15 Funniest Garfield Comics Where He Tries to Swat a Spider

Garfield has made no shortage of enemies throughout Garfield's comic strip history. Even those who love him the most (like Jon and Odie) find him to be an annoying jerk more often than not, meaning other characters who don’t have established relationships with him have no reason to like Garfield at all. Random dogs, vindictive birds, and annoyed neighbors could all consider themselves Garfield’s ‘enemies’, but no other group in Garfield canon has more of a reason to hate the fat orange cat more than spiders.

In a number of Garfield comic strips, the titular cat tries to swat, squish, or otherwise kill any spider he comes across. While that’s fairly relatable, these spiders aren’t average arachnids, as they - like Garfield - can talk. More than that, they can beg for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Thankfully, these are cartoon spiders, so they never really seem to be in any danger. Though Garfield still never hesitates to swat them on-sight, leading to some pretty hilarious gags. Here are 15 of the funniest Garfield comics where he tries to swat a spider!

15 Garfield Tries to Swat a Spider, & It Beats Him to the Punch

Garfield, 9-15

Garfield spots a spider in his home, so he naturally grabs a rolled-up newspaper to squish it. However, after he turns his head for a second to grab the newspaper, the spider vanishes. It then appears right behind Garfield, dangling from its web with a tiny rolled-up newspaper of its own, and the spider whacks Garfield in the back of the head with it. Garfield certainly got a taste of his own medicine in this comic, as the spider literally beat him to the punch.

14 Garfield Realizes He Likes the Chase More than the Swat

Garfield, 9-16

When Garfield sees a spider crawling along the counter top, he quickly pulls out his rolled-up newspaper and smashes it right then and there. He does so with a blank expression, clearly deriving no joy from killing the bug. Then, Garfield confirms as much by saying, “The thrill is gone”. It seems Garfield doesn’t want to actually kill these spiders, he just likes ‘hunting’ them (which is somehow more cruel than just killing them outright).

Garfield, 7-7

During a picnic, Garfield puts himself in charge of pest control, and the power completely gets to his head. With his trusty rolled-up newspaper, Garfield kills not just a spider, but a number of other bugs that threaten to ruin the picnic. Ironically, it is Garfield who ruined the picnic by killing all these bugs, as Jon’s date, Liz, has completely lost her appetite. It seems dozens of insect corpses is a bit of a vibe killer, one that Garfield is single-handedly responsible for with this bug massacre.

12 Even a Swatted Spider Isn’t Without a Sense of Humor in Garfield

Garfield, 3-14

When a spider is faced with Garfield’s dreaded rolled-up newspaper, it begs for its life, pleading with Garfield, “Don’t swat me!” - to no avail. Without replying, Garfield swats the spider, squishing it flat on the counter top. Then, Garfield pauses for a moment and asks, “Wait, did you say “don’t”?” to which the spider replies, “That’s a rather moot point at this juncture. Don’t you think?”.

It seems even swatted spiders in Garfield still have a sense of humor, as this playful and witty comeback to Garfield’s absurd question may have been the spider’s last words - and they weren’t wasted.

11 1 Spider Actually Gets Garfield Back After Getting Swatted

Garfield, 2-12

While Garfield is lying on the ground, trying to enjoy a nap, he’s approached by a spider. Even though his trusty rolled-up newspaper wasn’t handy, Garfield adapts by swatting the spider with his hand, and then flicking away the corpse. However, his spider troubles are far from over, as the spider survived Garfield’s swat, and was fuming with rage. The spider took its revenge on Garfield by wrapping him up in its webs, and Garfield deserved every uncomfortable second of his comeuppance.

10 Garfield is Truly Heartless When It Comes to Swatting Spiders

Garfield, 8-24

When a spider crawls by Garfield’s bed while the lazy cat is trying to sleep, it should have known that it was as good as dead, as Garfield didn’t hesitate to smash it. However, what he wasn’t counting on was the spider’s entire family showing up, too. This spider had a wife and a child, who wept at the sight of their loved one crushed into the ground. Garfield acknowledges that he should feel bad about this, but accepts that he doesn’t, right before killing the other members of this spider’s family too, in a display of utter heartlessness.

9 Garfield Expresses His True Hatred of Spiders by NOT Swatting One

Garfield, 9-4

Garfield doesn’t just wish every spider he comes across a quick and sudden death (one that he provides himself), he truly hates them, and wants nothing but suffering for all spiders. This is proven true in this comic, when a spider who wants to die approaches Garfield for the sole purpose of getting squished. However, after the spider tells Garfield all the reasons why it wants to end it all, Garfield smiles a cruel smile and refuses to swat it. That is a deep level of hatred.

