Sunday, April 16, 2006

Little Arbuckle in Slumberland


It used to be a more frequent running gag, Garfield's insistence on sleeping in Jon's bed, usually on Jon's chest as he slept, like some obese orange incubus. Other times, though, Garfield loves sleeping in a box with a blanket over his face, which are totally opposite conditions for slumber. Maybe that is too close to real-life, observable cat behavior for Garfield at this point.

This strip could easily be pared down to three panels: 1) Jon walking into bedroom, 2) THUD!, 3) pets rule the bed! But to achieve that inimitable laconic Garfield timing, the joke is stretched into a seven-panel Sunday strip... even though that means the first panel is an empty doorway. I deem this all-time Most Haunting Sunday Strip Upper-Tier!

After much scrutiny, my guess is that previously unseen painting is a desert rock formation landscape. After much scrutiny, I cannot explain why Garfield takes up 1/3 of Jon's bed when perpendicularly sprawled across it.

And thus, did Easter pass with no notice in the Arbuckle household.

Discussion Question: Gag panel: to whom do these toys belong? Clue: Except for Pooky, they are not pet toys.

2 comments:

Dollhead said...

Do whom do these toys belong? Indeed a compelling question. Perhaps they belong to Pooky?

Nyperold said...

Personally, I'm surprised the little balls exist, regardless of who they belong to. They seem like the sort of thing that would register visually as candy with Garfield long before the realization that they are a toy, instead.