Whether he's down on the farm, lost in a world of his own, or camping out with the gang, Garfield always finds a way to keep life interesting. Now, that might be bad news for Jon and Odie, but it's great for the rest of his millions of fans, as Garfield takes the spotlight for his nineteenth star turn! Or, as Garfield might say, when the going gets tough, the tough take a nap.
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.
The good news is that this nineteenth volume contains two series, which is something that was sorely missing in the last few collections.
The bad news is that it's still not up to the standard set by the early books. Though great, it could have been better.
EDIT: While I felt largely the same reading this book today as I described above, I had another issue with it: In the edition I had, the comics were rather small. Was it a printing mishap or an intentional design choice? One wonders.
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.
Another fun quick comic book read. Garfield is a bit on the lower end of the spectrum of the old newspaper strips that I enjoyed (always liked Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, BC, Far Side, Pearls before Swines, Dilbert, the old married couple, Foxtrot, Mutts, and Zits) but its still enjoyable quick read. Garfield was always one of Grammy's favorite comic strips though (she named her last cat Garfield too).
I think the one with Odie and Garfield with the cymbals was one of the most hilarious visual gags so far. Garfield hopping in one of Jon's bunny slippers was also extremely funny. 😂 And of course the gag with Odie watching the Mozart program and reading War and Peace is a classic.
I think that Garfield is a five star book and very very very funny. It is also pleasing to see Garfield kick Odie off of the table and on the other hand Jon is a weird twit.
Garfield Hangs Out is another fairly funny collection of Garfield comic strips. Jim Davis finally does something that I have been waiting for for a long, long time. No, I'm not talking about adding another main character or making Odie talk, both of which I think would breathe a little life into this comic strip. I'm talking about a storyline that is longer than just a week. The Great Day for a Camping Trip lasted for an entire month in the newspapers. That means 27 comic strips in a row (three are Sunday strips) about one storyline. Thank you, Mr. Davis . . . that was wonderful.
As for the rest of the book, the comic strips are on par for what Jim Davis has been putting out lately. There were about five or six strips that I had to choose from to display above. None of them made me laugh out loud, which is what I want when I read a Garfield book. I really enjoy the ones where Garfield and Odie are pitted against each other. Now, all Jim Davis needs to do is have Odie think in a thought bubble, like Garfield, and I would be really happy.
Overall, Garfield Hangs Out is another entertaining collection of Garfield comic strips. I was very happy to find the extra-long storyline about the camping trip. I plan on reading more Garfield books and will be looking for more of the longer storylines.
I was addicted to these as a kid. I drove my parents insane following them around demanding, "Read this one!" I'm sure that my Dad regretted owning a bookstore. As an adult, I foster cats, and every foster kitten has a picture taken in a box labeled "to: Abu Dhabi." None of my two personal cats are obese, but one is especially adept at tossing chihuahuas off furniture using only one paw...