The Evolution of the Garfield Comic Strip

June 19th, 1978 saw the birth of one of the most beloved and best known comic strips of all time, Garfield, a tale of an ornery but lovable orange tabby cat, his owner Jonathan Q. Arbuckle, better known simply as Jon, and the long-eared but equally adorable Odie the dog. Garfield was the brain child of cartoonist Jim Davis and over the past three decades, has evolved into a billion dollar empire as well as holding the record for being the most widely syndicated comic strip in the entire world, appearing in just over 2,500 different publications.

Over the years, Garfield has developed a rather distinct personality that centers around his laziness, his sarcasm and selfishness, his incredible love of napping and eating lasagna, as well as his deep hate for dieting. The very first characters to appear in the strip, besides Jon and Garfield, were Odie the yellow Beagle, who made his debut in August of the same year, followed by Pooky a few months later, who is Garfield's best friend and stuffed teddy bear with whom he regularly communicates with just as if he too were a "living" animal.

In addition to the regular gang, the comic strip also includes a host of other major and secondary characters, such as Nermal, the small gray, striped kitten who routinely irritates Garfield with his eternal cuteness, as well as Arlene, a furry pink cat who has an ongoing love-hate relationship with the large orange tabby cat. And finally, Garfield's veterinarian and Jon's love interest, Dr. Liz Wilson who first appeared back in June of 1979. As Jon and Liz grew closer in recent years, Garfield became jealous but soon learned to make friends with his old vet and their relationship continues to blossom today.

A few years later, Jon's family, characters that are loosely based on Davis' own family, including his Mom, Dad, Grandma, and brother Doc Boy, made their appearance in the strip and the Arbuckle clan regularly get together on the family's farm. Other characters that make occasional visits to the comic strip include Irma the waitress, Herman the mailman, Binky the clown, and a few neighbors, like the unseen Mrs. Feeny who is regularly tormented by Garfield and his mischievous deeds.

After the amazing popularity of the comic strip, Garfield soon became a television series known as "Garfield and Friends" which ran from 1988 to 1994 and featured the usual faces as well as Mr. Burnside, the Arbuckle's next-door neighbor, Penelope Pussycat, and Cactus Jack, who is a friend of Jon. Another comic strip also created by Jim Davis, U.S. Acres, which was later renamed Orson's Farm, also was incorporated into the show.

Garfield also eventually made his way to the big screen and the comic strip spawned three movies, starting with the 2004 "Garfield: The Movie," and its sequel "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" which was released in June of 2006, and the completely computer-generated "Garfield Gets Real" in 2007 that was written by Davis who took two full years to complete the script.

Garfield continues to be perhaps the world's most beloved feline as people all over the globe enjoy reading about his many amusing antics.