Panel the First: Look, I've always insisted that the core of Jon and Liz's back-and-forth is a worship-hate sexual tension. Nothing tells you a woman likes you like being called a jerk, which Liz did the first time they met. It's the surprise on both Liz and Jon's face that breaks your heart: the strongest feelings are the ones you deny yourself. It calls to mind the X-Files moment when Scully says "I've always known", because even though the dynamic between these characters is changed forever, part of you, and part of Liz and Jon, is sad that things have changed.
Panel the Second: Jon is totally hapless and at the mercy of the fates, no matter how much the horoscope tries to imply he's engineered this revelation. Why is this the moment Liz admits her feelings? Because it's the most awkward, embarrassing possible situation. This is the way of Garfield romance: one man humiliated, one aghast at an expression of affection, and one cat dressed like a French busboy.
Speaking of the orangeboy, if any agent intervened for Arbuckle, it was Garfield, whose bizarre entrance tipped Liz off to the Jon-stalking. And it's been Garfield that Jon always uses an excuse to see Liz. Again, from their very first meeting, Garfield's done his bit to push the wayward humans together. One man who ruins his life the harder he fights failure, one woman who hides her heart in abrasive jokes, and one cat with the honesty to embrace futility and meanness. These jerks deserve each other.
Panel the Third: The irony of the terminally forgetful Ellen offering memorized instruction to Rock Hudson is not lost on us, but confuses the issue a mite: was Ellen faking her amnesia for some obscure reason?
Also: I don't find Ellen sexy, but "Need directions?" is a great come-on.
Jon's Horoscope: Day Nine
Ah, Dear Leo. You've always been a Clueless Casanova, but today you're about to embark on a NEW adventure. Be sure and bring lots of snacks for your cat. Today's lucky number: 091608340727
As discussed, I love that Garfield is the real catalyst in Jon's life, and the result entirely bites him in the tail. But today, the guy deserves extra snacks. He not only earned them but he's gonna need them.
I am concerned that this decision flows out of bringing the comic strip more in-line with the plots of the Garfield movies, but since the strip is written months in advance, there's the chance the opposite is true; that Tale of Two Kitties. We can only hope that more fart jokes and Black Eyed Peas dance sequences are to follow!
5 comments:
It also appears, since Jon and Liz first met, that she's had quite a bit of work done. Collagen lip injections, breast implants, eyeball-enhancement surgery...
hmmm... so based on the "jerk" strip you linked to, Liz is... Asian? Maybe that was a standard pickup line in the seventies...
Don't get me wrong, I've been on the edge of my seat with this whole thing; I'm keenly interested to see how it pans out. But this does require a huge suspension of disbelief regarding everything we've been led to believe thusfar.
Nobody noticed Garfield doesn't appear in the strip for two days in a row?
"but since the strip is written months in advance, there's the chance the opposite is true; that Tale of Two Kitties."
That Tale of Two Kitties what? "is based on the comic", perhaps?
Jon needs to be a real man from that gentleman there
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