Wars and Windmills

10 March 2008

Mr. Arbuckle

At one time I was comfortable in my knowledge that Garfield was the cat's pajama's when it came to funny. I was also comfortable in the knowledge that my large gray aviator glasses held together by electrical tape were an acceptable facial accessory. I thought Garfield's love of lasagna and hatred of Odie were dipped in chocolate it was so good. I couldn't wait until I could drive because I was sure as hell going to have Garfield sticking to one of my windows taunting other drives with his sharp teeth and snarky look in his eye.

As I grew Garfield went the way of the glasses replaced by Bill Watterson and some semblance of taste. It wasn't until I stumbled across this gem of a site that I started giggling (some just make me sad) again at Garfield. All that was needed: no Garfield.

The site's introduction explains it best: "Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb."





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6 comments:

  1. Heidi10:09 PM

    VERY clever. I definitely chuckled out loud - mostly with the milkman one - I liked that one best.

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  2. Unknown8:34 AM

    I looked through the site and it's hysterical. What's crazier? That John has a talking cat who he converses with or that he's just talking to himself and making up their responses? One of comics was him looking down at his pants and saying, "There's something weird with my pants" and then his eyes getting all huge. Hmm. Poor John Arbuckle.

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  3. Grifter7:09 AM

    steamboat sent me this link recently, and I thought it was comic genius. I forwarded it to a scientist I work with (a Doctor of Human Factors Psychology), thinking that maybe he'd like it. I based this assumption on the fact that he is constantly forwarding tepid Dilbert comics and powerpoints of smiling barnyard animals to me. This guy is one of the most over-analyzing people I have ever met (the kind that would pose for a photo in front of a globe and think it was super 'neat.') His response to garfield-minus-garfield was priceless in its ability to push one's glasses up the bridge of one's nose with one's index finger:
    "Well, it took me a while to appreciate what this guy is saying, but I see his point. I don't know that I necessarily find these comics funnier without Garfield, but they certainly cause one to reinterpret what is being said, what is supposedly funny. It makes me wonder, however, whether this would be true of any comic strip. Granted, I don't think Abbot and Costello's "Who's on 1st?" would be funny with one guy missing, but I could see Calvin and Hobbes having a different dynamic if one of those two were missing."

    Fail.

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  4. ibid7:18 AM

    Joe that is HA-larious.

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  5. Jeff B12:38 AM

    This is seriously disturbingly awesome!

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  6. G-man10:22 AM

    Sorry I haven't commented in a while ol' buddy. It took me a minute....or three to find the funny. I started to get these after studying them for a few minutes.

    Thanks for expanding the borders of my sense of humor.

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