Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the popular Garfield comic book. Garfield is arguably one of the most iconic icons, known for his laziness, fondness for lasagna, and bright orange fur. The Garfield comic first appeared in print on June 19, 1978, and although the comic was originally syndicated in only forty-one newspapers, Garfield eventually appeared in over 2,500 newspapers worldwide!
Cartoonist Jim Davis spent nearly a year and a half developing Garfield and working on character sketches that would capture Garfield’s unique personality. Davis drew on his own life growing up on a cat farm to start Garfield, and even named him after his grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis.
Full of dry humor, hilarious one-liners, and lots of biting sarcasm, Garfield has resonated with people since the first comic and continues to be a source of comic relief. Over the years, the famous comic strips have been put together into books for easy viewing. In addition to books, Garfield can be seen on a wide variety of household products: posters, notebooks, sticky notes, calendars, bookmarks, magnets, mugs, T-shirts, and much more wearing the famous cat. But the article that helped make Garfield the icon he is today was the eye-catching garfield stuffed with suction cups and a “Stuck on You!” Badge that became a must-have car accessory in the mid to late 1980s.
With the success of the comic strip, Garfield quickly made the transition from print to television on October 25, 1982 in his first special, Here Comes Garfield. Twelve specials later, Garfield was comfortably enjoying the spotlight on his television star. In 1988 Garfield joined the Saturday morning cartoons in the animated series, Garfield and friendswhich aired until 1995.
In the early 2000s, Garfield caught our attention again, this time only in theaters. Garfield: The Movie (2004) and its sequel Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) led the cat into the new millennium. In 2009, Garfield returned to television with another animated series. The Garfield Showwhich aired until 2016.
Garfield is as popular today as it was when he first appeared in 1978. Young and old enjoy his humor and selfish attitude. So, today, spend some time doing all of Garfield’s favorite things to do: nap, eat, and do whatever you want, whenever you want.
For more informations
Most of the facts in this article are taken from the book Garfield at 25: In dog years I would be dead by Jim Davis. This book gives a brief history of the early years of the Garfield comic strip and contains tons of illustrations and comics celebrating Garfield’s 25th anniversary. For more Garfield fun, check out our collection of Books and graphic novels and TV series and specials.
Kelly M.
Kelly is an adult librarian in the Canfield Unit of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. In 2019, she earned her Masters in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Kelly loves everything to do with books, from puns to creative writing. And of course to read as many books as possible from all genres, especially romance and youth novels. Kelly also enjoys crafting, baking, listening to country music, and spending time with her family.
This press release was prepared by the Youngstown & Mahoning County Public Library. The views expressed here are your own.
