Garfield is famous for loving two things more than anything else: food and sleep. Yet time and time again, he has proven to love at least one other thing: playing with Jon Arbuckle. More often than not, every interaction Garfield has with his owner, Jon, ends with Jon on the receiving end of one of Garfield’s cruel jokes, making the prank a cornerstone of their entire relationship.
However, sometimes Garfield’s “pranks” on Jon are quite harsh, even cruel. Garfield will do things to his owner, like scare him with spiders or trick him into eating cat food. But then, the evil orange cat will cross the line, destroying Jon’s already low self-esteem. In fact, when harvesting Garfield comics that just turned 30an example of the latter is presented, and it is Garfield’s most severe burn to Jon.
10
Jon simply accepts that he can’t have nice things with Garfield around
Garfield – October 1, 1994
As Jon sits at his counter, reading the newspaper, he hears nothing but scratching, as if something is being destroyed in another room. Then, Garfield walks up to him with a very satisfied expression on his face and Jon asks, “Do you like my new chair?” and Garfield responds: “‘New’ is hardly the word“. In other words, Garfield totally destroyed Jon’s new chair, and Jon has already accepted it.
Even while it was happening, Jon accepted the fact that his new chair would be ruined by Garfield. And that’s just a fraction of the broader acceptance that Jon has come to embrace when it comes to his possessions: as long as Garfield is around, he can’t have nice things.
9
Garfield knows the value of a good book (and is an insult to book lovers everywhere)
Garfield – October 3, 1994
As Garfield sits in his chair watching television, he turns to the reader and breaks the fourth wall to say, “Books are very important“. It’s kind of a random thing to say, seeing as he’s watching TV, but Garfield’s message rings true, especially for all the book lovers out there reading this comic. But then, Garfield takes a sharp left when pulls a book from under the chair, seat cushion and says, “I’m sitting on one to see the TV better“.
Not only is Garfield not reading a book, and not only is he sitting on a book, but he is using a book to prop himself up and watch television more easily. In other words, Garfield’s use of this book is an absolute insult to book lovers everywhere.
8
Garfield goes through an existential crisis after breaking the fourth wall
Garfield – October 7, 1994
Garfield gleefully enters the first panel of this comic, immediately breaking the fourth wall. Garfield happily says, “I went back!“, but in the next panel, his happiness begins to fade and horror replaces it. Garfield comments on the fact that he hasn’t really gone anywhere, so he’s not really “to go back“. Then, Garfield begins to lose control of his own reality, looking around with wide-eyed panic and asking, “Where am I?“.
The walls of Garfield’s fictional world begins to fall apart when he realizes he is just a comic character. Characters who break the fourth wall usually know they are fictional and are too crazy or smart to care (like Deadpool and Rick Sanchez). But here, it seems like Garfield was coming to this horrifying conclusion for the first time, and it’s admittedly pretty funny to see.
7
Garfield hilariously reacts when he thinks he’s spotted his archenemy: a spider
Garfield – October 16, 1994
While sitting in a chair next to Jon, Garfield looks at the carpet and thinks he sees a spider. Garfield immediately starts freaking out, shaking and climbing on top of Jon, screaming about how he needs to kill the spider before it bites them. After Garfield calms down, he takes a closer look at the ‘spider’ and discovers that it is nothing more than a piece of lint.
Garfield’s reaction to the possibility of seeing a spider was definitely a little extreme, but in his case, reasonable. Garfield has a long history of trying to kill spiders, so much so that he still has a reputation in the spider community as a “bringer of death.” In other words, Garfield hates spiders, and they hate him, so it’s probably a good thing he keeps his guard up at all times.
6
Garfield catches Jon with an absolutely classic prank
Garfield – October 23, 1994
As Jon lies in his bed, fast asleep, Garfield approaches and stands directly on his owner’s chest. Garfield then makes a scary face and stares at Jon.holding his position until Jon inevitably wakes up. Finally, Jon opens his eyes, but instead of a cat sleeping next to him, he only sees the scary face Garfield is making at him. Startled, Jon jumps out of bed, letting out a scream of terror as he does so, leaving a very content Garfield in his place.
