Garfield Tips the Scales

Garfield #8

by Jim Davis

He's grouchy, he's mischievous, and he's adored the world over. With Garfield around, laughter is on the plate, and there's always room for more. Taste a spoonfull of these collected comics for your daily dose of Garfield. It's good for what ails you.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Fiction, Cats, Animals, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Strips

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1984

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

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've run out of things to say about these books; just see my other reviews.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Book 8 in Garfield's continuing quest to locate and digest the ultimate pan of lasagna (without having to work too hard to get it). Along the way, he torments Odie, Jim, Nermal and the rest of gang in classic Garfield fashion.

[Nicolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garfield has always been one of my favorite newspaper strips and it was a special treat for me that I was able to find one of his earlier collections in a bargain bookstore. It was grouped together with the children's books and reasonably priced too.

[Iggy Igwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garfield drinks coffee.

[Juliana R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny fat cat!

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

In elementary school I thought Garfield was hilarious. I had a sizable collection of the books. They are still fun books, and when my children can read and understand satire they will be good family reading material. However, I wouldn't sit down and pick these up just to fill time. They are handy on the back of a toilet seat though.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Garfield!

[Kingchris73]

maybe because I took on a big orange cat, and I like lasagna too!

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children love him. I end up reading Garfield as well.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love almost all of the Garfield books.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who doesn't get a good laugh out of Garfield? =P

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, clean, fun humor for any age. I know the kids love Garfield at our library and this book should make them happy.

[Christian Rodriguez]

THE BEST BOOK EVER

[David Allen Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading Garfield since about 1978 and now in 2023 at the age of 51 I am re-reading my earlier Garfield books sitting on a shelf for years and so glad I am! In this 8th book (there are now more than 65!) the Garfield characters we know today are well drawn and well developed compared to earlier versions. There are some great strips in this volume--Garfield as the Caped Avenger, a comic I remember very well from years ago where Garfield is startled by Odie pushing his face flat against a window, an annoying visit from Nermal the kitten and a really hilarious run of strips where Garfield faints when his Teddy Bear Pooky's arm falls off! Any fan of the series will love this book and if you got into Garfield years later in the strip's now decades-long history this look back to the earlier strips will be a real enjoyment!

[Remo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bueno, qué decir de los Garfields, uno de los compañeros de nuestra infancia (y adolescencia y parte de la vida adulta). Recuerdo haberme encontrado el primero en casa de un amigo y habérmelo devorado de una sentada, con 5-6 años, sin entender varios de los chistes pero disfrutando mucho de los más obvios. Hoy en día, en casa, a los ojos entrecerrados con mezcla de desprecio y aburrimiento los seguimos llamando ojos de Garfield:

Esta sensación de saber que siempre iba a encontrar unos cuantos graciosos la tuve durante las dos décadas posteriores en las que Garfield iba apareciendo periódicamente en mi vida. No es una obra culmen de la literatura, pero nos ha alegrado muchos momentos.

[Warren Nie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the book. Garfield always has a good point and sometimes have some sense of humor. I would rate this book 5 because I just love. In my class, everybody want's Garfield because everyone love it and I love it too. So, that's my reason why I choose to rate this a 5.

[Jess Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fins and snorkel bath

What happens when a dog puts its nose under a blanket with a sleeping cat and barks? Read and see what happens and you’ll laugh out loud. We get the pleasure of watching Nermal and Odie have fun with Garfield with John’s help.

[Kaelin Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great collection of comics that are very funny ant witty. I enjoyed this book very much and everyone including children will love this.

[AIDA LO · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you read the books?

[Christine Rains · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garfield is hilarious! Reading through the books with my eight-year-old son.

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great classic Garfield!

You get to read the beginning of one of my favorite Garfield personas, the Caped Crusader. Wonderfully nostalgic reading on America's favorite cat!

[Big Chungus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some classic garfield goofs

[Lemmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved Garfield as a kid

[Ellie Gaidai · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are so funny.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

My six year old daughter loves these books, especially for the visual gags and humor. There is something comforting about the old familiar gang of characters in these books.

[Amber Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The humor in this one was more timeless than the last one I had read. Great nostalgia read

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

That's probably enough Garfield lol

[Mark Austin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't ever remember laughing at Garfield. Reading it was like re-watching an episode of a sitcom you've already seen ten times and know all the plot threads and punchlines. There's a bland comfort to it and, for a stretch in early Middle School, bland comfort was preferable to none.

I consumed all the Garfield books in the Middle School library, idly wondering when something new would happen to shake up the Groundhog Day-esque loop in which they lived their lives, for a character to maybe grow or change. As the library's stock dwindled, so to did my desire to wade through any more of Garfield's doldrums.

In some ways the world of Garfield seems to represent some primal desire to keep everything safe by maintaining the conformity of each new day to the mold fixed by the last, but such a life seems more like death by whimper.