusion that is broken on occasion). Most of the time Jon is just the pathetic target of Garfield's droll remarks. Remove those comments, though, and the strip takes on a slightly darker tone. Jon's antics seem crazier when observed by a truly mute cat.

While many others have already proven the mute Garfield hypothesis, I couldn't resist trying out a few of my own. For most of them the jokes about Jon's behavior are mostly preserved. They're merely rendered more subtly funny by the removal of Garfield's superfluous comments:

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My favorite, though, is the following:

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In the original, the joke is entirely in Garfield's lines, and Jon reacts to it. Without Garfield's dialogue in the revised version, though, Jon's reaction IS the joke. His change hints at a more internal realization of how pathetic he is, which is much funnier. If you don't believe me, go read Peanuts.

17 comments

Comment from: dan [Member]
danYou're right. The cat's lines make it less funny each time.
04/03/06 @ 21:30
Comment from: Lonnie [Visitor]
LonnieI'm gonna have to agree on this one...way funnier without the snarky tabby...
04/04/06 @ 13:12
Comment from: Funny Junk [Visitor]
Funny JunkYou are right! Silent Garfield is funnier.
07/01/06 @ 05:03
Comment from: poolsclosed [Visitor] Email
poolsclosedits funniest if you remove garfield altogehter, then it makes jon look schizophrenic.
07/21/06 @ 19:36
Comment from: NicholasCena [Visitor] Email
NicholasCenaHow do you make the comic strip?I also want do...
02/10/07 @ 08:21
Comment from: Kyle [Member] Email
KyleIt's really easy. You can do it with any image editing software. For these I actually used Microsoft Paint, which comes free with windows. All you do is use the eyedropper tool to select the color of the background, then use the pen tool to color over whatever balloon you want to erase. That's it!
02/10/07 @ 09:27
Comment from: Lior [Visitor] Email
Liorhilarious.. you are a genius :)
03/01/07 @ 04:58
Comment from: Kyle [Visitor] Email
KyleThanks, but I really can't take credit. I just ran with someone else's idea.
03/01/07 @ 06:16
Comment from: Tyler Hanson [Visitor] Email
Tyler HansonHilarious, but true.
03/01/07 @ 07:42
Comment from: ealex [Visitor] Email
ealexTrue for some of the comics, but false for a lot of them.
03/01/07 @ 12:07
Comment from: sandswipe [Visitor]
sandswipeThis was part of the joke of calvin and hobs. The main character was a lonely boy who spent all his time talking to something whose mind was entirely in his own imagination. The only difference is that calvin and hobbs had a much larger variety of jokes overall in a much shorter time, and was also funnier.
03/04/07 @ 17:26
Comment from: Fat Cat [Visitor] Email
Fat Catyou're all missing the fact that Garfield is a cat. Jon is not hearing his thoughts so removing them doesn't add anything.
Jon is still realizing his own patheticness.
03/06/07 @ 21:56
Comment from: valentin7991 [Visitor] Email
valentin7991stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
05/09/07 @ 19:08
Comment from: Gawdzila [Visitor] Email
GawdzilaSometimes Garfield's comments are pretty funny (I happen to think the "Hammer" strip above is better w/ Garfield's comment), but generally you're right. A lot of the time, Jon's own reaction (or Garfield's silent expression of exasperated derision) is much funnier than than the cheesy lines.
07/24/07 @ 03:14
Comment from: gragry [Visitor]
gragrynice post
07/02/08 @ 05:42
Comment from: chelsea [Visitor]
chelseathats sort of funny
10/20/08 @ 16:35
Comment from: danny GARFIELD ROX [Visitor]
danny GARFIELD ROXGARFEILD ROX AND IF U THINK HE DOESENT UR DUMB
09/27/09 @ 01:38

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