Garfield by Jim Davis for May 15, 1989
May 14, 1989
May 16, 1989
Transcript:
Jon: You gotta go on a diet, Garfield. Even your face is getting fat. Whose face is fat?!
Jon: You gotta go on a diet, Garfield. Even your face is getting fat. Whose face is fat?!
A master of his craft, Jim Davis has truly stumped the experts with this strip. There are many obviously important and intentional details here. While the overall intention of the narrative can go in many ways, I think a few things are clear: the use of toner in the background represents the shifting tones of the panels, Garfield’s lethargic pose is indicative of the inertia we all feel at trying to change ourselves, and Jon’s unwavering pose being only broken by Garfield’s stance speaks to the power of action. Certainly the meaning can be intepreted as the importance of tone in constructive criticism, but there are deep, abstract underlying themes that mystify even me. I will say this: Davis has created a wonderful enigma here which will have scholars discussing it for years.