8 Garfield Uses a Spider to do One of His Favorite Things: Prank Jon

Garfield, 5-15

It’s been well established at this point that Garfield loves killing spiders (though apparently not more than watching them suffer in any form), but the one thing he definitely loves more than that is pranking Jon. In this case, Garfield finds a way to merge those two loves. When a spider crawls across the counter while Jon is having dinner, Garfield squashes it with Jon’s glass. Then, when Jon takes a drink, he comes face-to-face with a spider, spitting his drink out in fear as a result - and Garfield couldn’t be more proud of himself.

7 Garfield Isn’t Afraid of Spiders, He Simply Hates Them for Existing

Garfield, 4-2

While fans know that Garfield hates spiders, it could have been assumed that the reason behind his hatred is that he fears them. Many suffer from even mild arachnophobia, and Garfield very well could have been among them. However, this comic proves that isn’t the case, as Garfield kills a spider who admits to not being poisonous simply because he finds the spider “icky”. Garfield doesn’t fear being bitten by a spider, he really just hates them for merely existing.

6 Some Spiders Actually Appreciate that Garfield Squishes Them

Garfield, 4-4

One would think that Garfield would be the enemy of all spiders, given that he doesn't hesitate to kill them and their entire family on sight. However, Garfield actually earns the appreciation of at least one spider by doing just that. This spider asks Garfield if he’s the one who squished its brother-in-law, and when Garfield admitted to it, the spider thanked him.

Apparently - as many readers can assuredly resonate with - this spider hated its brother-in-law so much that it actually thanked their killer in person, and in doing so, proved that not all spiders hate Garfield for constantly swatting them.

5 Garfield Makes Sure Every Trace of a Spider He Kills is Destroyed

Garfield, 4-7

When a spider trips on its own eight legs while crawling near Garfield, it shouts, “Nobody move! I lost a contact lens!”. What’s funnier than the idea of a spider not only wearing a contact lens, but losing it, is the spider’s mistake in believing Garfield would care in the slightest. Without even acknowledging the spider’s predicament, Garfield simply rolls up his newspaper and kills the arachnid - and he doesn’t stop there. Garfield then found the contact lens and smashed it, too, ensuring that every trace of the spider he killed was destroyed.

4 Garfield Makes a Spider He Squishes Famous (in the Most Humiliating Way)

Garfield, 11-11

Garfield has seemingly made a name for himself within the spider community, as he’s killed so many of them, the spiders regard the orange cat as something of a ‘Bringer of Death’. Because of that, one spider thinks that dying by Garfield’s hand is honorable, and will make the spider famous. While the spider gets its wish, it’s utterly humiliating, as the spiders name a day after this fallen arachnid, “National Stupid Day”. The other spiders know to avoid Garfield, and made an example out of the one who got itself killed by him on purpose.

3 1 Spider Has Encountered Garfield Before, & Hasn’t Learned Its Lesson

Garfield, 6-5

While Garfield has certainly killed a number of spiders, there’s at least one who keeps getting squished by him without dying. This spider suffers injury after injury with every Garfield encounter, and in this comic, it's telling the orange cat how it just recovered from the latest one. Then, Garfield promptly squishes the spider once more, and again, the spider doesn’t die. It seems this spider will be suffering Garfield’s heartless wrath for many years to come, all the while not learning its lesson.

2 1 Spider Tries to ‘Incept’ Garfield (& Fails Miserably)

Garfield, 8-5

One night, while Garfield is sleeping, a lone spider crawls down from its web and tries to implant the idea in Garfield’s subconscious that he ‘likes spiders’. The spider is basically trying to ‘incept’ Garfield, using his dreams to manipulate his emotions, while making him believe the idea of ‘liking spiders’ was his alone. Unfortunately for the spider, Garfield is a light sleeper, and was awake during the spider’s poor attempt to ‘incept’ him. It seems not even taking a note from Christopher Nolan’s playbook is enough to change Garfield’s deep-seated hatred of spiders.

1 Garfield Literally Brings Down the House While Trying to Kill a Spider

Garfield, 8-4

Garfield is usually a pro when it comes to killing spiders, but this time, it is the spider who has the upper hand, and Garfield’s failure to kill it comes at the cost of his entire house. When Garfield spots a spider on the window sill, he decides to slam the window down on top of it. However, when he does, Garfield makes the whole house crumble around it from the sheer force of his window-slam, destroying everything in sight - everything except the spider.

It’s as if the bad karma accumulated from all of Garfield’s previous spider-kills came back to bite him all at once, resulting in the destruction of his home and the survival of this particular spider. It’s a hilariously well-deserved fate for the fat orange cat, making this one of the 15 funniest Garfield comics where he tries to swat a spider.