Wayback Wednesday: Garfield 1978

Posted on June 19, 2019

Garfield Image One — Image Credit: aromaticcoffees.wordpress.com

Forty-one years ago, today, the Garfield Comic Strip debuted. Created by cartoonist Jim Davis, it chronicles the daily life and adventures of Garfield, a large orange (or ginger) Tabby cat, his human Jonathan Q. ‘Jon’ Arbuckle and, Odie, the dog, originally owned by Jon’s friend and roommate, Lyman. Davis named the cat after his grandfather, Jon Arbuckle came from a 1950s coffee commercial and Odie was based on a car dealership commercial written by Davis, which featured Odie the Village Idiot. Set in Muncie, Indiana (Jim Davis’s home), the strip showcases Garfield’s laziness, sarcastic humor, love of lasagna & coffee and, his dislike of Mondays.

In 2002, it became the most syndicated comic strip, reaching 263 million readers, worldwide. From 1978 to 1983, Garfield looked more like this picture but, went through some changes and became more cartoonish-looking from 1984, forward. Lyman was written out in 1982. Other notable characters are Dr. Liz Wilson (Garfield’s vet), Arlene (a pink stray cat), Pooky (Garfield’s teddy), Nermal (a grey Tabby kitten that Garfield is jealous of) and Jon’s family members.

Garfield Image Two — Image Credit: ucomics.com
Garfield’s First Appearance

♦ On Television
♦ Movies
♦ Video Games

I bought his first book from 1978 and I still have it. It is a little worn but, it is in good condition. ~Vic

Garfield Image Three — Scanned from my book.
02-08-2015

This entry was posted in History, Thoughts and tagged 1978, 2002, 2015, arlene, cat, family, february 8, friend, garfield, garfield book, ginger, jim davis, june 19, liz wilson, lyman, march 1982, most syndicated, Movies, nermal, odie, orange, pooky, roommate, tabby, Television, the dog, the red book, u comics, video games.

7 thoughts on “Wayback Wednesday: Garfield 1978”

bayphotosbydonna said:
June 20, 2019 at 7:37 AM

My 36 yr old son had a love for Garfield when he was in his teens, so lots of his gifts throughout the years were Garfield-related. I wonder if he still has any of his books or cute stuff too. I enjoyed the comic strip too!

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The Hinoeuma responded:
June 20, 2019 at 5:00 PM

Garfield is a beloved character. I remember buying his first book at my hometown’s mall in 1980. I was 13.

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badfinger20 said:
June 20, 2019 at 10:24 AM

In the late seventies, I remember my 3 cousins having Garfield everything…phones, lamps, bedspreads…I have always liked the comic strip. I miss getting a newspaper and reading them. It was always the baseball box scores and then the comics…the news could wait.

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The Hinoeuma responded:
June 20, 2019 at 5:07 PM

Yeah. I miss Sunday comics, too.

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