01-25-2014, 08:35 PM | #51 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Yes. If you read the whole arc, you'll see that he really did try everything to find them, so when he ended up finding them in the end, and it being revealed that he actually had given up was an emotional moment.
People talk a lot of crap about Garfield but there truly are some funny/feelsy moments hidden in it! Maybe I'll find some more of my favourite strips sometime. I read all of them from book 21 and under.
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
01-25-2014, 09:02 PM | #52 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
I love Old Garfield. (Anything before Book 20, roughly.) My particular favorite is what I guess I'd call Vintage Garfield (roughly Books 6 thru 16) as anything before that tends to suffer from the really bad artwork and Jim Davis figuring out his humor while anything after that begins to blend its way into the mid-20s and beyond, which is where I'd say Garfield jumped the shark.
I think I have six or seven of the books up here at the apartment with me right now. I could go rummage through them and try to locate my favorite strips. That stated, even as a fan of the vintage stuff I still have to admit that Garfield Minus Garfield was an hysterical idea that remains funny to this day.
__________________
|
01-25-2014, 09:44 PM | #53 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Spot on with that assessment. Looking through my own collection, I actually own all the books up to 25. It's been a while since I read it, but it must have declined around this period because I stopped wanting to buy the new ones. It follows a trajectory similar to The Simpsons:
The oldest stuff looks rough and IS rough --> Art is cleaned up, humour begins to stabilize --> Golden age --> Decline --> Is now complete crap I'm not saying that golden age Garfield is as good as golden age Simpsons by the way. It's not like every single strip during the "golden age" was amazing, but there were definitely some good ones. I agree that Garfield Minus Garfield is hilarious. There's also another one that edits out Garfield's thought bubbles so that it's just him staring at Jon after he says something (which is a realistic depiction of what's actually happening in the strips, since Garfield can't talk). I'm actually surprised to have found another Garfield fan here with knowledge about its history. I always thought that I was a freak case since I owned a bunch of the books and read them religiously as a kid, and everyone else just assumed it was this crappy comic where every strip goes like this: Panel 1: "Now Garfield, don't you eat this lasagna!" Panel 2: *Garfield eats the lasagna* Panel 3: "GARFIEEEEEEEELD!"
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
01-25-2014, 10:14 PM | #54 | |||
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Quote:
But yeah, I think Garfield and the Simpsons are decently comparable in that regard. Some of the greatest strips of all time happen in those early years but they can be difficult sells to modern audiences because Garfield doesn't look like either his 1980s Garfield & Friends self (which doesn't happen until the mid to late teens with the books) or his "modern" self (which I feel really started to take hold around the mid-20s; certainly by Volume 27, which I think was my last purchase). And just like how the Simpsons' very first season (and pilot episode) is almost unrecognizable, so too are those first few years (Volumes 1-4 and I'd also say 5 if memory serves) where Davis is still learning how he wants to draw these characters. Quote:
Quote:
And even I don't like the new stuff nor do I go back and religiously re-read the old stuff. But like ... I at least still believe that there was good stuff in the older volumes. Seems a lot of people don't. Not sure why, especially not for those our age who would've likely been among the comic's ardent supporters in the 1990s. Oh well. Anyway, it's not something that comes up in conversation often. And, as you might imagine, when every single person around you is bashing on Garfield, piping up to say "Hey! I like Garfield!" can end up like a Jew telling the SS "Jewish and proud! " [/hyperbole] People have discussed Garfield before on UPN, but I think it's mostly been limited to the context of Garfield Minus Garfield.
__________________
|
|||
01-25-2014, 10:16 PM | #55 |
Primordial Fishbeast
|
>People agree with me on the Simpsons
YES. THANK YOU. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL PEOPLE THIS FOR YEARS. |
01-25-2014, 10:22 PM | #56 | |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Quote:
Anyway, yes, anything from Seasons 2 through (I want to say) 6 or 7 is where you'll find the best material in the Simpsons. Once you hit the episode where Bart goes on some quasi-mystical journey to Mexico in search of a taco, you've already hit the point where I dropped the show because it was getting stale. (I want to say it aired in '97, so whatever season that would have been. I remember friends telling me about it at lunch.)
__________________
|
|
01-25-2014, 10:34 PM | #57 |
Banned
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 14,729
|
Pretty much agree entirely with that assessment, Talon. It's interesting to compare trajectories to shows like Family Guy or South Park. Variations on a theme in many ways
|
01-25-2014, 10:34 PM | #58 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
I feel like we might want to splice this off into a Garfield thread if we keep this discussion up, but in the meantime ...