Scaring someone they weren’t expecting with a scary face is an absolutely classic prank, and Garfield does it perfectly. The orange cat even waits a long time for Jon to wake up and, as he himself points out, it was worth it (hilariously).
5
Garfield’s insatiable appetite comes back to haunt him (literally)
Garfield – October 30, 1994
Garfield is sleeping soundly until he is awakened by the ghost of a goldfish. Not just any goldfish, but one he had eaten the previous summer. The ghost of the goldfish tells Garfield that he is there to haunt him, although Garfield is less than impressed. Garfield mocks the goldfish by pretending to be scared and making it obvious that he isn’t. However, when the goldfish says he’s not the only one haunting Garfield, that’s when Garfield starts to take this specter seriously – and it becomes clear why.
There are some chickens, a frog, lots of fish, and a real horse (how did Garfield eat a horse?!). And now, They’re all back to make Garfield pay, which means his insatiable appetite is literally coming back to haunt him..
4
Garfield confirms an old childhood myth
Garfield – October 26, 1994
Garfield enthusiastically shows Jon what he and Odie have been doing all day: making faces. Garfield stretches his lips over his huge teeth, contorting his face until it’s nothing more than a giant smile. Meanwhile, Odie’s face has also been altered, with his head elongated, his ears floppy and his tongue permanently hanging out of his mouth. After he sees this, Jon warns Garfield that if he and Odie keep going like this, their faces will stay like that – and that’s exactly what happens..
It’s an old childhood myth told to children by their parents, teachers and older siblings that if they make funny faces, their faces will get stuck that way. Although this is obviously not true in real life, it is a certainty in Garfield’s world, something that the orange cat himself confirms.
3
Jon has a little fun with his funny face that is ‘stuck like this’
Garfield – October 28, 1994
Although Jon warned Garfield and Odie that if they made faces they would be stuck like this, he goes ahead and makes a face, only to suffer the same fate like his two pets. So instead of just moping around the house, the three of them go for a walk around town. Jon meets a random woman on the street and decides to ask her out. Of course, she runs away screaming, just as Jon expected her to do.
Scaring random women for fun is a huge red flag and doesn’t help Jon’s case when it comes to certain allegations made by fans. It has been widely rumored that Jon is secretly a serial killer, with one of his first victims being Lyman (Odie’s original owner), whose body is supposedly rotting in Jon’s basement. Although it is a hilariously absurd accusation, This comic doesn’t exactly make Jon look sane.
2
Garfield doesn’t help Jon’s low self-esteem
Garfield – October 6, 1994
As Jon looks in the mirror, he tells Garfield that looks aren’t everything and that personality is what really matters. But then, after smiling to himself, Jon notices something about his teeth and admits that personal hygiene is also very important. At this point, Garfield sarcastically asks Jon, “Are you going to floss your way into some girl’s heart?“.
It’s sad enough that Jon has such low self-esteem that he’s already decided he’s ugly and needs to make up for it with his personality. But add to that your unwillingness to take care of yourself (which includes brushing your teeth), and Garfield’s constant negativity and criticism, and Jon is stuck in a very difficult situation regarding his self-esteem and mental health – and Garfield doesn’t help at all.
1
Garfield delivers the hardest burn ever to Jon
Garfield – October 5, 1994
While the two are at home together, Jon casually asks Garfield if he thinks he has lived a past life. Jon is clearly toying with the idea of ​​reincarnation and wonders if Garfield has any thoughts on the matter. Instead of engaging in a meaningful conversation about this topic, Garfield chooses to be incredibly cruel, as he responds to Jon: “I doubt it. You’re not even living it“.
It’s funny, and there’s a cat telling his owner that he’s not living his life – which definitely crosses the line into cruelty. It is well noted that Garfield loves to prank and insult Jon, and it’s definitely not good for Jon’s self-esteem, but this comment is just mean.and certainly goes down in history as Garfield’s all-time toughest burn for Jon, especially when compared to the rest of the 10 Garfield comics that just turned 30 years old.