Some of Garfield‘s funniest strips have just reached their 30th anniversary. Garfield has delighted young and old for more than 45 years since it premiered in 1978. Jim Davis’ newspaper strip about a cat with a love for lasagna is still running strong today with new adventures daily, a variety of merchandise and even a new movie set for May 2024 starring Chris Pratt.

Of course, with a comic running this long, Garfield is bound to reach a variety of anniversaries as time goes on. Each strip that has been published continues to age, and while not every joke may hit, the funniest of the bunch stand out among the rest as they pass the test of time. What’s fascinating is that the comics that have recently passed their 30th anniversary have featured a gold mine of classic jokes from the franchise. April of 1994 in particular featured Garfield at his best, and these are ten of the absolute funniest that have held up over the past 30 years.

10

Garfield Shows Jon the Level of Respect He Has for Him

April 1, 1994

Garfield hit the ground running in April of 1994 with the first strip of the month being an absolute classic. This strip features Jon calling Garfield in to speak with him for a second, to which Garifeld agrees. As Jon speaks to him about his distaste for how little respect he’s shown, Garfield quickly tells him, “Second’s Up” and walks away. This short-and-sweet comic is a perfect highlight of Jon and Garfield’s relationship, as Garfield shows he only views Jon as a caregiver, not really a friend.

There are times when the two get along, but for the most part, Garfield, like most cats, sees his owner as nothing more than the hand that feeds him. The best thing about how it’s handled, though, is the use of common comic elements to emphasize Garfield’s lack of respect. The way his thought bubble intrudes on Jon’s speech is a perfect visual of how little he cares about what Jon has to see, completely cutting him off in a literal sense.

9

Garfield Gives Jon a New Look

April 28, 1994

Of course, Garfield’s lack of respect for Jon isn’t just limited to the one callout from the beginning of April. This hilarious strip sees Garfield taking a marker and drawing a zigzag mustache on a picture of his owner. When Jon sees what he’s done, he tells Garfield to fix it immediately. His response is to instead have Jon mimic the painting by drawing the mustache on him instead of erasing his sketch from the photo.

This is a fairly simple joke, but it works incredibly well because Garfield once again shows little respect for Jon. He absolutely has his moments where he shows love for him, but for the most part, he will absolutely troll Jon when he has a chance. What’s even funnier, though, is that by drawing a mustache on Jon, he looks strikingly similar to the long-lost character, Lyman, making for a cute homage to Odie’s former owner who lived with the two for a brief period.

8

Garfield Gets a Threatening New Neighbor

April 2, 1994

“Beware of the Dog” signs have become a classic running gag in the Garfield franchise as the titular cat often comes face-to-face with less-than-friendly dogs while outside. However, this comic takes the cake as the absolute best. As Garfield is shown walking outside, he comes across a “Beware of the Dog” sign that seems to have trailed off while the owner was writing it. It’s clear that the unseen dog attacked his owner, giving the signal to Garfield to just walk away and not tempt fate.

What works so well about this comic is how it works as a genius homage to a classic joke from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Similar to Garfield, King Arthur’s Court comes across writing on the wall, telling them they can find the Holy Grail in “the castle of ARRRRGHHH.” It’s a hilarious nod to one of Monty Python’s best jokes. However, Garfield proves that he’s smarter than King Arthur and his men by taking the writing as an immediate warning and turning around before meeting the owner’s same fate.

7

Garfield Predicts the Future in a Brilliant Meta Joke

April 12 and 13, 1994

On the surface, neither of the two featured comics are particularly the funniest that Garfield has to offer. However, when put side-by-side, they form a genius joke that proves the Garfield comic strip is smarter than people give it credit for. The first comic features Jon in a quizzical state as he tells Garfield he wonders what the future has in store. Garfield then walks off to the side, quickly proclaiming that “the future has a cookie jar!” At first, it would appear that the main joke suggests that Garfield’s future involves cookies, which makes sense given his love for food. However, the comic that debuted the following day makes a brilliant connection.

The April 13, 1994 strip features Garfield after eating a plate of cookies as Jon asks what happened to them. Garfield tries to come up with an excuse, but Jon immediately gives up by telling him to just wipe the crumbs off his face. Whether this was pre-determined or coincidental, the fact that these two comics connect is absolutely hilarious. It plays into the theme of wondering about the future in a way only Garfield can, making it one of the comic’s absolute best meta jokes.

6

Garfield Gives Jon His Goldfish Back

April 6, 1994

Given how often Garfield goes after Jon’s fish, it’s a shock that Jon hasn’t learned to just not get them. Case in point is this hilarious strip, which sees Jon realize that his goldfish is gone. He immediately suspects Garfield and demands that he return the goldfish to the bowl. Garfield does what he says, but all that’s left at that point is the poor fish’s bones as they float in the now-empty bowl.