... you made me dig out my books. Pictured here are my two favorite volumes from childhood. Let's see what wonders they contain ...
__________________
|
01-26-2014, 12:03 AM | #59 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
In the 10th book, I love the arc where they go on vacation and have to survive the horrors of flying 3rd class lol.
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
01-26-2014, 12:09 AM | #60 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Looking through Volume 6 ... (tagging for size; images embedded below; images provided in chronological order per category)
Spoiler: show There were a lot of strips that I remember finding funny as a kid that were less funny to me now. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of strips that I felt were completely unfunny. I think the majority of Davis's work in 1981 was at least worth a smile. And back in the days before the Internet, back before image macros were easily passed around the office by the dozen via e-mail and instant messenger, the daily comics were a great source of amusement for people. Oh sure, most of these strips don't strike me as being anywhere near the level of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal in terms of solid hilarity, but they're ... I dunno, they're so damn charming in a way. They're unoffensive, kind ... very 1980s, I guess. Maybe that's what pisses people off about them so much. That they're so unoffensive to the point of cartoonist temerity. *shrug* But I dunno, the fact that they feel like something I could send to my grandmother with zero worries is kind of nice. You don't often get that with modern comics. Modern comics can be an easy share with peers in your own age group but can be difficult to share comfortably with members of your family. These Garfield comics are about as safe as safe can be. Moving on now to Volume 10 ... Spoiler: show Once again, the book contains far fewer really good comics than I remembered ... but it also contains almost no comics that one could rightly accuse of being bad. Apparently my books are first edition prints. O_o I noticed that when looking at the front page. Volume 10 indicates "First Edition: March 1985", for example, and has no other indications about what edition it is, what year it was printed in, etc. Not on that page, not on the front or back covers, nada. Hell: the copyright listed on Volume 10's cover is 1978 (which is when I think Davis would've started drawing Garfield), not 1983 (which is when the first strips that appear in Volume 10 would've been printed), '84 (when the final strips in it would've been printed), or '85. It's a similar story for Volume 6. I would have bought these books from a Borders bookstore back around 1994, 1995. Kind of hard for me to believe that they're first edition prints for that very reason, but who knows.
__________________
|
01-26-2014, 12:37 AM | #61 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Mine are first edition too, even though I bought some of them many years after they first came out. I also discovered that I actually have more than 25. I have book 30 as well, but not all the ones in between 25-30. Scanning through 30, it's not actually that bad. I guess the strip didn't go to complete crap until the 2000s (hey, just like The Simpsons!).
My dad would love this one from the 10th book's vacation arc:
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
01-26-2014, 08:14 PM | #62 |
Pokemon Trainer
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Ireland
Posts: 18
|
Yeah....but....well...you see....shut up :P
I love those edits. My favorite ones have to be those "Christ what an asshole" edits though. I've laughed far too hard at some of them. |
01-26-2014, 08:35 PM | #63 |
Trying to send Christmas cards
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: *scribble*
Posts: 1,460
|
I appreciate your promptness, but next time open the door!
Talon: Hovsa!
__________________
*munch munch* | FB Profile |
01-26-2014, 08:42 PM | #64 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
I always liked, "Upps"
Some of Talon's comics contained some amusing running gags. One of them was sending people to Abu Dhabi (Garfield often did this to Nermal, lol). Another one was "I hate to see a grown ____ cry".
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
01-26-2014, 09:17 PM | #65 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Whoa, how do you remember this!? I didn't mention it this time because I couldn't link it from the official site the way I could the dailies, but yeah: I have mentioned before (years and years ago though!) how the "Garfield Around the World" bit at the end of Volume 6 was one of my childhood favorites and how I was particularly amused by the way the Danes say "Oops." "Hřvsa!" indeed. How do you remember this!? Is it on post-2007 UPN and you found it searching for old posts people made with mention of Garfield? I'll have to look later when I get to a computer.
__________________
|
01-26-2014, 09:42 PM | #66 |
Dragon's Tears
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Searching for light
Posts: 6,470
|
I remember all these comics you guys have posted/referenced. (Had a book myself as a kid, as well as tapes of the old TV show.)
I feel old.
__________________
|
01-26-2014, 09:54 PM | #67 |
Trying to send Christmas cards
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: *scribble*
Posts: 1,460
|
Book 6 was my favorite as a kid. I didn't do any searching, but it can't be THAT long ago...
