Unfancy Feast

The longer they stand around talking about this, the more burned the casserole will become. When Jon sprays water on it, it's going to be wet and burned. The boys are still excited to eat this horrible meal. Garfield and Jon are bachelors, but what does that mean? Here they demonstrate belief that the freedoms associated with bachelorhood should be relished, even those that are gross, pitiful, and, in the case of the burnt, soggy casserole, not even pleasurable unto themselves. No one wants to eat this mess because it will taste good, but because there is no one to stop them. That is not charred StarKist you're tasting, it is freedom.

This strip also suggests that perhaps the most vital function of a mate is to prevent us from acting like disgusting animals. And so it is that the thing separating us from the beasts is that human beings are trying to impress someone.

I Have No Trachea, Larynx or Vocal Cords and I Must Scream

Ignore, for the moment, that real fish lack not only eyelids but the vocal apparatus necessary to emit a blood-curdling cry of terror. Ignore, if you can, that it is a good thing they do, lest that sound would haunt you until the end of days, forever ruining every trip to the fish taco stand.

One of the hooks which must have initially sold United Feature Syndicate on Garfield Back in the Day, is the exciting opportunity to peek inside the psyches of our housepets. What's Kitty Thinkin'? This anthropomorphic comic exploration of how cats is just like people and people ain't so different from awful cats is pushed into realms of near-abstraction by strips in which Garfield interacts with various other pets, vermin, the occasional sentient houseplant, and even inanimate objects.

In this case, we are offered a dramatic expansion of the common sight of a cat looking at a fish. Usually these Garfields are about the cat's predatory instinct and/or sadism, muted by domesticity into meanness and bullying. This one hinges also on posturing, both from the fish and Garfield. This is not totally alien, as the sense that cats are trying very hard to look cool and aloof is often hard to avoid. The specifics of this story, though, are nearing the breaking point with any reality.

Consider, then: how does a bowled fish, fresh to the house, know Garfield by reputation? Why isn't the fish scared, since if the cat is indeed known as "tough," then it is for eating every fish brought into the house? Is Garfield "tough," or does he act tough only he knows he can win?

On the other hand, what we have is a scenario in which an tiny, defenseless creature has been placed in a vulnerable situation. He sees the natural predator that will inevitably eat him alive, and decides that if he's going out, he's going to be brave. The hunter will have none of that, and ensures his prey is going to face oblivion screaming at the top of his non-existent lungs.

Maybe none of this is what is really going on when a cat stares into a fishbowl. Or maybe that is exactly how the universe works.

Cat, Fish

The joke is fine. The structure attempted is impossible because of the realities of daily-strip dimensions. Theoretically we are confused by the first panel, follow through the second, for a reveal in the third. That's the reason for splitting the single image between three panels: a gradual build and payoff, rather than making it a panel gag. Fine. But in practice, there's no way to look at this strip and ask your eye not to take in the entire, unified composition. It happens on first glance, and the eye, seeing nothing to read or focus on in the first panels, will gravitate right to Jon's word balloon.

Would've made a good "Quickie" on Garfield and Friends though.

Trout Fishing in A-Meow-ica

Don't worry, not every Garfield ends in cold-blooded murder. Some end with a live animal inside a character.

The last two days have featured Garfield interacting with another talking animal. On first glance, today's strip makes more sense than yesterday's joke which relied on a dog being illiterate, but a cat being able to read. Here, Garfield gives the set-up ("There's a great big world out there")... but since it's not his own punchline ("Your stomach IS fat!"), I can't figure out what he was trying to tell the fish in the first place.

Nor do I know why if Jon continues to insist on buying fish, he not only refuses to put them in aquariums of the proper size, with rocks in the bottom, but puts them on the same table where Garfield's meals are eaten.