Garfield Gets a Life
by
Jim Davis

Ballantine, April 1991, 64 pp.
ISBN: 0-345-37375-8

Genre: Comics
Subgenre: TV Tie-In / Humor
Reviewed: 12/18/2010

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Graphic Novel

Synopsis

Garfield and Jon seem to be stuck in a rut. Their lives are pretty boring. They are so bored that they often spend time laying back in the lazy chair and counting the ceiling tiles. Man, you have to be really bored to do that!

Not being able to take it anymore, Garfield pulls a book entitled "How to Make Friends and Fool the Rest" off the bookshelf and gives it to Jon. Jon had forgotten about the book and he gets excited by the first chapter, which is on getting a date.

That night, Jon and Garfield go to a local club and Jon asks a woman to dance. But, being the bad dancer that he is, which seems to be of the disco style, Jon scares the woman off. Next, they try the Laundromat. Everything is going well until Garfield shows the woman Jon is talking to Jon's teddy bear boxer shorts. So, the next day they head off to the beach. Jon tries to impresses some women by saying that he lost his Olympic Swimming Medals. When he kicks some sand in the face of a guy buried in the sand, Jon gets a pounded by the very muscular man that emerges from the sand. Lastly, they go to a park and Jon strikes out with every woman that walks by them. Poor Jon.

That night, Jon, Garfield and Odie are watching television and a commercial comes on for Lorenzo's School for the Personality Impaired. Jon is captivated by the commercial. He decides to attend the class and while he is there, Jon meets a woman named Mona. Believe it or not, they hit it off and start seeing one another on a regular basis. Things seem so perfect for Jon, but Garfield is feeling a little neglected. Is there anything Garfield can do to return them to their normal life, a life of humdrum days? Probably . . .

Garfield Gets a Life is a graphic novel adaptation of Garfield's thirteenth television special and is written and drawn by Jim Davis.

Review

Garfield Gets a Life was a Garfield television special in 1991 starring Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield. The book is in color.

I could see how living alone with your cat and dog could get a little monotonous. Jon has always wanted a girlfriend, but Dr. Liz Wilson never really seems interested in him. I was happy to see that Jon finally finds someone who likes him for who he is. After all, finding that one special person to spend your life with helps a person feel complete. And, no, Garfield, a cat does not fill that empty hole . . . only another human being can. Sorry, Garfield. Although, a cute and cuddly animal often helps.

The story that Jim Davis created for this television special is entertaining, but I didn't really like Lorenzo, the character at the school, not the voice actor Lorenzo Music who does Garfield's voice. Jon bought the little nerd's spiel, but I didn't. Lorenzo wasn't any cooler than Jon, he just has more of a personality and more money. I think Jon was lucky that he happened to be sitting next to Mona in the audience. Otherwise, Jon still would not have found anybody.

Overall, Garfield Gets a Life is a good story, but I was disappointed by the ending. I want Jon to have a girlfriend, which I think would add a whole new dynamic to the Garfield comic strip. How long can Jim Davis make a comic strip last with only three characters? Forever . . . it seems. So, if you are looking for a book with a longer Garfield storyline than in any of the comic strip books, then pick up a book based upon one of his television specials.

I rated this book a 7½ out of 10.