::does some searching:: Can't find it :<
__________________
*munch munch* | FB Profile |
01-26-2014, 10:15 PM | #68 | |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Quote:
If you do end up finding it though Really? Well that's kinda neat. Yeah, the old TV show was much loved by kids my generation. Loved enough that even when it was no longer shown on Saturday mornings, most local television stations continued to air it weekday mornings for kids before school. Like, I remember one of our local stations used to air it with a starting time somewhere in the vicinity of 6:00am to 7:30am. I was surprised to learn, years later (high school? college?) that a computer-generated reboot was airing on cable television. I was dumbfounded that they would put in the effort to make a computer-generated version no one wanted instead of just paying for the broadcast rights to the '80s cartoon and airing re-runs.
__________________
|
|
01-26-2014, 10:35 PM | #69 |
Dragon's Tears
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Searching for light
Posts: 6,470
|
Yeah, I think I had the fourth Fat Cat 3-Pack. I remember it had a blue cover.
__________________
|
01-26-2014, 10:44 PM | #70 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
I didn't have a favourite book, but I did like book 11 in that pack because it contained another sentimental arc where Garfield got lost. He found his mom and stayed with her for a while before trying to find his way home. The end of it:
Spoiler: show Yeah I'm probably gonna make a Garfield thread eventually l0l.
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
01-26-2014, 10:47 PM | #71 | |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
[garfield thread] A look at my inventory reveals that the volumes I own are 6, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 26, 27, and 28. Of these, I appear to be missing one volume -- 18, which incidentally was my very first Garfield book. So I'm not sure what's happened to it but yeah that's kinda "" that it's apparently missing. Thankfully, it wasn't my favorite book in the series (like I said, 6 and 10 take that honor), but it was still near the top of the pack of the books I owned, I'd say. I don't remember the title, but it was a purple book with Garfield poking at his belly, worried (or perhaps faux worried?) about his weight.
So apparently I owned the slim versions of two-thirds of the book you owned, Yuki. ;o [/what a small world!][/garfield thread] So, has anyone since watched Samurai Shodown? Y'know: Quote:
Spoiler: show
__________________
|
|
01-26-2014, 10:48 PM | #72 | |
Dragon's Tears
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Searching for light
Posts: 6,470
|
Quote:
"He's out on the town Making some tracks He's cool (He's cool) He's calm He's... *forget the rest of the lyrics*"
__________________
|
|
01-27-2014, 08:21 AM | #73 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
The samurai from San Francisco seems like a chill dude.
[Senses a great disturbance in the Force, earth trembling, thousands slaughtered on the battlefield, buildings burning, evil spirits arising] "Ho boy."
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
01-27-2014, 01:21 PM | #74 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Tying Garfield back into the topical conversation of "the worst cartoon you've ever seen," you know that one story arc with Garfield's mom you said you really liked, Mcsweeney? It sounded familiar to me. So I wondered if I had read it before and did a little light investigation. While I think I may have read it as a kid, I think I also may have seen the television special it was apparently based off of. (As in, Davis & Co. wrote the script for the TV special first and then later Davis adapted the plot line into the comic. Or so I read.)
The name of the special? Garfield on the Town. The humorous relevance to this thread? It was the first of three Garfield specials to be awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. That's right. Not only was one of your favorite story arcs recognized for its excellence with an Emmy award -- but so were two other Garfield television specials in the 1980s. So yeah. Some people may look back on Garfield and say, "Man, that show was dogshit!" But not only was Garfield well-loved by many in the 1980s and '90s, it was so loved as to net Emmy awards for its best televised material. P.S. According to Wikipedia, two men are credited with writing the script for Garfield on the Town. One was Jim Davis. The other was Garfield's very own voice actor, Lorenzo Music, also known for his voice-acting roles as Tummi Gummi on Gummi Bears and Dr. Peter Venkman on The Real Ghostbusters. So yeah: the creator of Garfield and the man who lent his voice to the cat on television were the two primary (if not the two exclusive) writers for the script. Kind of neat to imagine that they collaborated on this project and that, perhaps through their combined efforts, produced elements of the story which were later retained in the comic strip version that you might prefer. (Admittedly, the television version makes Garfield's reason for parting ways with his mother a bit more pathetic and shameful for the flabby tabby. I think the comic version you linked was much kinder to Garfield as a character.)
__________________
|
01-27-2014, 01:35 PM | #75 | |
Dragon's Tears
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Searching for light
Posts: 6,470
|
Quote:
Seriously stop with the nostalgia.
__________________
|
|
Lower Navigation | ||||||
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
|
|