10 Funniest Garfield Comics Featuring His Original Design

Summary Garfield's early comics with his original design are some of the funniest, showcasing his unique humor and cat-like appearance.

Spoiler culture is brilliantly satirized in a strip where Garfield shoves a soda bottle in Jon's mouth to avoid movie spoilers.

Garfield's shenanigans, like refusing to go to the vet or outsmarting Jon with a bell collar, showcase how his mischievous and clever personality have been there since the beginning.

Some of Garfield's funniest comics actually come from his early days with his original design. Since his debut in 1978, Jim Davis' Garfield has become a pop culture icon. Even though he has his critics, readers can't get enough of the lasagna-loving fat cat as the comic continues to be printed today and even headlining a new movie starring Chris Pratt.

However, even with his success, some of the best jokes from the strip's run come from his earlier days when he had a completely different design. Originally, Garfield was depicted as more rotund and cat-like, unlike his modern depiction that has accentuated him as a cartoon character. These early days were arguably Garfield at the strip's absolute funniest, and these are ten of the absolute best featuring his original design.

10 Garfield Can't Stand Spoilers

July 14, 1978

This Garfield strip is an incredibly relevant gag for those who can't stand spoiler culture. It features Jon and Garfield sitting down to watch Jon's favorite movie. However, rather than let Garfield watch the film for himself, Jon begins speaking out loud about clues that the audience is supposed to infer. To keep him quiet, Garfield shoves his soda bottle into Jon's mouth in an absolutely hilarious visual.

The best thing about this joke is how it tees itself up. Based on Jon's description, the movie that he and Garfield are watching is clearly a mystery, which is something that's best enjoyed when going into it blind. After all, a mystery is no fun when you know who the killer is long before the reveal. It's the perfect extreme example of how frustrating spoilers can be for those who haven't watched a certain film yet, and Garfield's reaction to nearly having the mystery ruined is absolutely priceless.

Related The 10 Funniest Pre-Garfield Comics Starring Jim Davis' First Character, Gnorm Gnat Before he created Garfield, Jim Davis created another comic strip called Gnorm Gnat, and it was absolutely hilarious. Here are the 10 funniest strips!

9 Garfield Gets Bored on a Screen Door

August 6, 1978

Garfield tends to get bored pretty easily given how little he actually does as a lazy cat. He occasionally tap dances on fences or watches TV, but this gag showing what he does when he really feels like doing nothing is comedy gold. It features Garfield hanging on a screen door, claiming that it's the only option to do because of how unmotivated he is. He complains about how bored he is for the most part, but suddenly Jon slams the door open to call him in for lunch, making him change his stance on the day as he says he's in "pain, pain, pain pain."

The kicker of this strip is that it's never answered why Garfield feels the need to hang on the screen door. He's just there from the moment the comic begins, making his unanswered reasoning absolutely hilarious. Plus, when he eventually faces the consequences of his choices, seeing him just accept it in the last panel makes the joke land on every level. Garfield knows what he did was a bad choice, even if he was bored, and now he just hangs there as the universe answers his hope for him to feel anything other than bored.

Related 10 Funniest Garfield Comics Starring Garfield's Nemesis Mrs. Feeny In the lasagna-laden world of Garfield comics, the orange tabby cat's nemesis, Mrs. Feeny, steals the spotlight in these ten laugh-out-loud strips.

8 Jon Gives Garfield His Morning Coffee

June 29, 1978

While lasagna may be Garfield's favorite food, coffee is easily his preferred drink of choice. He's been shown as a fan of the bean for decades now, and one of his best gags about it comes from the comic's beginnings. This strip shows Jon pulling a cup of coffee away from Garfield, telling him that he shouldn't be drinking it. However, he stops himself in the middle of coming up with an excuse. He then gives the cup back to Garfield and asks if he wants one lump of sugar or two.

