Summary

• The "Garfield Minus Garfield" webcomic, created by Dan Walsh, takes the famous strip and subtracts its star feline, thrusting Jon Arbuckle into the spotlight and putting his character in a fresh, though often bleak context.
• The result of omitting Garfield from Garfield is a closer look at the nightmare of existence, starring Jon Arbuckle, a man trapped in a desperate search for life's meaning.
• In its most famous strips, Garfield Minus Garfield's Jon Arbuckle grapples with his darkest thoughts, voiced aloud to nobody, reaching for depths of existential despair found in only the most philosophical fiction.

The comic strip Garfield has always been a funny staple of newspaper comics sections, but one notable experiment has given the series a dark makeover. Garfield Minus Garfield is a webcomic created by Dan Walsh that edits Garfield strips by creator Jim Davis that removes the titular cat and his commentary from the strips. This often leaves Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, alone and talking to himself.

The changes are always unforgettable, and often for the darkest possible reasons. Many strips present Jon as lonely, downbeat and quite sad. Of all the Garfield Minus Garfield strips, the following 15 stand out as some of the darkest to ever be created.

20 "Where's Garfield?" Asks A Chilling, But Necessary Question

Describe This "Garfield," Jon

One of the simplest Garfield Minus Garfield strips portrays Jon trying to enjoy a cup of coffee, before looking around and asking “Where’s Garfield?”. Ordinarily, readers would wonder what sort of mischief the lasagna-loving cat would be getting into. Instead, in the context of these edits, Jon’s thoughts become a bit more alarming, prompting readers to wonder whether Jon is slowly realizing that Garfield isn’t real, or desperately trying to cling to the fantasy that his cat is still around.

19 "Times Change," Highlights Jon Arbuckle's Melancholic Nature

He Wishes They Wouldn't

Jon has often been portrayed as...someone whose enthusiasm for life is quickly dampened, and with the omission of Garfield, the absence of response to his call emphasizes his struggle against life.

There are, of course, two ways to approach the unyielding flow of time – go with it, and work to make the future better than the past, or swim against the timestream, and risk drowning in nostalgia and " whens." Jon Arbuckle appears to choose the latter in this Garfield Minus Garfield strip. Jon has often been portrayed as a glass-half-empty kind of guy, or at least someone whose enthusiasm for life is quickly dampened, and with the omission of Garfield, the absence of response to his call emphasizes his struggle against life.

18 "Cat Hair" Captures Jon's Fractured Psyche

Humanity Slipping Away With Every Meal

Garfield was known for always disrupting Jon’s own food time while making unbelievable demands for his own cuisine. But here, Jon’s meal isn’t interrupted by anything other than the thought a cat hair could be in his food. However, there is no Garfield, making Jon’s intense search not only pointless but quite disturbing. The fervor with which he scans his food makes it seems like he’s trying to find some evidence that Garfield is real.

17 "I Have Fleas!" is Unhinged, Absurd, and Perfect

But Do You Have A Pet, Jon?

In the original Garfield comic strips, Jon was always ready to get on Garfield’s case for his slovenliness. With the iconic feline removed, however, Jon has no one to get mad at over the state of his house other than himself. In this Garfield Minus Garfield recontextualization of a classic strip, somehow, in spite of having no visible pets in sight, Jon has managed to get fleas. It makes one wonder just what Jon has been doing to actually get such a perturbing infestation.

16 "Tape" Exhibits The True Brilliance Of "Garfield Minus Garfield"

Jon Arbuckle's Psyche Comes Unraveled

While Garfield and Jon’s relationship could sometimes be contentious, the comic strip usually presented Jon as his own worst enemy. Nothing shows that better than this Garfield Minus Garfield strip

While Garfield and Jon’s relationship could sometimes be contentious, the comic strip usually presented Jon as his own worst enemy. Nothing shows that better than this Garfield Minus Garfield strip, which portrays Jon Arbuckle as somehow bound by scotch tape. Lacking Garfield, this strip suggests that Jon is out of his mind with boredom and trying to find something to occupy his time. However, based on whatever project he was attempting here, it’s clearly not going well.

15 "Then I Fail" Reveals Jon's Worst Enemy

It Was Never Garfield

Without Garfield’s humorous commentary, many of these edited strips take on a much darker tone than the original. Here, Jon is talking to himself, self-assuring that he always tries his hardest at whatever he sets out to do, though he contends it usually ends with failure. Garfield is usually presented as a counter to Jon who eggs on his negative side. But here, that negativity comes from within, revealing how self-critical Jon is.

14 "What Do I Do It For?" Depicts An Existential Crisis

There Is No Answer

Many of Garfield Minus Garfield’s minor edits turn a silly little comic strip into a dark examination of Jon Arbuckle. In this strip, he is shown standing around, asking himself: “What do I do it for?”. Of course, fans know that the original Jon's life revolves around his pets. Remove him from the context of pet ownership, and what drives Jon, what keeps him going, suddenly becomes unclear – and yet in a way, this makes him more relatable than ever, as he suddenly is thrust into the deepest waters of existential philosophizing.

13 "It's a Shame" Confirms Jon is Completely Alone

He Doesn't Want To Be Around Himself

While there’s a certain humor that can be found in removing Garfield, eliminating him completely reveals just how barren Jon’s life is. Here he contemplates how rough it is not having someone to spend time with, with the following s simply showing empty space. Jon does have his girlfriend Liz, but more often than not, he’s only ever seen associating with his pets. Taking them away practically destroys the only things in Jon’s world.

12 "Loser" Shows Why Jon Arbuckle Is A Punchline

Not A Serious Person

Jon Arbuckle isn’t the most confident or self-assured character in comic strips. However, here, he doesn’t even need the empty, judgmental look of Garfield to erode his self-esteem. Jon’s affirmation that he isn’t a loser slowly begins to degrade into an ittance of how much of a loser he actually is. He can’t help but tear himself down, even when there’s no one there egging him on, a truly sad state of affairs.

11 "It's Gone Forever" Is An Essay On Mortality

Jon Arbuckle Vs. Time Once Again

Without Garfield...all that’s left is a man slowly coming to with the cold bleakness of reality.

Jon and Garfield’s interactions are a cornerstone of the comic strip. Without Garfield, though, all that’s left is a man slowly coming to with the cold bleakness of reality. Here Jon thinks about the age of time and notes that once a day is over, it’s gone for good. Normally, Garfield would be here with some manner of pithy reder. But all that’s here is a man on the edge of a personal crisis.