Garfield: mai mare, mai grozav

Garfield #3

by Jim Davis

Garfield, acest bon viveur felin, leneș, impertinent, cârcotaș, dar absolut adorabil, se întoarce cu o echipă de milioane: Jon, stăpânul lui ghinionist, Mel, veterinara frumușică, Irma, ospătărița pe role, Lyman, prietenul lui Jon, mult-chinuitul cățel Odie, Nermal, cel mai drăgălaș pisic din lume, și Pooky, ursulețul de pluș al lui Garfield.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comic Strips, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

96 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1981

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]

This third compilation features the introduction of Nermal, as well as the Tubby Tabby's first trip to the farm, and Garfield entering a cat show. I had a blast with these strips growing up, and to revisit them again--now in full color--is still quite fun. It likely is a bit different than what you're used to seeing from the cartoon fat cat in the newspapers, but I've always preferred these early strips.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Book three in one of my favorite comic strips growing up as a kid. Garfield vs Odie, Nermal, Jim, exercise and scales. It didn't get better than this until The Farside came along.

[Michael Kiripolsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garfield, you ARE bigger than life

[Cora Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Garfield and his antics... that's all there is to say... :)

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here we are with volume three of Jim Davis's newspaper comic strip Garfield, spanning August 27, 1979 through March 30, 1980. The evolution of the characters continues, though not as noticeably as in the first two books. Garfield walks on all fours sometimes, though he stands up on his haunches more than in 1978. Lyman—Odie's owner and Jon Arbuckle's housemate—appears less, but he's still involved. Garfield generally one-ups Odie, but everyone gets their moment in the sun as the new decade begins. The 1980s was arguably Garfield at its very best.

Nermal the kitten is introduced September 3 (page seven) when his owners (Jon's parents) go on vacation. Garfield mocks Nermal's cuteness and the fact that he looks up to Odie, and he's happy to be rid of the kitten after six days. The week's best strip is September 6 (page eight), where Nermal has shed hair in Garfield's food. Garfield's grumpy observation that he only tolerates his own hair in his food is a subtle philosophical point. Sunday, September 16 (page twelve) is one of the funnier comics in the book, Garfield pretending to sleepwalk when he's caught stealing food at night. He can't resist pushing the charade beyond believability. "Fat Week" comes next, a tongue-in-cheek celebration of fat pride, and September 27 (page seventeen) features a good gag with Odie's tail "wagging the dog." A visit with veterinarian Liz is scheduled, and Jon tries as usual to ply his charms for a date. Liz typically comes out ahead, but Jon scores a few points this time. October 11 (page twenty-three) is another funny joke with Odie and his tail, about who's chasing whom. Odie is a great source of physical comedy. Jon battles to get Garfield in the bathtub (Garfield's teddy bear, Pooky, makes an appearance on October 16 [page twenty-five]), and then there are some funny lines with Irma the waitress. October 22 (page twenty-eight) is an effective sight gag as Garfield sneaks up to pounce on Odie, and then Garfield demonstrates for a few days how finicky he is with his food. We head back to the vet, though not long enough to see Liz. Jon takes Garfield on vacation to the beach, despite Garfield's discomfort riding in a car. November 18 (page thirty-nine) is one of this collection's funniest Sundays, Garfield inviting an attractive girl cat into the house. But she'd better watch out when she takes liberties with his food. No girl is worth that.

Jon and Garfield have a few humorous episodes driving in the car, followed by a hilarious Sunday (December 2, page forty-five) observing that people often resemble their pets. The punchline is laugh-out-loud. Nermal returns, and when Garfield can't successfully emulate his cuteness, he frames him for bad behavior. Nermal isn't defenseless as he seems, however. A storyline follows with Garfield getting stuck in a rollup window shade, beginning with a clever remark (December 17, page fifty-two) that misadventures like this tend to conveniently cover Monday through Saturday's comics. A low-key Christmas is followed by New Year's, and Garfield peeks out of bed into 1980 with his trademark apathy. Lyman features in a set of strips that find Garfield sniping food from the dinner table, the funniest of which (January 11, page sixty-two) has Garfield at his brazen best. Garfield suffers a head cold starting January 14 (page sixty-four); even his thought bubbles sound stuffed up. Lyman's name is used for the only time in this book (as far as I can tell) during the January 27 (page sixty-nine) Sunday comic. Jon and Garfield go back to Liz the vet, who rebuffs Jon again when he asks for a date. A mini Arbuckle reunion is on when Jon takes Garfield to his parents' farm for a week, and Garfield enjoys his new arena for daily mischief. Back at home, Jon restricts Garfield's diet when he gets overly plump, but Garfield figures a humorous way out of it after a week's deprivation. Nermal is back for the week of March 10, the funniest episode (March 14, page eighty-nine) coming when Garfield tries to teach him to gnaw a turkey drumstick instead of playing with a ball of yarn. Saturday's comic shows that Garfield doesn't mind Nermal so much anymore. The book ends with Garfield entering a cat show, but his weight has a comedic effect as he joins the other cats in the competition area.

