Originally created with the intention to "come up with a good, marketable character," Garfield has spawned merchandise earning $750 million to $1 billion annually.
In addition to the various merchandise and commercial tie-ins, the strip has spawned several animated television specials, two animated television series, two theatrical feature-length live-action films and three CGI animated direct-to-video movies.
The broad appeal may partly be due to its lack of social or political commentary; though this was Davis's original intention, he also admitted that his "grasp of politics isn't strong," remarking that, for many years, he thought "OPEC was a denture adhesive."
It all started when Jim Davis tried out creating a comic strip called Gnorm Gnat, but the reviews were mostly negative. One editor said that "his art was good, his gags were great," but "nobody can identify with bugs."
Following this advice, Davis created a new strip with a cat as the main character.
The strip originally consisted of four main characters. Garfield was based on cats Davis was around growing up. The name and personality he took from Davis's grandfather James A. Garfield Davis (in Davis's words, "a large cantankerous man").
Jon Arbuckle came from a coffee commercial from the 1950s, and Odie was based on a car dealership commercial written by Jim Davis, which featured Odie the Village Idiot.
Odie's owner early on in the strip was a man named Lyman. He was written in to give Jon someone to talk with.
But Davis later realized that Garfield and Jon could "communicate nonverbally" (Garfield always "talks" with a "think" bubble, not a dialogue bubble like the people in the strip.)
The strip was originally rejected by King Features Syndicate and Chicago Tribune-New York News. United Feature Syndicate, however, accepted it in 1978.
Garfield debuted in 41 newspapers on 19 June 1978.
In 1994, Davis's company, Paws, Inc., purchased all rights to the strips from 1978 to 1993 from United Feature. The strip is currently distributed by Universal Press Syndicate, while rights for the strip remain with Paws.
Over time the appearance of the characters changed quite drastically. Starting out with completely round little eyes, the characters' eyes became more and more oval and big. John also seems to have started out as a cartoonist by profession, but if you've been a fan of the Garfield strips you probably realized by now that not much came of it.
Davis is no longer the sole artist of Garfield. Though he still writes the stories and rough sketches, other artists handle the inking, coloring, and lettering. Davis otherwise spends most of his time managing the business and merchandising of Garfield.
Personally I'm addicted to Garfield strips. Watch out however, cuz all that sarcasm stick in your head!
GOOD NEWS: All the strips are available for free viewing here! Yes, I started at the first one and watched a few hundred :) I still prefer a physical book with the printed strips in them though - nice to have a good book when you have a little time to relax.
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