EXPLAINING THE COMICS: GARFIELD

In examining the strip over a couple of years, and not laughing very much at all, let alone grinning, I decided there was another story behind the fat cat's unruly smugness and deceptiveness.

It deals with the "owner" of Garfield. Jon Arbuckle is actually a mental patient who is being mainstreamed into society and the dog and the cat are there as observers. I suspect they are wired for audio and visual effects as well. The blase view of John getting his head or hand stuck inside various objects like a jug of water or a toaster would be given greater weight were this view any different. And the matter of his clothing and his inability to tie his shoes. After glueing a cement block onto his head (or some damn such), help arrives off panel.

Jon Arbuckle--mental zero. Garfield--helper animal.