Garfield Takes the Cake

(His 5th Book)

by
Jim Davis

Ballantine, October 1982, 126 pp.
ISBN: 0-345-32009-3

Genre: Comics
Subgenre: Comic Strip / Humor
Reviewed: 3/30/2010

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Comic Page

Synopsis

Garfield Takes the Cake is the fifth collection of Garfield comic strips. All of the comic strips appear in black and white. The 126 pages consist of either two daily comics per page or one Sunday comic. The first page is entitled "GARFIELD Eating Tip" and lists ten handy dining tips. The last page is entitled "GARFIELD Characters That Didn't Make It" where Jim Davis shows five different versions of Garfield that never made it off the drawing board. This book introduces the female cat character of Arlene. Most of the strips are single shots, but a few storylines appears.

This collection contains the following storylines: Garfield's Grandpa, Meet Arlene, City Pound, Diet Time, Claws, Catch That Mouse, To the Vet, A Visit to the Farm, Fence Entertainment, Going Camping, and It's Nermal Time.

This book contains comic strips from 11/2/1980 through 6/7/1981.

Garfield became very popular in the late-1970s and continues on today, although the character now looks a little different. It is seen daily in thousands of newspapers and enjoyed by millions worldwide. Garfield is a quirky cat that is quite fat, lazy and loves his lasagna. He loves to pick on Odie, the dog, and give Jon, his owner, a hard time. He hates diets and loves food . . . any type of food, especially lasagna.

Review

Garfield Takes the Cake is another fun-filled book of Garfield the cat comic strips. Garfield up up to his usual hi-jinx messing with Jon and Odie. Arlene is a nice addition to the cast as Garfield finally has a female cat to play against. It is great that she doesn't fall for all of the things he tries to pull. And poor Lyman . . . where has he gone. He is barley in this book. He is fading away . . . fading away . . . fading away . . . fading away . . .

There were quite a few times I let out a chuckle while I was reading this book. I would show those to my wife and she would look at me a say, "That's not funny." Humph . . . everyone has an opinion, I guess. Does Garfield ever make me laugh out loud? No, but he does entertain me . . . and isn't that what comics are all about? Being entertained?

Overall, Garfield Takes the Cake is packed full of antics by our favorite comic strip cat. Sure, he can be a little mean. Sure, he is fat and lazy. Sure, he loves to eat, eat, eat. And sure, he knows what he likes and knows how to get it. Do you know what that means for you and I? It means that we get to spend and hour or so being captivated by him and his friends. What more can anyone ask for?