Garfield: Out to Lunch

(His 12th Book)
by
Jim Davis

Ballantine, March 1986, 126 pp.
ISBN: 0-345-33118-4

Genre: Comics
Subgenre: Comic Strip / Humor
Reviewed: 4/20/2010

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Comic Strip

Synopsis

Garfield: Out to Lunch is the twelfth collection of Garfield comic strips. All of the comic strips appear in black and white. The first page shows a Garfield comic strip that has been cut into a stone entitled, Earliest Known Garfield! The last page shows pictures send to Jim Davis by his kids entitled Garfield Through the Eyes of the Little Fans. The rest of the 124 pages consist of either two daily comics per page or one Sunday comic. Most of the strips are single shots, but a few storylines appears.

This collection contains the following storylines: National Fat Week, Sumo - Karate Cat, Nermal Visits, Splut Week, Shedding, Squeak the Mouse, Time for a Checkup, Stuck in a Mailbox, New Goldfish, Cousin Judy and Kids, Irma, Pooky, Ed the Squirrel Cat, and Mr. Skins.

This book contains comic strips from 12/31/1984 through 8/4/1985.

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: Out to Lunch is another book in the massive collection of Garfield merchandise on the shelves today. Sure, there have been movies, television shows, specials, and such, but nothing is pure Garfield like the original comic strips.

I had a hard time finding a really funny comic to show up above. In earlier books, I never had a problem, but as the Garfield comic strip matures, I find it not to be as funny as the earlier ones. Like I have said before, Garfield was funniest when he had round eyes, not ovals like they are today.

One thing I wish for is for Odie to have thought bubbles, like Garfield. I think that would add a lot to this strip and make it very funny. I wonder what Odie thinks about? Probably not much.

Overall, Garfield: Out to Lunch is a mediocre collection of Garfield daily comic strips from the mid-1980's. I found myself wishing that this book was funnier. Maybe the next one will be. I need a good laugh every now and then.