5571: Gareld
| Gareld |
 Made by: Memes-In-Your-Dreams |
Explanation[edit | edit source]
To summarize the author's notes, each strip has had its middle panel removed, as they served little purpose other than dragging out the punchline.
The author writes:[edit | edit source]
An integral component of comedy is timing. In comic strips, the number of panels, and the progression of the strip through each panel, is key to the success of the joke. To see if Garfield's terrible attempts at humour could be salvaged by a change in timing, I collected some strips and simply snipped out the middle panel. Such a simple change completely revitalises the joke, raising it to be higher-brow, as thought is required to piece together the joke, rather than it being spoon-fed to the strip's aging audience. The abruptness also lends an irresistible slapstick element to the strip. If Davis had only considered leaving out the middle panel, he could rival greats such as Larson, and save himself a third of the work.
Original strips: 2000-02-04, 1983-09-14, 2002-09-06, 1995-04-26, 2008-08-25.
Transcript[edit | edit source]
{Five Garfield strips, which have had their middle panel removed}
{Jon is on the phone. He is holding it in his left hand. Garfield sits beside him on all fours}
Jon: Florence, remember when you said I was no fun?
Jon {revealing a book with an elephant on its cover}: "1001 Elephant Jokes", baby!
Garfield: Run, Florence, run!
{Garfield and a mouse sit against the wall}
Mouse: I wish I were a cat instead of a mouse
Mouse: You're not on the business end of the food chain
Garfield: Good point
{Jon is on the phone again, but he is holding it in his right hand. This is presumably because it is his dominant hand, but he was previously using to hold the joke book. Garfield is in the same position as before}
Jon: Hello, pest control?
Jon: I have a cat!
Garfield {suddenly bipedal and leaving purposefully}: You had a cat
{Jon sits at a table. Before him is a bowling ball that has embedded itself into the table, shattering his plate and knocking over his coffee cup in the process}
Jon {seemingly unfazed by the destruction}: Garfield...
Garfield {from above}: Me?
{Garfield stands on a table. In previous strips, this table was blue, pink, and then yellow, but now it is a red-brown colour}
{The table has broken in two and collapsed. Perhaps this is why Jon goes through so many tables}
Jon: You must diet now
Garfield: Be a pal and slide some food down here
