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Garfield: The Monday That Wouldn't End Original Graphic Novel
It’s that most dreaded day and, of course, everything is going wrong, wrong, wrong for Garfield. But this is no ordinary Monday, and the frazzled feline finds himself stuck in a time loop, reliving the agony over and over and over. Can Garfield find a way to end this rotten day or will he be stuck forever? Garfield and the gang are back in an all-new graphic novel with stories written by Scott Nickel and Mark Evanier (Garfield & Friends) and illustrated by series regular Antonio Alfaro and artist Dave Alvarez.
98 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2019
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78 people want to read
About the author
Mark Evanier
676 books47 followersMark Stephen Evanier is an American comic book and television writer, particularly known for his humor work.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 12, 2021
I guess I'm a little familiar with Garfield. Like, I know he likes lasagna and hates Mondays. I know that dog he lives with annoys him. I may have watched a bit of that movie where Bill Murray voiced Garfield because he thought the Coen brothers were making it. That's about it. Well, I'm on a bit of a time loop kick and I was reading a list of time loop books and this book was on the list. That piqued my interest. It was free on Hoopla so I checked it out. I gave it 3-stars. It probably deserves 2-stars, but I think it's for 8 year olds, so I didn't want to be too tough on it. Here are my thoughts:
1. This short Graphic novel contains three Garfield stories and some fun extras. The first story is called "The Monday That Wouldn't End" and this one is the star of the book - it's the time loop story. Garfield keeps having a crappy Monday over and over again and tries different ways to end the cycle. It was fine.
2. The second one is called "Nermal Takes Over" - and it's kind of meta. As Garfield is in deep sleep, some other cat named Nermal hijacks the comic book to make it about himself. All seems to be going according to plan until Garfield wakes up and puts a stop to it. The writer, the artist, and us (the reader) are part of the story.
3. The third story, "The Undersea Adventures of Jacques Garfeau" is a short story where an alternative version of Garfield explores the mysteries of the sea.
4. The extras are mostly short comic strips, presumably taken from newspaper strips. A lot of stuff about Mondays. There are also some full page images that are like mini posters. One says Nap Attack, another says "Don't Know. Don't Care". Stuff like that. Cute.
5. This whole thing is a very quick read. Maybe an hour for the whole thing, with breaks. It's kind of fun and it's fine for what it is, but I imagine this is for young children.
6. I'm not familiar with Nermal, but he's in this book a lot. He's like the second cat in the house, and I think he is supposed to be annoying. I imagine anyone that keeps up with Garfield will know who he is, but in any case, he's not hard to figure out.
Anyway, it was fine. The Time Loop story was pretty basic. About what I expected. Probably great for kids, though.
1. This short Graphic novel contains three Garfield stories and some fun extras. The first story is called "The Monday That Wouldn't End" and this one is the star of the book - it's the time loop story. Garfield keeps having a crappy Monday over and over again and tries different ways to end the cycle. It was fine.
2. The second one is called "Nermal Takes Over" - and it's kind of meta. As Garfield is in deep sleep, some other cat named Nermal hijacks the comic book to make it about himself. All seems to be going according to plan until Garfield wakes up and puts a stop to it. The writer, the artist, and us (the reader) are part of the story.
3. The third story, "The Undersea Adventures of Jacques Garfeau" is a short story where an alternative version of Garfield explores the mysteries of the sea.
4. The extras are mostly short comic strips, presumably taken from newspaper strips. A lot of stuff about Mondays. There are also some full page images that are like mini posters. One says Nap Attack, another says "Don't Know. Don't Care". Stuff like that. Cute.
5. This whole thing is a very quick read. Maybe an hour for the whole thing, with breaks. It's kind of fun and it's fine for what it is, but I imagine this is for young children.
6. I'm not familiar with Nermal, but he's in this book a lot. He's like the second cat in the house, and I think he is supposed to be annoying. I imagine anyone that keeps up with Garfield will know who he is, but in any case, he's not hard to figure out.
Anyway, it was fine. The Time Loop story was pretty basic. About what I expected. Probably great for kids, though.
March 5, 2024
The stories get 4 stars from me. The art gets 2. So an average rating of 3 stars.
I'm a newbie to Garfield comics. Trying to get into them as my anticipation for the new animated movie grows. Unfortunately, Hoopla didn't have any compilations of the classic strips, so I decided to grab this newer title as the premise sounded interesting to me. (I've never seen the original Groundhog Day film, but I'm a BIG fan of the Broadway musical!)
