Garfield cartoon

The characters and situations in Garfield have recently been constant, with no change or development for the past several years. While this was not unique to Garfield, as Calvin in Calvin and Hobbes and the children of Peanuts never aged, other strips such as For Better or For Worse, cathy, and Doonesbury maintain a continuity with characters who develop, age, and may even die as the strip proceeds. As in For Better Or For Worse, their dog, Farley, had recently died in a river from saving a child's life. In one particular sequence, however, leading up to Garfield’s 25th birthday (which is always marked by Garfield complaining about his age along with the rest of the characters making subtle references to it), Davis brought back the Garfield from 1978, the one that waddled and always had a frown under his pinpoint eyes. The old and new Garfields talk and find that, although they look different, they are still both too greedy and territorial to stand even themselves

Garfield photo

Garfield has undergone changes over the lifetime of the strip. His rear paws are now drawn as proportionally huge when he walks on his hind legs. He has a wide frown when it goes back to around 1982 or so, in order to allow more expression in the strip. By the middle of 1983, his familiar appearance—featuring oval-shaped eyes—had taken shape. By this time, Garfield was walking on two feet, and the strip emphasized sitcom situations such as Garfield making fun of Jon’s stupidity and his inability to date. Jon and Odie have also evolved quite a bit, from being thin and starkly colored to the cartoons they are today.