Jon Arbuckle, a professional cartoonist, Garfield
Cartoonist Jon Arbuckle shares why he spends so much time at home with his pets, much as Davis does. Davis used the show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as a reference in his justification for wanting Jon's career established. Originally running from 1952 to 1966, the sitcom had a strong run on radio before settling on television. Since Ozzie's career wasn't ever highlighted on-screen, it became a running joke among viewers to conjecture what he did for a living. Ozzie frequently mentioned meetings in downtown, but he seldom ventured farther, at least on TV. The storyline in the related but dubious canon film Here Come the Nelsons does establish Ozzie as an ad executive.
Though It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has lately usurped that distinction, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet held the record for the longest running live-action sitcom on American television until recently. Davis avoided exploring Jon's work since he was concerned about being too self-referential and offending his readership even though he wanted to show Jon's career path. That was a wise call: Davis observed in a 2019 Vice interview that the great popularity of the strip worldwide is a result of its relatability, with ideas and gags that apply wherever. "I would want for readers in Sydney, Australia to think that Garfield lives next door," Davis said, summarizing this crucial component of Garfield's popularity to Mental Floss.
Jim Davis answered every Garfield question asked by all the fans.
Though most queries regarding the life of the tabby cat have an official response, Jon Arbuckle's line of work is not the only mystery that baffles Garfield's viewers. For instance, Garfield's passion for lasagna is not haphazard; he was born in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant, so developing a liking for the meal in his early days. Likewise, Davis stated to Huffpost in 2017 that Garfield hates Mondays partly because they remind him of the dull, repetitious loop of his lazy life and partly because - probably due to his sour mood - bad things tend to happen to him on Mondays. Davis notes:
Garfield does not go to school; every day is the same; he does not have a job. Nevertheless, every Monday serves as a reminder that his life is the same old, same old cycling again and for some reason even though his life is essentially the same every day on Mondays specifically, horrible events tend to happen to him physically.
Garfield's First Comic Was Designed So Jim Davis Never Had to Respond in Interviews
Garfield's Jim Davis, the most syndicated comic book writer in the world, has done more than his fair share of Interviews; admirers poring over the ideas and tactics that made his snarky tabby character iconic the world over. But in all those interviews, Davis has been able to avoid one topic; this is because Garfield was already thinking about how to ensure it never surfaced from the start.
Garfield centers on the title cat and his group of companions, most especially the dull-witted dog Odie and Jon Arbuckle's owner. Indeed, Jon always seems to be at the house to engage in pranks with the two, which might make some readers question his employment. Jim Davis, however, foresaw this question in Garfield's very first strip and locked down the idea that Jon was a cartoonist - an idea he was reluctant to investigate in next strips but had to include since he didn't want to be questioned about it later.
Garfield Does Have One Unanswered Mystery
Lyman's destiny is one riddle Davis has not yet addressed. Originally Davis turned his attention to the cat over his owner, Lyman was a side character in Jon (the strip that finally became Garfield). He is really introduced as Odie's owner. Lyman meant Lyman to be someone Jon could chat to, but as Garfield grew more and more important in the strip Lyman became surplus to need and Davis started showing him less and less until the character vanished with his last, meager strip in 1983.
Like Ozzie's employment, Lyman's departure has been a running joke for Garfield fans, particularly given Jon kept Odie without explanation. Mostly because of a strip showing Jon on the front page of a newspaper while Jon and Garfield talk about abductions, fan theories range from the possibility that Jon killed Lyman to his being abducted by aliens. Jim Davis stoked the flames in 1998's 20 Years & Still Kicking Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection with a humorous list of Lyman's disappearance theories including the injunction "don't look in Jon's basement."
The Legacy of Garfield
Though Garfield might be snarky and fixated on lasagna, some of his funniest Comics honor the pleasures of owning a real-life cat. Jim Davis, the inventor of Garfield, claimed that the "Stuck On You" suction-cup doll—which was once all throughout America—was never meant to be.
From why Garfield loves lasagna to where the comic strip is based, Davis has indeed solved all of Garfield's toughest riddles. Artist Jim Davis said in an interview commemorating the 40th anniversary of his creation that he still believes Garfield will be remembered as a comic strip.
