Sunday, May 07, 2006

I Was Sure He'd Be Listening to "Am I Cool Or What?"


Gag panel and strip-proper unity alert! This rare occurrence is intensified by an equally rare joke-about-modern-technology. I do like that the strip isn't reliant on iPods in specific; in 1995, it could've been about Garfield's DiscMan, or in 1989 it could've been about Garfield's new Fisher-Price Pocket Rockers. There's also no hint of the hacky comic strip trope wherein fogeys cannot comprehend the technology of today- e.g. Dagwood shooting himself in the brain because he sees a VCR.

I read Garfield every day, but I'm first to admit that the humor is low-key, if not check-for-pulse catatonic - that's part of the fun. But this punchline actually made me laugh aloud. I even like Jon's innocent excitement to find out what delightful sounds must be inspiring this reverie. This is a fat-guy joke par excellence, and there should be much back-patting in Casa Davis this eve.

Finally, in the Gag Panel, Garfield's right earbud cord is loooong.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since when did garfield have an I pod?

Anonymous said...

It definitely bears a resemblance to Snoopy's signature dance, too.

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes dance too... too bad I hate iPods (symbol of conformist society :P) Good thing i have photoshop and maybe rplace it with a Discman. :)

Anonymous said...

I want to see this Blondie strip you alluded to

Anonymous said...

But Jon's back fat is now his front fat - he has a pot-belly and his back is relatively flat. I have a theory that whenever Jon has back fat that looks like it should be front fat, it's because someone has simply drawn his body backwards. One day I'll have to photoshop some frames to test this out...