Garfield isn't as consistently funny as Lincoln Peirce's Big Nate or as touching and insightful as Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, but hanging out with Garfield and the gang is good, comfortable fun. Garfield isn't exclusively a children's comic, but the books function well as kid lit, always leaving the reader wanting more. I'll be back for volume four, Garfield Weighs In. I want to see how the rest of 1980 goes for "America's #1 cat."

[Christine Rains · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the books with my third grade son. Love them!

[Eduardo Yanez · Rating 4 out of 5]

If it's one thing cat's love it's lasagna.Yup this fat cat named garfield doesn't have anything better to do than just eat and sleep.

[Remo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bueno, los Garfields, uno de los compañeros de nuestra infancia. 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. 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.

[Galy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este cómic recoge las tiras cómicas desde 27-08-1979 hasta 05-02-1980.

En una de estas tiras conocemos a Nermal, que es el gatito de los padres de Jon y se encargan de cuidarlo un tiempo.

De nuevo, al ser tiras cómicas de finales de los 70 y comienzos de los 80 hay comentarios y comportamientos que no me han gustado pero que entonces se veían hasta normales.

Pero aparte de eso me ha gustado, Garfield siempre es entretenido de leer. Aunque no me ha parecido tan gracioso como otros.

[Jaimie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been going through Garfield books lately. I need a little light heartedness in this ridiculous time in life/society, so I decided to pick these up. I remember loving him as a kid. My cousin and I, when we were younger, would actually make our own Garfield comics and stories to tell each other. I know. Lame. Lol.

The 3rd book is drastically better than the first too. You also get the introduction to Nermal. In my 34 years I remembered Nermal as a girl. Maybe it was from the high pitched girl voice they used in the TV show but to my surprise, he's a he! 😂

But this 3rd book made me remember why I loved him so much. The first 2 were just "meh".

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOSTALGIC REREAD

[Lemmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Great!!!!

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needs more Pooky

[Jason Tank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhh, a throwback to my childhood, when Garfield walked on four legs and the comics weren't all static and boring and repetitive. THIS is why I fell in love with cats and Garfield in particular.

[Dinnu Reads Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have forgotten that Jon was really bad with women, and he was kinda sexist in some of his pickuplines…But other than that it’s nostalgic and funny!😆

[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.

[David Allen Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading Garfield since I was a little boy in 1978 and I recently decided to re-read all my Garfield books, many of which I haven't looked at in years, and I am glad I did! In the third Garfield volume, Garfield, Jon, Odie and the other characters continue to be better drawn and come closer to their final forms. Jon's room-mate, Lyman, the progenitor of Odie, is still around, and Irma the waitress makes a lot of appearances. Jon continues his persistent flirtations with Liz, Garfield's veternarian. A few of the strips are dated, but in general the vast majority of them still read as original, witty, funny and succinct--the hallmarks that have kept Garfield going strong for over 40 years. This book is a must read for any student or fan of the strip and I am glad I re-read it so many years after first enjoying it!

[Jess Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a trip down memory lane
I read this series in the 1980’s and beyond. I forgot how Nermal ended up in the series. More importantly I forgot about who his owners were. This was a great reminder of many of the beginnings of characters and the start of many long running jokes. The whole book is great and reading it in public was heard as I kept bursting with laughter.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought an omnibus containing the first three Garfield collections, and my impression after finishing is that the quality picked up in this third volume.

[Kaelin Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another awesome book by Jim Davis. It was funny and enjoyable to read. I think this is great for kids.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

here's a Zen question, courtesy of John Hodgeman:

If cats could read, what would they think of Garfield comics?

[Ann L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny as heck!

[Yan Sham-Shackleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sum up a book in one sentence challenge: Garfield is fat and Odie is an idiot.

[freyaaaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT IS SO GOOD

[Abigail Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Same as the rest but better.

[Gruia Șereghi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is so funny!!I love Garfield,i love Lasagna :))

[an4 sofi4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 :)

[Tres Herndon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come on kitty, sing your song....Doo dah, Doo dah. Classic stuff.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read and loved the Garfield books as a kid

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25