Believe it or not, there was a time when “Garfield” was a solid, enjoyable Sunday comic strip. Sure, those days were very numbered, but the first few years of the fat cat produced some pretty enjoyable strips. Despite its current unfavorable reception, the idea of a sassy, gluttonous cat is hardly one that can’t be done right, as creator Jim Davis has proven himself — perhaps a living legend such as Mark Evanier, the man who brought life to the TV show Garfield and Friends, will be able save the top cat of comic strips’ reputation through his new ongoing series?
Written by Mark Evanier
Illustrated by Gary BarkerThe good times continue to roll with Garfield and friends! Where, oh where, will Garfield send Nermal this time? Will Jon be able to get through a date without embarrassing himself? Well, let’s not get too crazy here – what we CAN guarantee is that the entire gang will bring the funny in two ALL-NEW stories, written by Mark Evanier & drawn by Gary Barker!
Mark Evanier is a funny guy, and one who doesn’t get enough respect from the current generation of comics fans.”Groo the Wanderer?” Excellent work. For whatever reason, though, the new “Garfield” series is not quite up to the caliber expected from such a lauded name. The issue is not at all bad, and even a bit fun, but there isn’t exactly anything clever about it. Evanier’s script may repeatedly give the reader a knowing wink, but that doesn’t excuse the transparent plotting. The resolving action has the same flaw as the initial conflict-generator, and no matter how much misdirecting sass Garfield may give about this being the case, Evanier is not able to throw the reader off of his scent. Any point that the writer is trying to make is lost; rather than driving the point of “what’s old is new again” home, Evanier only succeeds in making his plot seem flimsy and flawed.
That being said, this is still a relatively fun comic. More than a few chuckles may escape your mouth — or, particularly, the mouth of your favorite kid(s) — because, as mentioned, Evanier is legitimately a funny guy. Still, it does seem strange. Great art does not necessarily need to have “a point” or “message” to still be great, but in order to stand on its own as art for art’s sake (or humor for humor’s sake), it needs to be really good. The latest “Garfield,” while entertaining, is hardly hilarious, and since it has nothing else to stand on, it has the unfortunate position of being designated a kids comic, and not an all-ages one. Sure, it may entertain someone for five to ten minutes or so, but afterward, it is almost certain to not be revisited.
(In other words, it’s on par with your average Marvel/DC comic).
Gary Barker, Dan Davis, and Mike DeCarlo do an admirable job of adapting Jim Davis’s iconic style to the larger, comic book format. Sure, it looks exactly like Davis, but that’s a sure, but subtle, sign that this isn’t some pale imitator copying the man’s style and blowing it up. The comic book is a different beast entirely from the comic strip, and needs to be crafted in a different way — not only in terms of panel layout, but in terms of figure structure. That this just seems like Davis’s work is honestly a sign of this team’s artistic scrutiny; a mere imitator who delicately crafted a facsimile of Davis’s work would have ended up with an ironically fake-appearing comic.
“Garfield” does a good enough job at diverting the reader, but it has no staying power. The only reason to pick up #5 would be the same reason most people picked it #4 and those that came out before it: because it’s “Garfield” done by someone who is at least trying a little harder than Davis. A comic that will be read once and then never again, though, is hardly worth $3.99, and so this issue of the new series can barely be recommended for picking up for your own child, or a friend’s kids. Perhaps this issue was a fluke, and the Evanier that is well-known and equally respected will be back next issue, but as of now, there’s no strong reason to stick around.
Final Verdict: 5.8 – It exists.