Given Jon's history with Garfield's love for food, it's funny that this early on in the comic's run, he's already accepted that there's no point in stopping Garfield. He'll always find a way to get his paws on his food and coffee sooner-or-later. It's a hilarious acknowledgment of Garfield's never-ending hunger for human food that even explains why Jon doesn't fight him much as the years go by. He knows there's no fighting about what Garfield wants, so instead he focuses on just trying to make his cat happy.

Related "I Thought This Was the Beginning of the End": Jim Davis Perfectly Explained Why Newspapers Originally Hated Garfield Reflecting on his success, Garfield creator Jim Davis explained the moment that he thought the enduring comic strip was over before it truly began.

7 Garfield Torments Jon with a Ridiculous Face

September 8, 1978

While this strip is simple in premise, the execution absolutely delivers on its punchline. Jon is shown going to bed after listening to a radio drama called Mystery Theater. When he turns out the light, clichéd cartoon eyes are shown in the dark with one pair nefariously glaring at him. Unsurprisingly, it turns out to be Garfield as Jon gets frustrated with his cat trying to scare him before bed.

What's fantastic about this strip is how it cleverly subverts a common observation among cat-owners. Cats are known to occasionally stare at their owner while they're asleep, seeing if they'll wake up soon to feed them. Garfield, on the other hand, takes this idea to a frighteningly funny level as he stares at Jon to scare him. While Garfield certainly doesn't hate his owner, one of his funniest running gags is how often he likes to mess with Jon, and this is arguably one of his best efforts.

Related 10 Funniest Garfield Comics Where Garfield Beats Up Jon Jim Davis' cartoon cat Garfield may be famous for his laziness and wisecracks, but when Jon actually irritates him, the claws come out.

6 Garfield Outsmarts Jon's Ultimate Plan

November 26, 1978

After attempting to steal a piece of pie, Jon puts a bell collar around Garfield so he always knows where he is. As he listens to the bell, Jon is able to perfectly pinpoint exactly where the sound is coming from, putting him at ease about protecting his food. However, he's shocked to realize that Garfield has pulled a fast one on him and put the collar around Odie when he wasn't looking, as the cat eats a slice in celebration.

This simple solution to preventing Garfield from eating more of his food hilariously backfires because Jon apparently thinks that his cat isn't very smart. However, given his reluctance in a previous strip to just give Garfield the coffee, he clearly still hasn't let the truth set in that Garfield will do what he needs to skirt around Jon's rules. Even Garfield knows that Jon severely underestimates him as well, as he proclaims, "No ding-a-ling's going to keep me from my pie," in a hysterical double meaning referring to the bell's sound and Jon himself.

Related Before Garfield: This Jim Davis Quote Will Inspire Anyone Who Wants to Learn How to Draw Jim Davis created one of the world's most recognizable comic strip characters; rather than the product of a savant, Garfield came from practice.

5 Garfield's New Scratching Post Never Stood a Chance

October 4, 1978

Cats scratching everything in sight is an experience that any cat-owner can relate to in their lives. It's a natural instinct to sharpen their claws, but usually it leads to the destruction of furniture and personal belongings. Jon actually tries to solve this common problem by buying Garfield a new scratching post. However, it doesn't last long at all as he flicks the bobbing mouse off the top coil and absolutely demolishes it to the point that it's unrecognizable.

What makes this comic stand out in particular is Garfield's punchline at the very end where he proclaims, "It wasn't the living room drapes, but I'll give it a seven." The fact that he saw the scratching post as a mild distraction from other scratching fodder is one of the most cat-like things he's ever said. Cats are known to sometimes scratch up everything but the stuff their owners buy specifically for them to scratch, so Garfield's recognition of the post being a brief amusement at best is absolutely perfect.

Related 15 Darkest Garfield Minus Garfield Strips (So Far) Garfield Minus Garfield removes the iconic cat from the cartoon, turning Jon Arbuckle’s life into a nightmare. Here are the webcomic’s best strips.

