Volume Twelve

Garfield Classics #12

by Jim Davis

Book by Davis, Jim

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2003

About the author

James Robert "Jim" Davis is an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Garfield. Other comics that he has worked on are Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, Slapstick, and a strip about Mr. Potato Head.

Jim Davis was born in Fairmount, Indiana, near Marion, where he grew up on a small farm with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine (Carter) Davis, brother Dave, and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of his cartoon character Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist, and also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity. He earned the dubious honor of earning one of the lowest cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university, an honor incidentally shared with Late Show host David Letterman.

Davis as of 2007 resides in Muncie, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his company, Paws, Inc., begun in 1981. He was married to Carolyn, a singer and elementary teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James with her. However, the couple divorced, and Davis since 2000 has been married to Jill, Paws' senior vice president of licensing, who has worked there approximately 25 years.

Ironically, Davis did not own cats when he started Garfield because of Carolyn's allergies, but they owned a Labrador retriever named Molly. With Jill, the family has expanded to include children Ashley and Chris; three grandchildren, Chloe, Carly and Cody; cats, Spunky and Nermal; and a dog, Pooky.

Reviews

[Stephanie Castles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the only fictional book my boyfriend has and I’ve been reading it at his place when I forget my book xx
I will not be taking further questions on the matter.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The boys go on a relaxing trip to an island where Jon not only offends the locals by assuming wearing palm leaves is the fashion, but he also manages to anger a colony of small, furry creatures with very sharp teeth. The mice and spiders of Garfield's home also make their usual appearance but despite the fact that they've been active characters for ages, Jim Davis keeps finding ways to make their sketches new and entertaining. Very enjoyable if you like dry sardonic wit.