Gnorm Gnat and Garfield faced similar predicaments, but Gnorm Gnat's dark humor made their interactions funnier in some comic strips.
Before Garfield, Jim Davis created the comic strip Gnorm Gnat. These 10 Gnorm Gnat comic strips served as a foundational influence on Garfield, showcasing similar artistic styles and comedic themes that shaped Garfield's development.
Gnorm Gnat was first published in The Pendleton Times from 1973 to 1975. It followed the titular cartoon gnat and his troupe of comedic bugs as they embarked on a journey of social commentary and relatability, similar to Garfield. With each comic, Jim Davis's beloved Garfield became an icon, inspiring future generations of cartoonists.
The above strip features Gnorm Gnat doing a crossword puzzle, asking his fellow bug, Drac Webb, if he knew a six-letter word for “pain”. Drac answers him calmly with “arrrgh”, but Gnorm writes that answer off as “ridiculous”. So, Drac stomps Gnorm’s foot, and the gnat cries out, “ARRRGH”. Gnorm then asks Drac if “arrrgh” is spelled with three R’s or four.
This gag was later re-worked in a Garfield comic strip that was published on February 17, 1979, only it wasn’t as funny. Jon asks Garfield the same question Gnorm asked Drac while doing a crossword, but with a different rhythm to it. Instead of telling Jon, Jon writing off the answer, and then Jon being proven wrong through violence, Garfield jumped straight to violence, and Jon just knew what he meant without question. That extra beat is crucial for this joke to land, making this a rare occasion where Gnorm Gnat was actually funnier than Garfield.
The comic strip depicts Gnorm Gnat's existential struggle as he faces his imminent demise in window blinds. Despite the grim situation, he expresses a sense of self-awareness and humor through his eloquent pronouncements. This sentiment is mirrored by the final panel, which emphasizes the futility and absurdity of his predicament.
In the above comic strip, Gnorm Gnat is playing tennis with Jon, who asks Gnorm what the score is. Gnorm says it’s thirty-love, and Jon mistakenly thinks Gnorm called him ‘love’, as he responds, “Thirty to what? Sweetheart.”. Gnorm tells him that ‘love’ in tennis means ‘nothing’, and again, Jon mistakenly thinks that Gnorm thinks that their love means nothing to him, causing Jon to spiral, utterly heartbroken. Gnorm then says to himself, “I don’t deserve this”.
This strip features Gnorm Gnat inquiring about Lyman's whereabouts and Lyman responding by revealing that he was headed to the cinema to watch a movie about a boy who accidentally tacked his teacher's chair. Despite the movie's lack of narrative structure, Lyman expressed a preference for films where the protagonist's victory prevailed.
Jon falls for the same trick in the March 24, 1977 Jon strip, except he turns to look at a 'naked Farah Fawcett' that wasn't actually there, and then kicks himself for falling for it, saying that he should have known the person he's playing with was lying when they said "nude". This joke certainly became funnier in Jon due to the relatability of the situation and the use of the phrase 'nude'.
In the February 24, 1977 Jon strip, Jon uses a similar tactic when a woman he’s interested in approaches him. And just like with Gnorm, he’s left standing alone in the final panel. However, this joke does not work as well with humans as it does with cartoon insects. It is infinitely more cringe worthy to see this behavior from a grown man than a little bug.
In the April 29, 1976 Jon comic strip, Jon has a very similar interaction with his new doctor, Dr. Gustav, which ends with Jon breaking the fourth wall with the same punchline delivered by Gnorm Gnat. The joke seemed to land a bit better when Jon said it, as it didn’t seem likely the A.M.A. would care about bug doctors in the slightest (even if they are anthropomorphic).
In the November 3, 1978 Garfield strip, the same thing happened to Jon when his friend Lyman (the human version) ran up to him with a new pair of shoes, bragged about his shoes, and then sprinting off. Aside from any underlying humor, it seemed the thing that made this joke funny in Gnorm Gnat was the fact that it was a slug that got an upgrade to become fast, which didn’t quite land in Garfield with some guy getting a new pair of shoes. But either way, the respective reactions of Gnorm and Jon were priceless.
In the May 1, 1982 Garfield strip, Garfield is watching television when the announcer says, “We’ll be right back after this word from our sponsor”, at which point, the sponsor says, “Sasquatch” before the announcer welcomes viewers back to the show. Different words, same situation, and - most importantly - Garfield had the exact same reaction as Gnorm Gnat.
These jokes that Jim Davis wrote for Gnorm Gnat were crafted to be told by Jon and Garfield and showcased the evolution of a comic refining its material and presenting it through slightly different lenses before achieving the funniest possible version of a classic joke.
Garfield: The MovieSummary: Garfield: The Movie is a 2004 live-action adaptation of Jim Davis's famous comic strip of the same name. Starring Bill Murray as the orange lasagna-loving cat, the movie revolves around the disruption that comes with the arrival of Odie, a dog Jon Arbuckle (Breckin Meyer) adopts when he meets Liz (Jennifer Love-Hewitt).