3063: May Day!

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May Day!

Made by: Sloublues

Explanation

This comic is unexplained. If you can edit this page to provide an explanation, please do!

The author writes:

Another way of examining the evolution of Garfield. I chose a day of the year - the first of May, since it allows for an easy and relevant title while mostly avoiding Garfieldian holidays that might skew the data - then chose the most visually interesting, unusual panel for that day from each year. The idea was to follow Jim Davis becoming more or less inventive, more or less lazy, as the years went by.

Obviously some subjectivity was involved, and others will prefer different panels, but these selections should be sufficient for purposes of this overview. Several factors were involved beyond simply picking the panel my eyes gravitated toward. The deciding factors were, in roughly descending order: striking objects or people (the pegleg guy from 1988); unusual, evocative nonverbal communication (1979 Garfield making a face); and action (1986 Garfield accelerating down the slide). Background gradients were disregarded. When in doubt, the tiebreaker was "How much have I seen this exact thing before?" Sometimes this came down to picking out something tiny (2012 Garfield's angled eyes). I tried to disregard speech bubbles except as context for body language and action. The exceptions were 1991 and 2013, as you can understand, and 2007 where the speech bubbles were basically the only difference between panels.

Comments:

• The first row of panels are simple and take place in common Garfield locations. The next row has some genuinely unusual art, with the little girl and the pirate particularly. Aside from 1994, this is also the last time we see non-recurring characters. The third row is perhaps nothing special, but the fridge door and flying newspaper sections, well, I can't remember the last Garfield strip I saw with that much detail. 1997 seems to mark the beginning of a drop-off, with 15 of 20 panels thenceforth being "Garfield (and possibly Jon [and Liz]) at the table." Several genuinely interesting panels do occur afterwards, both Sundays. However, one is essentially "Jon making exaggerated poses" and another is largely "BIG SOUND EFFECT", neither of which require outside elements that bring variety with them.
• From this, one might conclude that, creatively, Garfield peaked during the middle of the 1980s, then took a steep dive toward the end of the millennium. This is frankly not far from my expectations.
• I rarely chose the first panel. It is uncertain how much this has to do with Jim Davis and how much with me.
• Odie only makes two appearances, and he seems determined to make the most of the last one.
• I had no idea the 1994 comic existed. I'm still befuddled that the 1994 comic exists. I can offer no coherent explanation for the existence of the 1994 comic.

Original strips: 1979-05-01, 1980-05-01, 1981-05-01, 1982-05-01, 1983-05-01, 1984-05-01, 1985-05-01, 1986-05-01, 1987-05-01, 1988-05-01, 1989-05-01, 1990-05-01, 1991-05-01, 1992-05-01, 1993-05-01, 1994-05-01, 1995-05-01, 1996-05-01, 1997-05-01, 1998-05-01, 1999-05-01, 2000-05-01, 2001-05-01, 2002-05-01, 2003-05-01, 2004-05-01, 2005-05-01, 2006-05-01, 2007-05-01, 2008-05-01, 2009-05-01, 2010-05-01, 2011-05-01, 2012-05-01, 2013-05-01, 2014-05-01, 2015-05-01, 2016-05-01.

Transcript

1979
Garfield: Brack! Hack! Cough!
1980
Jon: Don't go outside!
1981
Garfield: I think I'll take up smoking
1982
TV: Welcome back
1983
Garfield: Reciprocation is nice, too
1984
Man: Would you mind observing proper golf etiquette there, Mister?
1985
Jon: And this must be Tammy
Tammy: Yoooooo! It stinks here! It smells like cat!
1986
Garfield: Leading the pack is the great Enzio Bodoni
1987
Garfield: Now I want to watch a cooking show!
SFX: Click
1988
Pegleg man: Yes?
Garfield: Never mind
1989
{Garfield watches Arlene walk past.}
1990
{Garfield is rummaging in the fridge.}
1991
Garfield: MEEE-YOWRR!!!
1992
Garfield: Let me know when it's time for my break
1993
Jon: Food, Metro, Sports, Editorial, Local, Coupons, Classified, Entertainment...
1994
{Mime Jon jumps over a bush with a flower between his teeth, alarmed to find a female mime clinging to a huge male mime.}
1995
Garfield: I can barely hold somebody else's eyes open
1996
Garfield: Uh...I mean
Garfield: Meow
1997
Radio: Hair balls are our friends
Garfield: Sensitivity training
1998
Jon: Now it's my turn to be William Tell
Garfield: Ahhhh, Friday night
1999
Dog: I'll get to it! Okay?!
Garfield: Well, I don't have all day
2000
Jon: He was a color-blind electrician
2001
Jon: She hated me. She made me take summer school
2002
Jon: Besides beauty and intelligence...
2003
Jon: Is that how you're going to spend your day?
2004
{Jon looks alarmed as Garfield crosses his arms.}
2005
SFX: WHUMP!
2006
Jon: Seven seconds...
Garfield: Hey! Isn't that about the time you called?
2007
Jon: I love that
Garfield: And I'm sure you get to see it a lot when she's with you
2008
SFX: Beedle beedle beedle
Jon: Hello?
2009
Garfield: Busy saying the word "busy"
2010
Odie: Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip!
2011
Jon: BLANG-A TWANNG-YANG!!
2012
Jon: Here's your dinner, Garfield
2013
Garfield: BOO!
2014
Jon: Surprise! It's an apple!
2015
Garfield: Yes, Jon. Why don't you do that again?
2016
Jon: {singing} Isn't that greeeeat?