Garfieldhas been making readers laugh for decades, not just from hilarious one-off gags, but because the comic strip does an amazing job atfully immersing fans into the world ofGarfield. Even in the short-form comic strip format,Garfieldmanages to tell a cohesive narrative detailing the lives of Garfield, Odie, Jon and the rest,offering new characters, growing relationships, and plenty of ongoing conflicts.
The strong continuity and attention to detail really makes readers care about these characters, which in turn makes the comedic moments all the funnier. One such example is the introduction of Jon’s family, which happened almost exactly 40 years ago, as that moment inGarfieldcanon is included ina bundle of the funniestGarfieldcomic stripsfrom August 1984 - and those aren’t the only ones. Here are the15 funniestGarfieldcomics that just turned 40!
15Garfield’s ‘Beach Day’ is Interrupted by an Unwelcome Intruder (aka Odie)
Garfield- July 14, 2025
Garfield decides he’s going to spend the day at the ‘beach’, that being the bird bath in Jon’s yard, but turns around when he sees Odie playing in the water. When Jon asks why Garfield isn’t swimming,Garfield says that the water’s been “tainted” by Odie.
DID YOU KNOW: Jim Davis initially intended the comic strip to focus on Jon Arbuckle, not Garfield
While Garfield’s disgust with Odie is certainly true to form, this strip is even funnier when considering those that were published before it, as Garfield has been terrorizing the birds trying to use that bird bath for days. And now, Odie has given Garfield a taste of his own medicine.
14Garfield Quickly Decides Fame is NOT for Him
Garfield- August 08, 2025
As established in the very firstGarfieldcomic strip, Jon is a cartoonist, and one day, Garfield wanted to try his hand at Jon’s profession. Jon is amazed to discover that Garfield was able to draw a cat, at which point he goes on and on about how this will make Garfield rich and famous. They’d be traveling all over the world, and Garfield would be drawing hundreds of pictures. So,Garfield tears up the drawing, as the thought of doing that much work - even as a world-famous icon - sounded horribleto the fat, lazy cat.
13Even Garfield is a Slave to His Primal Feline Instincts
Garfield- August 13, 2025
Garfield comes across a tree one day while taking a stroll outside, and against his better judgment, he climbs the tree.Garfield makes it clear the entire time that he doesn’t want to, admitting that it was his feline instincts that forced himto climb the tree. Indeed, climbing a tree is perhaps the last thing one would expect a lazy cat like Garfield to ever even consider doing, but it seems that even he isn’t immune to his own primal instincts - and his annoyance with those tree-climbing urges is utterly hilarious.
12Garfield Gets What He Deserves After Messing with the Wrong Bird
Garfield- July 02, 2025
Since Garfield was stuck up a tree, he decided to try to find a quick snack to pass the time. He comes across a bird sitting in their nest, and Garfield has every intention of eating them. That is, until the bird stands up to reveal its massive size. The next panel shows Garfield walking away from the nest, battered and bruised. While he did get beat up,it’s impossible to feel sorry for Garfield in this instance, as he was going to do much worse to that bird- too bad he chose the wrong one to mess with.
11Garfield Does NOT Stand for Fat Shaming No Matter What
Garfield- July 09, 2025
After some time has passed, Garfield is finally getting rescued from the tree he got himself stuck in. However, the firefighter who climbed the ladder to get him is incredibly rude, commenting that he always gets stuck rescuing fat cats like Garfield.Garfield responds by knocking over the ladder, sending the fat-shaming firefighter crashing downto the ground. Of course, this meant that Garfield was still stuck in that tree, but to him, it was worth it to teach this incentive jerk a lesson.
10Odie is the Cause Behind Another Unfortunate Garfield Monday
Garfield- June 24, 2025
Garfield famously hates Mondays, and based on the bad luck he always suffers on Monday, it seems Mondays hate him right back. In this comic,the cause behind Garfield’s unfortunate Monday is Odie, who sprints through his doggie door and runs right into Garfield. Garfield even comments that this is simply another example of how Monday “strikes again”, acknowledging that Mondays are out to get him. And this time, Odie was how this ‘malevolent Monday’ let Garfield have it.
9Jon Apparently Doesn’t Have a Very High Opinion of Garfield (or Any Animal, for that Matter)
Garfield- June 13, 2025
When Garfield notices that there’s no food in his bowl, he approaches Jon and asks, “What’s wrong with this picture?” and Jon answers him by acknowledging that Garfield doesn’t have any food. Garfield congratulates Jon on answering the question correctly, and as Jon is giving Garfield his food, he says, “I hate it when lower life forms are condescending to me”.While Garfield was being infuriatingly condescending, it’s still a bit harsh for Jon to call him - and, by extension, every animal on Earth - a “lower life form”, proving he doesn’t have a very high opinion of them.
8Garfield Hilariously Learns the Meaning of “Be Careful What You Wish For”
Garfield- August 22, 2025
Garfield is in the mood for some popcorn, but there’s only one kernel left in the bag. With nothing else to eat, Garfield decides to pop it anyway, even though he wished he had more.
With nothing else to eat, Garfield decides to pop it anyway, even though he wished he had more
Upon throwingthe kernel into the popper, it explodes into a giant piece of popcorn, shocking Garfield with an extremely loud “POP!”. While Garfield did get a bigger snack, it came at a hilarious cost, teaching Garfield the meaning of the phrase, “be careful what you wish for”.
7Garfield Makes Anyone who Comments on His Weight Pay (Including Jon)
Garfield- June 13, 2025
While Jon is eating at the dinner table, Garfield is sitting by his legs, asking Jon to pick him up. Jon then jokingly asks, “Too fat to hop on the table, huh?”, and Garfield didn’t like that one bit. Garfield shreds Jon’s leg with his claws, and while fans didn’t see it happen, they did see the result, as well as Jon regretting making that comment at all. It seemsno one who comments on Garfield’s weight is safe, not firefighters and certainly not Jon.
6Garfield Has the World’s Most Hilarious Superhero Origin Story: Boredom
Garfield- August 24, 2025
One day, while walking around his house with a red cloth, Garfield complains about being incredibly bored. And then, he comes across a fan, at which point, he wears the red cloth like a cape, and says that this moment marks the return of the Caped Avenger.Becoming a ‘superhero’ out of boredom is an utterly hilarious origin story, and one that is very well suited to a lazy cat like Garfield.
