Garfield's 30th anniversary: A Look Back at 10 Hilariously Classic Strips!
Garfield: Why Those Running Gags Are Pure Comedy Gold!
Garfield comics are amazing. Almost every single one is hilarious, yet the running gags are even funnier! Those one-off jokes are great, but a storyline that builds on the same joke over multiple strips? That's comedic genius, folks! It totally immerses you in Garfield's world, making the experience much more rewarding and delightful for regular readers of this popular and hilarious comic.
Garfield has many running gags throughout the years, but there's one that really shines – a gag spanning a month's worth of strips, all released in August 1994 and these have just recently celebrated their 30th Anniversary! This is what this article will discuss! And these aren't the only gems! This article has the ten funniest strips that celebrated their anniversary. Get ready for a serious blast of laughter!
Top 10 Hilarious Garfield Strips That Just Turned 30
10. Garfield’s Ball of Yarn: A Hilarious Role Reversal
Garfield loves yarn (like any cat!), but this strip takes things a step further! The cat playfully pokes his yarn which immediately retaliates. Garfield gets totally covered in the stuff and blames it – hilarious. Imagine it fighting back! It becomes the champion for every yarn ball ever abused by playful felines everywhere!
9. Garfield: The Evil Influence on Jon's Diet
Garfield loves to tease and torment Jon, yet he crosses lines even more by influencing Jon’s own exercise goals. Jon comments about needing exercise; then Garfield appears from nowhere! It’s an entire plate of fudge! He totally goads Jon to abandon fitness for some tasty (unhealthy!) treat; resulting in Jon accusing Garfield of evil influence; resulting in another hilarity. That little detail: Garfield would never share; thus completely underlining the cat’s evil motivations, which adds layers to the comedy.
8. Garfield's Lunch Break…During Lunch
Lazy and food-obsessed. Garfield is famous for this. This is pure comedic gold! Garfield leaves half his food, then decides–it’s snack time! Then Garfield walks into the panel with his own sandwich— demonstrating those incredibly effective contradictions that create hilarity; only really achieving and making this gag extremely worthwhile for audiences. Pure lazy, gluttonous perfection.
7. Garfield: The Dust Rag
Typically, Garfield is the disrespectful one. But now, it's Jon's turn! Jon finds Garfield sleeping on the counter; then decides to use him as a dust rag! The genius part: Garfield's deadpan remark– "Out of dust rags, are we?" showing a new level of hilarious indignity – creating a classic moment of perfect comedic timing, generating amazing responses that audiences completely appreciated and understood because of the comedic premise.
6. Garfield's Self-Obsession: The Spoon Thief!
What's more captivating to Garfield than food? Apparently, himself. He totally steals Jon's soup spoon, uses it as a mirror; thus creating an utterly unexpected comedic climax to an already extremely compelling plot: creating amazing humor by having those easily anticipated choices completely turned into something unexpected. It totally makes this incredibly small strip far more meaningful. This is unexpected! Pure genius, right? Pure Garfield.
5. Garfield and Jon's Toaster Tango
Pure mayhem. Garfield tries making toast (in a broken toaster); a slice shoots across the kitchen and chases Odie and Jon! The comic captures complete, unmitigated chaos–creating those memorable panels only achieved through careful timing; highlighting the absolute insanity of the situation and showing that just this chaotic, random storytelling that only works as a well-made gag that delivers precisely because of those surprising, and unexpected events!
4. Garfield's Lazy Hunting Expedition (and Humiliating Failure)
This really highlights Garfield’s laziness. He wants bird, yet can't be bothered with actual hunting! His attempt involves merely opening his mouth and demanding a bird hop in. It doesn't work. The bird knocks over his water, soaking and thumping him! Then the bird happily flies away. He simply refused to do any work, and received an immensely justified result. This perfectly demonstrates this character and captures perfectly his motivations. And that’s insanely funny, right?
3. Beware of Dog…Or Bird?: A Three-Part Running Gag
This is perhaps the finest of all these series of comics! The hilarity involves subverting that classic "Beware of Dog" sign: first Garfield finds a tiny dog and gets completely thrashed! Then? A giant bird that ate the dog, adding additional suspense! This becomes far funnier and impressive later: In the end? An emotionally expressive, surprisingly polite, but huge dog. Those unexpected twists with incredibly well-placed comedic devices created one of those most unique, yet wonderfully appreciated storylines.
2. Garfield Learns a (Painful) Lesson: "Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover!"
This kicks off that amazing "Beware of Dog" trilogy (as seen earlier). Garfield laughs at a small dog; then, gets pummeled off-panel (a classic Garfield moment). The sheer brilliance of his punishment only adds more delight to how incredibly unexpected and well-placed these details ultimately are; emphasizing the key joke from those many comic strips which ultimately form this longer gag. Pure perfection, right?
1. Garfield Meets His Match (That One Bird He Definitely Didn’t Eat!)
This also forms a key element of that three-part trilogy shown before! The second chapter involves Garfield returning to the sign, but finding a monster bird who ate a dog–and the bird's eyes on the cat really hint towards a serious ending! The sheer cleverness and genius involved only becomes more powerful and humorous considering that it ends the previous storyline. That's what truly made it unforgettable!
Conclusion: Garfield’s Timeless Humor Celebrates 30 Years!
These Garfield strips are pure comedy gold! Their clever use of Running Gags, relatable scenarios, and that surprising yet consistently impressive humor makes these legendary, even timeless! They stand the test of time and easily delight even newer audiences who may have otherwise missed some of these great works.
