Panel 1: 27 years waiting to have Liz look at him that way, with those bulbous bedroom eyes, inch-thick glistening lips curled into a knowing smirk... and when it happens, Jon is wearing a huge fake handlebar moustache. Garfield had the good sense to change out of his busboy costume and live this life-defining moment with some fashion dignity, but his owner stands dumbfounded as the Fates swirl around him.
Keep your eye on Garfield, folks. Does the potentially successful, well-deliberated Jon-Liz matchup bring him any joy? It does not.
Panel 2: Looks like Ellen is going to take Jay Leno up on his dinner offer. Presumably her amnesia has wiped out memory of having eaten dinner with Jon a few moments earlier.
Panel 3: What makes Garfield happy?: that it may not be Jon, but at least someone is going to have a miserable, weird date with a crazy lady. Our boy isn't happy unless someone's night is ruined.
Jon's Horoscope: Day 10
People come and go in life. Some leave lasting impressions; others just wad of chewing gum under the table. Learn to let go of the wads. Today's lucky number: 1
So Ellen is a "wad" in life, I guess. I'll miss those phone-call gags. Ellen is dead. Long live Ellen.
Tomorrow is the last official day of this "comic strip shocker!", which promises to change the strip forever. So has the big blockbuster bomb been dropped, or is there even more in store? Patience, as students of Garfield know, may be a virtue, but normal virtues are of little value in this strip. Three panels is certainly enough space for oh, say a marriage proposal.
Taking advantage of a person's psychiatric problems. Ditching a woman mid-date. Stalking another woman. Disrupting an acquaintance's dinner to ruin her chances in love. Impersonating a Frenchman. This story arc describes a message rarely conveyed in any art, let alone the daily comics page. Garfield tells us that our moments of glory are etched and engineered by our very worst behaviors.
3 comments:
The great life-changing event in Garfield's life has taken place, but only the most observant readers have noticed.
As a previous poster noted, Garfield has been missing for two strips, and no one has said a word. NOW, a rotund, orange cat appears in the first panel, without suit or 'stache.
THIS ISN'T GARFIELD, PEOPLE! THIS IS A POD FELINE!
The smirk on the cat's face in panel three is evidence that the deception/ replacement has taken place. More like "Tale of Two Kitties" (was "Prints and the Pawper" rejected as a title?) than we expected?
I found your blog from well rounded nerds. This is pure genius! Genius!
So Jon is saved from having to decide whether to take Ellen home... and we have TWO panels with FIVE characters in them! After who knows how long of Jon and Garfield, or just Garfield. FIVE characters! The times they are a-changing indeed.
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