1494: Garfield in 2053
| Garfield in 2053 |
 Made by: MadDogBV |
Explanation[edit | edit source]
In the original, the third panel was zoomed out more to show Jon with a humorously-disgusted face (the result of drinking expired milk, natch). Here, Garfield is completely static throughout.
The description explains the title and general premise of the strip; it's a theoretical future where, 40 years from 2013 (the year this strip was submitted), Garfield is now created by some senior editor after Jim Davis dies. Not particularly interesting in actually drawing, he simply copies and pastes the same image of the title character and reuses jokes from prior years with very slight twists; the logical conclusion of the comic's decline.
It also mentions Peanuts, which ended shortly after Schulz's death. Many newspapers continue to run the strip, but they're simply repeats from the decades prior.
The author writes:[edit | edit source]
When I saw submission #1400, I noticed that the Garfield in the first two panels was completely identical. No doubt this was because Jim Davis was no longer drawing the Garfield comics by hand, but instead creating them via computer. Combine that with the tendency, as demonstrated in prior submissions, for Jim to reuse gags from years past – and you start to realize just how formulaic Garfield is. It got me to wondering: if Jim Davis dies, do the Garfield comics necessarily stop?
Normally, the answer is yes – for instance, the Peanuts comic died with Schultz, and any iterations of Peanuts in your newspaper are exact reruns of years past.
However, could the answer be no? Enter “Garfield in 2053”. With Jim long gone, a senior editor has been tasked with continuing the Garfield comics in essence. However, the editor, not being particularly inclined to exert too much effort, decides it is simply easier to reuse one image of Garfield repeatedly, and simply recycle the jokes from prior years, with slight differences so as to not seem plagiaristic. After all, who will know the difference?
I feel like I’m getting too cynical for this. (Admin note: Not by a long shot!)
Original strip: 2013-01-17.
Transcript[edit | edit source]
Garfield: Milk...
Garfield: Some people read the expiration dates.
Garfield: And some don't.
