Thursday, April 13, 2006

867-530Arbuckle


Q: As Mr. Blue asks in Reservoir Dogs, "how many 'please's is that?"
A: 15!

Thank God the phone is back to a reasonable lavender shade. However, now I'm concerned about the length of Garfield's forearms, which seem to change as needed for the gag. I'm pretty sure Davis swiped this way of drawing people leaning on surfaces, chin resting in hand, from the Peanuts strips where the kids hang out on a bridge. The difference being that children have elbows.

Cat anatomy lapses aside, note the mastery of comics temporality. The punchline is logically a few beats after the second panel. Jon and the woman have both hung up their phones in an unseen moment, but the rhythm of the joke shall not be abated! Garfield obeys no clocks.

Discussion questions: Does Jon ask Garfield to spot him when calling for dates, or does Garfield just enjoy watching the spectacle of Jon's failure? Because Garfield doesn't look like he's enjoying himself.

Can anyone read Jon's expression during the phone call? I call it "horror"! Were I not a Garfield fan, I might think Jon is making some observation about the strip as a whole: if you keep repeating the same thing ad nauseum, maybe someone will like you.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see Jon's expression as earnest intensity as he grimly carries out this hopeless endeavor.

It's possible that Garfield watches for his own amusement, but puts on a bored, put-upon facade to disguise his concern and interest in Jon's affairs.

Anonymous said...

So, does Jenny leave at Jon's place? Interesting blog title...

~Guy

Anonymous said...

And by "leave", I meant "live". Curse you, typomania!

I can't decide which is more interesting...

~Guy

Anonymous said...

I'm sure Garfield is quite frequently bored, so what else is there to do but be bored next to Jon?