Friday, July 14, 2006

Destiny's Kitten


Jon has begun unconsciously (?) imitating one of Garfield's signature leaning-on-the-table poses. I hope this slowly creeping hero-worship begins manifesting as Jon walking barefoot on the kitchen table, kicking Odie over the side, and sleeping in a box with a blanket over his head. The poignant thing about Jon's delusion is that he seems to know his life isn't currently amounting to anything, but he will succeed in this world at some undetermined point in the hazy future. You call this hope?

It's fine that Garfield thinks Jon's utter failure in all aspects of life is hilarious, but his expression in panel two is what makes the joke. The orange-boy is surprised by his own reaction. Can Garfield not believe that even he could be so mean? Is he aghast that his own body is in revolt? That his autonomic Schadenfreude-response has revealed to Jon the black-striped depths of the feline soul? I guess he's also in pain. Anyway, that expression is the Panic of the Busted. Jon's response indicates he knows perfectly well what that "SNORT!" was. And Garfield is busted.

Pointless admiring observation:: Garfield in panel three with his eyes squinched shut and ears flattened is an adorable and rare display of kitty behavior.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess stifled laughs are like when you choke on soda and all the bubbles go up your nose, since Garfield's hands (paws?) are over his face. His nose will be all itchy with laugh bubbles for the rest of the day. That's painful.

Nik said...

I find the expression in panel two gives us just a brief glimpse of what the world would be like if Garfield were a "Night of the Living Dead" type zombie. Those huge, glassy eyes with the tiny pupils -- Jon is just lucky Garfield managed to resist the urge to kill and eat him.

Speaking of which, my partner works at an animal shelter. Often they hear tell of the following. A person lives alone. They own cats and/or dogs. They die. The cats and/or dogs are not fed for a day or so. They begin to eat the corpse of their owner.

Am I the only one who is waiting for the Garfield strip that addresses this issue? Perhaps. And yet, it would make for much hilarity, I'm sure.

Allen's Brain said...

Isn't it wonderful to see that Mike's Dad approves of his blog?