4 Garfield Refuses to Go to the Vet

September 17, 1978

Garfield has shown distaste for various things over the years. From diets to Mondays, there have been many things that have put him in a constant bad mood. However, there's nothing Garfield hates more than going to the vet, especially since he knows that Jon often uses the visit as an excuse to see his crush and future girlfriend, Liz. This early comic doesn't feature Liz, but it perfectly shows just how much Garfield hates going. He's fighting Jon tooth and nail in every direction just to avoid leaving the house.

What's even better is when they finally arrive at the vet. Garfield quickly jumps out of the car and speeds off past the vet as Jon thinks to himself, "Somehow, they always know." Even though it's a still image, it's easy to imagine just how fast Garfield is running, despite his known distaste for exercise. His fight or flight instincts have fully kicked in as he hilariously heads for the hills. It's a brilliant image that is sure to relate to many people who have had to deal with taking a cat to the vet while also showing Garfield's notable exercise exceptions.

Related Garfield's Best Joke Proves It's Smarter Than People Pretend Garfield's gained a meme-worthy reputation for the strip's reliance on running gags. However, one comic proved the series is smarter than fans think.

3 Garfield Laments Odie's Arrival

August 13, 1978

When Odie was introduced in 1978 alongside his owner and Jon's long-lost missing roommate, Lyman, he became a perfect foil for Garfield. The two are complete polar opposites of each other, with Garfield being linguistically smart, while Odie remains silent and not nearly as bright. This comic in particular introduces Garfield's worries about having a dog in the house, as he fears that Odie is a vicious animal that will chase him around and hurt him.

However, when Odie trots over to him, Garfield starts beating him up by grabbing him, slapping him, dribbling him and eventually punting him across the room, all while still questioning, "How will I ever survive?" This strip set the basis for one of Garfield's most well-known gags. Garfield is known for constantly kicking Odie off tables and finding ways to torment his canine companion, and while the two have grown to be great friends, he still continues to do it in jest.

Related Garfield's Odie Only Ever Spoke 2 Words, But They Were the Perfect Choice Odie has remained a silent character for a large majority of his appearances in Garfield, but the one time he broke his silence held the perfect joke.

2 Garfield Tries to Be Cute...With Hilariously Disturbing Results

July 30, 1978

This simple strip works because of how effectively unsettling Garfield's new look is. For the most part, readers see Garfield grooming himself as he adjusts his fur. This process ends with him having a completely different fur style complete with fluffed up hair, a puff-ball tail and cutesy eyes to match. It's quickly revealed that he's trying to look cute for Jon so he can have some of his steak, which makes for a hilarious punchline. However, the design of Garfield's disturbing attempt at being cute is the real star of the show in this comic.

The way that Jim Davis draws Garfield as "cutesy" juxtaposes well with the rough-around-the-edges and selfish attitude Garfield is known for. It's even funnier when the strip zooms out and shows him holding that same pose while Jon tells him he can't have any steak, making the design incredibly unsettling. Garfield is a character who can't exactly be shown as cute, as said multiple times by his future arch-rival Nermal, but it makes for a hilarious joke when he does try to push his boundaries.

Related Garfield's Most Gruesome Story Was Way More Terrifying Than Any Fan Parody A long-lost book depicting the past lives of Garfield includes on disturbing tale where he is possessed by an evil spirit and attacks his owner.

1 Garfield Realizes Mistakes Were Made

June 26, 1978

In what's undeniably the best strip from Garfield's early years, the famous fat cat is shown on top of a bookcase in a situation similar to one that most cat-owners find with their own pets. He tells the reader, "We cats like to sit in high places" because it "reinforces our superiority." He then looks down and realizes just how high he is. He turns back to the read with fear in his eyes, simply asking, "Help." He realizes that he may have jumped a bit too high and has no idea how to get down.

This three-panel comic sums up what's great about Garfield with a brief joke. He can be selfish and overly-confident while also too late realizing when he's made a mistake. It's a trait that has made him a classic slapstick character, as he constantly finds himself in the worst situations with dogs, spiders and angry audiences during his tap dancing fence routines. It all started here with this Garfield strip that used his original design but set the path for who he would become in the funniest way possible.