Turns out, this whole book isn't actually dedicated to that fun time loop plot. The book is divided into three stories, with the time loop being the first one featured. I'm not sure if I would call that one my favorite in this book. I did enjoy it and wish it went on longer, but I didn't love the art in it (Garfield makes some weird, almost nightmare fuel faces in it) and it takes a weird trippy turn with a character I have zero familiarity with. Though I guess the whole thing ends with a decent "it was all a dream" reveal, but that might have a question mark on it? The ending is definitely one that's up to interpretation.
The other two stories aren't as interesting since they feature characters I'm not familiar with, but I did really like the Nermal one. Mostly when Garfield actually got involved in it, as that's when the meta humor really began to take off and had me laughing to myself. I wonder if other Garfield comics have similar meta/"breaking the fourth wall" kinda humor. It seems like the upcoming movie will, so that must be a staple of at least some of his comics.
The book does thankfully end with a few pages collecting old comic strips, which, of course, all pertain to Garfield's detested Mondays. They were cute, though. Given that they had that more classic art style, I thought they were visually better than the rest of the book. At least, Garfield actually looks cute in most of them. But his grin is also still a little unsettling to me. Maybe that explains why I was always drawn to the cuter/more aesthetically pleasing Peanuts comics as a kid (and still am now, honestly).
Hopefully my Libby holds for collections of older Garfield comics come in soon. Otherwise I might have to pick up another volume of newer Garfield comics. Maybe they get better? We'll see.
I'm a newbie to Garfield comics. Trying to get into them as my anticipation for the new animated movie grows. Unfortunately, Hoopla didn't have any compilations of the classic strips, so I decided to grab this newer title as the premise sounded interesting to me. (I've never seen the original Groundhog Day film, but I'm a BIG fan of the Broadway musical!)
Turns out, this whole book isn't actually dedicated to that fun time loop plot. The book is divided into three stories, with the time loop being the first one featured. I'm not sure if I would call that one my favorite in this book. I did enjoy it and wish it went on longer, but I didn't love the art in it (Garfield makes some weird, almost nightmare fuel faces in it) and it takes a weird trippy turn with a character I have zero familiarity with. Though I guess the whole thing ends with a decent "it was all a dream" reveal, but that might have a question mark on it? The ending is definitely one that's up to interpretation.
The other two stories aren't as interesting since they feature characters I'm not familiar with, but I did really like the Nermal one. Mostly when Garfield actually got involved in it, as that's when the meta humor really began to take off and had me laughing to myself. I wonder if other Garfield comics have similar meta/"breaking the fourth wall" kinda humor. It seems like the upcoming movie will, so that must be a staple of at least some of his comics.
The book does thankfully end with a few pages collecting old comic strips, which, of course, all pertain to Garfield's detested Mondays. They were cute, though. Given that they had that more classic art style, I thought they were visually better than the rest of the book. At least, Garfield actually looks cute in most of them. But his grin is also still a little unsettling to me. Maybe that explains why I was always drawn to the cuter/more aesthetically pleasing Peanuts comics as a kid (and still am now, honestly).
Hopefully my Libby holds for collections of older Garfield comics come in soon. Otherwise I might have to pick up another volume of newer Garfield comics. Maybe they get better? We'll see.
January 8, 2020
I’d warn for spoilers, but... really?
This is the “Groundhog Day” plot, which I begrudgingly settled into. It became weirdly therapeutic because I’ve been having a bad time in one aspect of my life lately and feel like I’m in this repetitive nightmare loop there.... I was almost pathetically waiting to see how Garfield was going to break through. And then...
Instead, he plot borrows from another 90’s kid pop culture flashpoint: the episode of Looney Tunes when Bugs Bunny gets control of the cartoonists pencil.
Maybe this is deeper than I thought.
Just bumped my rating up a star.
Maybe the way out of the OCD cognitive looping is to enact such a radical change that the beginning of the story is irrelevant?
This is the “Groundhog Day” plot, which I begrudgingly settled into. It became weirdly therapeutic because I’ve been having a bad time in one aspect of my life lately and feel like I’m in this repetitive nightmare loop there.... I was almost pathetically waiting to see how Garfield was going to break through. And then...
Instead, he plot borrows from another 90’s kid pop culture flashpoint: the episode of Looney Tunes when Bugs Bunny gets control of the cartoonists pencil.
Maybe this is deeper than I thought.
Just bumped my rating up a star.
Maybe the way out of the OCD cognitive looping is to enact such a radical change that the beginning of the story is irrelevant?
July 17, 2019
It was a fun fast read took me like 10 minutes I want some lasagna now .
November 30, 2021
It made sense at first and then I saw there were different stories in it and it stopped being that fun.
July 24, 2022
This book was ok. Not the worst but not the best either.
April 3, 2024
This was cute and fun. I always recommend these little comics to fans, especially if you're just looking for something light!
July 5, 2025
Ground Hog day vibez but with foodie
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews