Kitten On the Wind

I have no problems with the commercial juggernaut of Garfield. My home obviously stores a fair amount of PAWS-licensed paraphernalia, and any accusations that Jim Davis has whored his kitten on the marketplace will fall on deaf ears. No matter how garish the ancillary merch gets, it doesn't effect the spiritual despair of the strip. If a Garfield pillowcase makes a some 6-year-old happy, I say no harm done in this case. In fact, I love that Davis' calculated attempt to capture America's imagination on a Snoopy-level involved morbid obesity, anger and relentless unhappiness, and the nation couldn't get enough.

And I don't doubt that when I'm done typing this, I'm going to download the daily Garfield-delivery application to my phone.

But for real, advertising it in the Sunday strip title panel!? Brilliant.

Windy Day
The structural effort of an explanatory punchline after six pantomimed panels is admirable, but honestly I think the art in the very first frame is too explicit to expect any reader to be confused about what is happening. What is disorienting is that the weather is such that a 27-pound cat is blown across the lawn but the wind does not cause a ripple across the surface of the birdbath. That and Jon's activity for the day, which seems to be standing around the living room wearing a red cap.

Negative interior decoration points for the poor attempts at Southwestern style. It always looks silly in Midwestern homes, and worse when it extends no further than one sub-roadside-truck-sale landscape painting.

Mr. Orangewell

Ugly Date Outfit is back in force! Never you mind that Garfield's sass would work better if Jon were just wearing a normal-sized bowtie. Things to like:

-Jon's wide-eyed expression in Panel 1 as he tentatively asks for Garfield's approval, knowing full well that it is rarely and grudgingly given.

-Garfield's strange, indulgent-motherly attitude.

-Jon's eager delight when given the slightest acceptance.

-Jon bought a giant bowtie that looks just like his regular tie. Lack of fashion sense or no, he must know the new tie is novelty-oversized, as he owns at least one standard-issue tie for comparison.

-Cats: hind legs = very, very long.

Behind the Lavender Door

As with last Sunday's strip, this could have been pared down to the last three panels. Unless it an added level of joke that Garfield lost a little dignity by having to struggle with the human-door. I think he gained back his dignity with the fuckin' Reed Richards arm going on in panel 6.

Burning questions:
-Jon's outfit is... what? Is he going night jogging? No, probably not, because he's wearing socks and sandals. And is he wearing an Iowa State sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off?

-Don't the hinges as portrayed in panel 7 indicate that the pet door should swing out in panel 6? Like, in other direction? For that matter, how does Jon's door lock work?

-Is the gag panel at top some kind of ominous reminder that no matter how much you think Garfield is a message just for you, inside it is a REGISTERED TRADEMARK of PAWS, Inc.? This is the only question with an answer. The answer is "yes."

The Day the Clown Napped

Jon is as determined as Jim Davis to make sure nothing too wild happens in Garfield anymore. We want a strip about a man sitting quietly at the table with a cup of coffee! I rarely criticze the writing in Garfield, but the last panel would be less crowded and the joke equally-well communicated without the cat's thought bubble.

Wardrobe notes:
*If you are wondering where Odie got that outfit, it bears striking resemblance to one Jon wore on his date last Saturday.

*The pets have bothered putting on spats, but no shoes, a funny animal fashion affectation known as the "Scrooge McDuck," though Mr. Davis has a looser grasp than Disney artists on how the accessory works.

*If Jon is so startled to see the pets in these clothes, one may question why he bought them tiny crazy outfits in the first place.

*When Garfield entered, for a split second I thought Lyman had come back.