Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Variations

One of my favorite comic strips growing up was Garfield. Perhaps it was a warning sign that I would one day turn into a creepy old cat lady.

Anyway.

As I grew older, I moved on from Garfield and began paying more attention to webcomics like Bob and George, 8-Bit Theatre, and Penny Arcade. Partly it was because I just spend a lot of time on the internet, and have for well over a decade. Also, I haven't gotten a big city Sunday paper in a lot of years, so the comics section is no longer the be all end all of my news-tainment.

The reason I bring all of this up is that I wanted to share two different variations on Garfield that I've come across in the past year or so. The first is Garfield Minus Garfield, which re-presents Garfield comics with the titular character removed.

Here's an example of a Garfield Minus Garfield strip:


It makes one feel very sad for Jon. It also presents new aspects of humor and insight that that the original strips don't have.

The other variation that I would like to point out is Shut up, Garfield!, which are the same strips as the original, only with all of Garfield's text removed:


These are very reminiscent of my daily life with my three little monsters. I'm consistently telling them things, and this is the exact look I get from them.

And, for those of you who were curious about the original strip, here you go:


Just a little something different to try if you're so inclined. :-)

2 comments:

  1. I love Garfield Without Garfield! It entertained me when I worked in the Mabee-Gerrer Library basement one summer. I was the only person down there for hours, laughing. (I felt rather a bit like Jon.)

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  2. Have you seen Jim Davis's response to Garfield Without Garfield? The first time I saw it I thought it was completely awesome. It's rare to find a creator who doesn't freak out when someone else decides to 'play in their sandbox.' Jim Davis was absolutely delighted with what Dan Walsh has done, and even follows the strip himself. :-)

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