Author(s) Launch date February 13, 2008 | Current status / schedule Current | |
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Similar Garfield, US Acres, Non Sequitur, Get Fuzzy, 9 Chickweed Lane | ||
Garfield Minus Garfield (also known as Jon Arbuckle) is a webcomic created by Dan Walsh, a technology manager from Dublin, Ireland, which received considerable attention during 2008. Each strip consists of a reprint of a past episode from the comic strip Garfield, from which all the characters except Garfield's owner Jon Arbuckle have been removed through photo manipulation. Though Walsh admits that he was not the first to come up with this idea, he was the first to "champion and popularize" it.
Contents
Paws, Inc. publishes an identically named and themed strip on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Garfield minus garfield film project
Content
Without the presence of Garfield, the resulting strips consist mostly of Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, interacting with himself, rather than with his pet cat. The strip's website characterizes this result as "a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb."
Reception
Garfield creator and artist Jim Davis has commented on the webcomic, stating that he is an occasional reader and finds it "fascinating" and an "inspired thing to do".
Publication
On October 28, 2008, Ballantine Books released a Garfield Minus Garfield book in full color, with the original comics alongside the "minused" ones. It is credited to Jim Davis (who officially sanctioned its publication), with a foreword written by Dan Walsh. Inside the book, however, most of the content is devoted to a section with "Garfield Minus Garfield Strips by Dan", followed in the end by "A word from Jim Davis" and a small section of Davis' own attempts at making Garfield Minus Garfield strips.
Paws, Inc. published its own Garfield Minus Garfield from November 3, 2008 to July 21, 2010, and resumed publishing on April 25, 2012. Unlike Walsh's version, it also includes the original Garfield strip underneath.
