It seems ridiculous to consider a world withoutGarfield, as the ornery orange cat has become a mainstay in pop culture, and has been a fan-favorite comic character (and franchise) since the very first strip was published in 1978. But, believe it or not,Jim Davis, the creator ofGarfield, admits thatGarfield’s success was 10,000 to 1, and that “the odds were heavily against me”.
In a 2018 interview withThe Guardian, Jim Davis opens up about his career as a cartoonist - a career that’s centered aroundGarfield. But beforeGarfieldwas published (or even conceived), Davis worked as an assistant cartoonist while trying to come up with his own original comic. Davis workshopped a number of ideas, includingGnorm GnatandJon, and he’d send these comic strips off to newspapers across the country hoping to get published. Eventually, that hard work and tenacity paid off with the creation of the first of thousands ofGarfieldstrips - and the rest is history.
While Davis was sending out comic strip after comic strip to newspapers before finally finding success withGarfield, he certainly wasn’t the only cartoonist doing it. In The Guardian piece, Jim Davis looks back on how truly fierce the competition was.
Jim Davis: Newspaper syndicates were getting tens of thousands of submissions from hopeful cartoonists a year and taking one or two. The odds were heavily against me.
So, how did Jim Davis succeed where so many other cartoonists of his era failed? Why didGarfieldbecome one of the chosen few? While the comic strip is obviously hilarious, it also has another element that works in its favor:Garfieldis timeless.
Jim Davis Beat the Odds By Making Garfield Truly Timeless
GarfieldFamously Doesn’t Get Political
While luck may have certainly played a part inGarfieldbeing chosen by newspaper syndicates back in the late ‘70s, it wasJim Davis’ decision to keepGarfieldaway from political or heavy-handed social commentarythat was the reason for the comic strip’s success. Rather than giving Garfield a political opinion or agenda specific to the time period (and only relatable to some), Davis decided to focus on things that everyone could both relate to and laugh at.
Garfield doesn’t comment on the current presidential administration or recent Supreme Court decisions, he makes jokes that have to deal with eating and sleeping - something everyone does and will continue to do. And when Garfield isn’t tackling topics that literally everyone can relate to, he’s simply being funny with wacky gags and clever jokes. A pie to the face, a prank on Jon, or a mission to squish a spider offer punchlines that have nothing to do with the social or political climate of the time, making a randomGarfieldstrip from the ‘80s just as hilarious now as it was then.
Jim Davis also admits that there’s another reason he’s keptGarfieldaway from politics: he considers himself unqualified to speak on such topics. Davis says that the newspapers in whichGarfieldis published do a much better job of covering real-world issues than he ever could. Plus,Garfieldis the one spot in a newspaper that doesn’t handle politics, making it a nice reprieve for readers.Garfieldis a reminder that, no matter how dramatically the world is changing all the time, humans as a whole never change - and that timelessness is whyGarfieldis so iconic today.
Jim Davis Reveals Another Secret to Garfield’s Success: Marketability
Davis Filled a Niche Void in the Comic Strip Market withGarfield
WhileGarfield’s content is timeless, with jokes that never venture into the realm of politics and instead focus on things everyone can always relate to/find funny, that isn’t the only secret toGarfield’s success. Back when Jim Davis was still workshopping comic strips to send to newspapers, he filtered through a few ideas that didn’t quite hit the mark. One of the first was a comic namedGnorm Gnat, which followed the titular gnat in a manner nearly (and sometimes literally) identical toGarfield. However, as one newspaper editor once told Davis, bugs aren’t relatable.
So, Davis pivoted to a human character with the comicJon, which followed the humorous, gag-filled life of the cartoonist Jon Arbuckle. While better received thanGnorm Gnat, as Jon was certainly more relatable than a bug, there was still something missing: marketability. Davis knew that he needed a character that immediately stood out to readers, and while workshopping ideas and seeing what other popular comic strips were doing at the time, he noticed that there weren’t many cats in the comic strip medium. So, Davis filled that niche void in the comic strip market, and thus,Garfieldwas born.
There’s a Simple Reason Garfield Is a Cat. Sorry, Dog Lovers!
Garfield being a cat was once totally up in the air at the start of Jim Davis' career, and the reason why he made him a cat is surprisingly simple.
Every creative and commercial decision Jim Davis made withGarfieldat the start of the strip’s syndication was the right one - from staying away from politics and focusing on more timeless jokes, to creating a highly marketable character. And whileGarfield’s popularity is a given now thanks to those choices, that wasn’t always the case, asGarfield’s success was quite literally 10,000 to 1.
Source:The Guardian
Garfield
Garfield is the central character in Jim Davis’s comic strip, which officially began in 1978 under the same name. Garfield is an orange tabby cat with a love of lasagna and a disdain for Mondays. He tends to torment his owner and dog while trying to secure more food - and quiet.
