Garfieldhas made no shortage of enemies throughoutGarfield’s comic strip history. Even those who love him the most (like Jon and Odie) find him to be an annoying jerk more often than not, meaning other characters who don’t have established relationships with him have no reason to like Garfield at all. Random dogs, vindictive birds, and annoyed neighbors could allconsider themselves Garfield’s ‘enemies’, but no other group inGarfieldcanon has more of a reason to hate the fat orange cat more than spiders.
In a number ofGarfieldcomic strips, the titular cat tries to swat, squish, or otherwise kill any spider he comes across. While that’s fairly relatable, these spiders aren’t average arachnids, as they - like Garfield - can talk. More than that, they can beg for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Thankfully, these are cartoon spiders, so they never really seem to be in any danger. Though Garfield still never hesitates to swat them on-sight, leading to some pretty hilarious gags. Here are15 of the funniestGarfieldcomics where he tries to swat a spider!
15Garfield Tries to Swat a Spider, & It Beats Him to the Punch
Garfield, 9-15
Garfield spots a spider in his home, so he naturally grabs a rolled-up newspaper to squish it. However, after he turns his head for a second to grab the newspaper, the spider vanishes. It then appears right behind Garfield, dangling from its web with a tiny rolled-up newspaper of its own, andthe spider whacks Garfield in the back of the headwith it. Garfield certainly got a taste of his own medicine in this comic, as the spider literally beat him to the punch.
14Garfield Realizes He Likes the Chase More than the Swat
Garfield, 9-16
When Garfield sees a spider crawling along the counter top, he quickly pulls out his rolled-up newspaper and smashes it right then and there. He does so with a blank expression, clearly deriving no joy from killing the bug. Then, Garfield confirms as much by saying, “The thrill is gone”. It seemsGarfield doesn’t want to actually kill these spiders, he just likes ‘hunting’ them(which is somehow more cruel than just killing them outright).
13Garfield Totally Ruins Jon’s Picnic Date After His Bug Massacre
Garfield, 7-7
During a picnic, Garfield puts himself in charge of pest control, and the power completely gets to his head. With his trusty rolled-up newspaper, Garfield kills not just a spider, but a number of other bugs that threaten to ruin the picnic. Ironically, it isGarfield who ruined the picnic by killing all these bugs, as Jon’s date, Liz, has completely lost her appetite. It seems dozens of insect corpses is a bit of a vibe killer, one that Garfield is single-handedly responsible for with this bug massacre.
12Even a Swatted Spider Isn’t Without a Sense of Humor in Garfield
Garfield, 3-14
When a spider is faced with Garfield’s dreaded rolled-up newspaper, it begs for its life, pleading with Garfield, “Don’t swat me!” - to no avail. Without replying, Garfield swats the spider, squishing it flat on the counter top. Then, Garfield pauses for a moment and asks, “Wait, did you say “don’t”?” to which the spider replies, “That’s a rather moot point at this juncture. Don’t you think?”.
It seemseven swatted spiders inGarfieldstill have a sense of humor, as this playful and witty comeback to Garfield’s absurd question may have been the spider’s last words - and they weren’t wasted.
111 Spider Actually Gets Garfield Back After Getting Swatted
Garfield, 2-12
While Garfield is lying on the ground, trying to enjoy a nap, he’s approached by a spider. Even though his trusty rolled-up newspaper wasn’t handy, Garfield adapts by swatting the spider with his hand, and then flicking away the corpse. However, his spider troubles are far from over, as the spider survived Garfield’s swat, and was fuming with rage.The spider took its revenge on Garfield by wrapping him up in its webs, and Garfield deserved every uncomfortable second of his comeuppance.
10Garfield is Truly Heartless When It Comes to Swatting Spiders
Garfield, 8-24
When a spider crawls by Garfield’s bed while the lazy cat is trying to sleep, it should have known that it was as good as dead, as Garfield didn’t hesitate to smash it. However, what he wasn’t counting on was the spider’s entire family showing up, too. This spider had a wife and a child, who wept at the sight of their loved one crushed into the ground.Garfield acknowledges that he should feel bad about this, but accepts that he doesn’t, right before killing the other members of this spider’s family too, in a display of utter heartlessness.
9Garfield Expresses His True Hatred of Spiders by NOT Swatting One
Garfield, 9-4
Garfield doesn’t just wish every spider he comes across a quick and sudden death (one that he provides himself), he truly hates them, and wants nothing but suffering for all spiders. This is proven true in this comic, when a spider who wants to die approaches Garfield for the sole purpose of getting squished. However,after the spider tells Garfield all the reasons why it wants to end it all, Garfield smiles a cruel smile and refuses to swat it. That is a deep level of hatred.
8Garfield Uses a Spider to do One of His Favorite Things: Prank Jon
Garfield, 5-15
It’s been well established at this point that Garfield loves killing spiders (though apparently not more than watching them suffer in any form), but the one thing he definitely loves more than that is pranking Jon. In this case, Garfield finds a way to merge those two loves. When a spider crawls across the counter while Jon is having dinner, Garfield squashes it with Jon’s glass. Then,when Jon takes a drink, he comes face-to-face with a spider, spitting his drink out in fear as a result - and Garfield couldn’t be more proud of himself.
7Garfield Isn’t Afraid of Spiders, He Simply Hates Them for Existing
Garfield, 4-2
While fans know that Garfield hates spiders, it could have been assumed that the reason behind his hatred is that he fears them. Many suffer from even mild arachnophobia, and Garfield very well could have been among them. However, this comic proves that isn’t the case, as Garfield kills a spider who admits to not being poisonous simply because he finds the spider “icky”.Garfield doesn’t fear being bitten by a spider, he really just hates themfor merely existing.
6Some Spiders Actually Appreciate that Garfield Squishes Them
Garfield, 4-4
One would think that Garfield would be the enemy of all spiders, given that he doesn’t hesitate to kill them and their entire family on sight. However, Garfield actually earns the appreciation of at least one spider by doing just that. This spider asks Garfield if he’s the one who squished its brother-in-law, and when Garfield admitted to it, the spider thanked him.
Apparently - as many readers can assuredly resonate with -this spider hated its brother-in-law so much that it actually thanked their killer in person, and in doing so, proved that not all spiders hate Garfield for constantly swatting them.
