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The comic strip Garfield hasn’t made me laugh for a long time — but its many unauthorized spinoffs amaze me. We started coverage of strange Garfield stuff in July 2007, focusing on De-Garfed, a strip in which Garfield’s thought bubbles are removed. Here’s an example:
Recently things got even funnier, with Garfield Minus Garfield, a strip in which Garfield is completely deleted. As the anonymous author says, “the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life.” Here are some samples:
But that’s not all! Participants in the 4chan online forums devised Realfield (site is in Spanish), a version of Garfield in which the cartoon cat has been replaced with a more realistic, mute orange cat named Realfield. Awesome:
Finally, you may enjoy The Garfield Randomizer, a site that cuts up Garfield strips and randomly reassembles them. Check it out and see how weird you can get! Here’s an example:
That is freaking hilarious. I think I almost popped my sinus cavity.
posted by Gary on 3-4-2008 at 9:43 am
Garfield used to make me laugh out loud - the last couple years havent been as good, but I still like to read the daily comic. However, the comic on this page where Garfield is completely deleted is awesome; it makes the cartoon so much more hilarious, and somewhat more meaningful…
posted by Sarah on 3-4-2008 at 9:44 am
This is great. I used to erase the words in the thought bubbles in various comic strips and replace them with my own crude take on things in high school, but I would never have thought of anything as clever as this.
Don’t forget those crazy spiders, Garfield sure does hate them!
posted by Kevin on 3-4-2008 at 9:47 am
Coincidentally, a friend introduced me to the Garfield Without Garfield blog on Sunday.
The truly bizarre non sequiturs created by removing Garfield from the humor equation sort of remind me of Matt Groening’s Life in Hell.
posted by Ira on 3-4-2008 at 10:04 am
I’ve never been a fan of garfield, but the “Garfield minus Garfield” site was spectacular. Jon very creepy and disturbed. Wonderful!
posted by Colin on 3-4-2008 at 10:24 am
I’m making no attempt to take anything from the comic value of Garfield or the lack there of. But Chris, your prior post about what our Flossie Jr.s are reading brought to light that I am indeed reading Calvin and Hobbes to my 7 y.o., which we’ve been doing since Thanksgiving. Funny how dated some of the topics are, but it is truly SHEER GENIUS!!
P.S. an AWESOME site to buy books is www.betterworld.com I’ve bought all my textbooks this semester there as well as several used copies of Calvin& Hobbes. Free shipping and all proceeds go towards Literacy in Africa and other worthy charities instead of lining corporate pockets at Amazon and E-bay.
posted by Ingrid on 3-4-2008 at 10:55 am
Realfield…oh man…so awesome! Thanks for the post!
posted by Erin S. on 3-4-2008 at 11:20 am
The funniest thing is that it’s really how cats are when you talk to them.
posted by Melodye on 3-4-2008 at 11:32 am
Go to the link above. It is a random garfield generator, where each of the three panels is from a different original strip. It is absolutely hilarious, and often seems rather risque.
posted by Leah on 3-4-2008 at 12:01 pm
Er, link below, rather. (You know what I mean.)
posted by Leah on 3-4-2008 at 12:02 pm
Erg, nevermind. For some reason the rest of this page didn’t load the first time I went here, so I didn’t see the site was already mentioned.
posted by Leah on 3-4-2008 at 12:03 pm
Hey, if you want crazy garfield variants check out LASAGNA CAT.
Here’s a funny one:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySGtniX4QrU
YouTube Channel:
www.youtube.com/lasagnacat
It’s not for everyone, but it kills me.
posted by Justin on 3-4-2008 at 12:10 pm
Ingrid, thanks for the link. The site looks awesome.
posted by Rose on 3-4-2008 at 12:17 pm
YAY! Thanks Rose, I’m so glad you liked it. I think it’s a fantastic way to do business. They’ve got a really expansive library- I buy from there fairly often. I bought the George Washington “self-help guide” that was featured on mentalfloss a couple weeks ago from betterworld.com and their free shipping makes books there a true bargain!
posted by Ingrid on 3-4-2008 at 12:32 pm
Don’t forget about this one too.
www.schizogarfield.blogspot.com
posted by Tim on 3-4-2008 at 1:38 pm
I’m amazed. You have to admit, regular Garfield really sucks, but these strips are amazingly funny. I guess the old adage: “less is more” is quite accurate in this case.
Could also note: Bill the Cat from Bloom County is actually based on Garfield.
posted by Florida on 3-4-2008 at 4:23 pm
Wow… these are the most hilarious things I’ve seen for a long time. Who is brilliant enough to think of this.
Not me, I must say.
posted by Mark on 3-4-2008 at 9:49 pm
These are awesome. One of the best Garfield variants I’ve seen is www.lasagnacat.com
Basically it is a live action replication of a Garfield strip with a strange musical association. Check it out.
posted by Deseree on 3-4-2008 at 10:16 pm
oh my god, I love you guys! Everyone here is a genius… even Jim Davis, since who would have thought that in what had over the years become a mediocre and unfunny “comic” strip could contain so much meaning, just lurking beneath the surface.
When I saw the ones of Jon without Garfield, I realized that THAT was where I have been getting most of my subconscious philosophy, despite not knowing it!
Major kudos and life props all those involved producing these masterpieces of sequential art! You all deserve major positive recognition!
I have NEVER before laughed so hard at Garfield nor found it so thought-provoking! EXCELLENT!
posted by Andrew on 3-6-2008 at 4:46 am
there’s also some other site where it takes panels from different strips, and there is a huge disconnect that is HYSTERICAL
posted by weeble warble on 3-7-2008 at 8:49 am
uhh nevermind, you posted it. didn’t see the jump!
posted by weeble warble on 3-7-2008 at 8:50 am