Something that makes this comic work even better is that Garfield himself is nowhere to be seen. Similar to the hilarious Garfield Minus Garfield series, the humor comes from Jon’s reaction despite Garfield not being around. The fact that readers don’t get a glimpse of Garfield trolling Jon by giving him back what remains of his fish makes the joke even funnier, as it suggests that he was quick to get away before Jon could yell at him.

5

Garfield’s Stomach Works Faster than His Brain

April 9, 1994

While Garfield has a lot of favorite things, food is undeniably his biggest love. It’s the defining trait that fans know him the best for, and this hysterical comic shows that sometimes that can do more bad than good. Jon is shown carrying something on a plate, possibly an unfrosted cake. However, Garfield zooms past him and grabs the object, eating it as he goes. However, he quickly realizes that maybe he should have seen what it was as he says, “I hope that was food.”

This is a pretty funny way of showing how much food plays a role in Garfield’s life. He’s always so quick to assume that anything on a plate is something edible, so he’s developed a Pavlovian instinct to eat anything he sees. This essentially establishes that Garfield’s stomach has taken a priority over his thoughts, making him far more at risk of eating something accidentally that he shouldn’t.

4

Garfield Switches Up His Attitude

April 29, 1994

While Jon has been concerned about Garfield’s obsession with eating, he’s also shown that Garfield’s behavior is a big worry, as well. After all, bad attitudes can make for bad behaviors, so it’s understandable if Jon wants to have his cat achieve a more positive outlook. This is put to the test as Garfield attempts to be more cheerful, per Jon’s advice. He lets out a huge smile, then walks in on his owner asking, “Is this cheerful enough for you, bone brain?”

What’s great about this joke is that it can work in many different ways. For starters, it’s entirely possible that Garfield’s face has become stuck since his smile is abnormally large. This frozen face could have made him incredibly irritated, making him carry his frustrations out on Jon. However, the funniest possibility is that it’s a simple juxtaposition. In a way, Jon gets what he wanted. However, just because Garfield is cheerful on the outside doesn’t mean he is on the inside, as shown by him still insulting his owner in the final panel.

3

Not Even Bricks Faze Garfield’s Appetite

April 27, 1994

Garfield has proven time and again that he will eat pretty much anything. In the same month, he even showed that he’ll consume what he thinks is food, even if it might not be. However, this hilarious gag shows that Garfield is willing to eat inedible things if he must. Jon is shown bringing a cake out, telling the reader that he’s secretly put a brick inside. However, he hears a loud crunch as he walks away, revealing that Garfield has eaten the whole cake, stating that he’s developed a taste for bricks.

While the comic featuring Jon is incredibly funny, it also brings into question just why he put a brick in the cake in the first place. Did he put it in there to teach Garfield a lesson? Was it for decorative purposes only? It’s never answered, but his look of shock is a hysterical punchline when he realizes his unclear plan has been foiled. Jon hasn’t always been the best owner when he pulls moves like this, but it’s always a good gag to see when his less-than-stellar choices immediately backfire because of Garfield.

2

Garfield Finds a Loophole

April 26, 1994

Aside from Mondays, Garfield’s biggest nuisance has always been his animal companion, Odie. While the two have occasionally gotten along, he’s always found new ways to carry out his frustrations with the family dog, and kicking him off the table has become one of his biggest running gags. However, this comic features Jon completely fed up with Garfield’s actions, and he tells him not to kick him off the table anymore. This doesn’t stop Garfield from continuing his favorite pastime, though, as he kicks Odie onto the table instead.

Garfield has always found ways to work around Jon’s requests in order to continue doing his favorite things. However, this is undeniably the funniest instance of this. His approach to subverting the audience’s expectations adds a fresh take to this classic running gag. After all, there’s only so many times people can laugh at Garfield booting Odie off the table. This is undeniably one of the best Garfield running joke subversions as it continues to be funny 30 years later.

1

Garfield and Jon Have Different Ideas for Dinnertime

April 4, 1994

Capping things off is another classic Garfield joke involving food. However, it’s a gag that’s far more relatable than readers may have expected. In this strip, Jon calls Garfield to dinner. However, as he’s pouring Garfield’s kibble into his bowl, he grows curious as to where the beloved fat cat is. The comic then immediately cuts to Garfield at the table, eating Jon’s dinner while wondering where his owner is.

This is undeniably one of Garfield‘s best because of how much cat-owners can relate to it. Cats can be incredibly independent animals, meaning that they’ll eat whatever they deem to be their food if they’re hungry enough. Garfield has been shown to eat Jon’s food before, but the fact that his immediate instinct is to head to the dinner table and eat Jon’s food is incredibly funny. This is a strip that has stood the test of time as one of Garfield‘s funniest comics, even after recently hitting its 30th anniversary.