Garfield Home Cookin': His 74th Book

Garfield #74

by Jim Davis

Chef's special! Garfield returns—weighing more than ever!—for his 74th book. They’re all here—Jon, Odie, Nermal, and, of course, our favorite fat cat, Garfield!

Someone’s always cookin’ up fun—and often trouble—in the Arbuckle home. Whether it’s one of Jon’s half-baked ideas or mischievous Garfield stirring the pot, it all boils down to an entertaining time for fans!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Cartoon, Animals

96 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2023

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

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was a kid, summer was the only time we'd go to the tiny public library in Somerset Center. My sister and I would check out gobs of "Garfield" books, probably re-reading many the same ones each year. My parents would get the Sunday paper, and we'd fight over the comics page. Now, as an adult, I almost never read the paper and I hadn't looked at a Garfield comic in years. Judging by this book, Garfield is less mean than he used to be. He used to torment Odie and Jon and Nermal and everyone else. While this comic is still 30% "Garfield is fat" jokes, the spirit of it seems to have improved. While I also found this to be less funny--not that one has to be mean to be funny, I just think that 1) an 8-year old and a middle aged person are going to find different things funny 2) many of the jokes are rehashings and repeats.

So, would I recommend this to a young reader? Absolutely. Did I laugh out loud a bunch of times? No.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! What I like about Garfield is his mischievous personality, his laziness, his commentary, and his hatred for Mondays! And I also like Jon's clumsiness! I like the strips where Garfield smacks spiders, watches TV, drinks coffee, and also burps in Jon's face. My favourite Sunday strip was the one on page 37 where Garfield placed a turbo charger on the can opener and then Jon's clothes got shredded to bits. Jon's face looked so maniacal in the last panel like he was about to kill Garfield for that stupid decision. Garfield wanted the turbo charger on the can opener because he wanted the can opener to go faster because his cat food comes in cans, obviously.

[David Erkale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm 100% sure that Davis isn't drawing the comics anymore and somebody else is doing it. Obviously this is the case shown in the 3-11 strip where Irma is shown looking rather odd. As for Garfield himself, I can't say he acts like a cat anymore. Better to read an older one where he behaves with his natural instincts.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Garfield comics featuring Garfield, Jon, Odie, Liz, and other regular characters.

This book collects comics from 2021-2022. It started with Christmas comics which seemed fitting since I started this just before Christmas. A fun and diverting time as expected.

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and funny

[Karla Dee]

Fav bit is garfield saying he could lose weight but he doesn't like losing. lol.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

We learn that Squeak has 47 kids, Garfield installs a turbo charger on the can opener, and Odie gets the zoomies. I enjoy the ones with the barking dog.

[Ann L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is REALLY funny!!! Great one!

[Cora Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garfield:
I'm staring off into space
And letting my mind wander
I call it multitasking...