GRUMPY CAT/GARFIELD #1

by Doug Warren on August 02, 2017

Written by Mark Evanier
Art by Steve Uy
Letters by Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DYNAMITE

Not gonna lie. I picked this up expecting to see the same tired lasagna and I hate Mondays gags that we are all accustomed to. And, I can honestly say, with the exception of one lasagna reference, that wasn’t the case. But, man, what an improvement they would’ve made!

I really can’t imagine this comic’s intended audience. Kids, adults, teenagers, I can’t see anyone enjoying it. The story was . . . lacking.  Uninspired. My guess is the publisher got the rights to both Garfield and Grumpy Cat, realized neither one was strong enough to hold a story on its own, and decided to combine them. Double the money! And that seems like all this is. A money grab.

There is nothing redeemable about either cat. The only characters that are likeable are Odie and Grumpy Cat’s brother Pokey. The story is contrived. Clearly written just to showcase the characters, nothing natural about it. The cardinal rule of writing is to be honest with your audience, be true to the characters, etc. and this falls way short.

The art had pleasing colors. So that’s nice. But the rest of it didn’t fit together. For one, Grumpy Cat looked like a cat. Which shouldn’t sound like a negative, but let’s be honest. Does Garfield look like a cat? I remember when I was a kid, and the first kid in my friend group found out Garfield was a cat and told the rest of us, we didn’t believe him. Our whole world was turned upside down. I mean, the Animaniacs were intentionally drawn to be ambiguous animals, and Dot looks like more of a cat than Garfield does. Add to that, Pokey and all of the humans besides Jon are drawn in Japanese anime style and don’t match the licensed characters at all.

I’ve got nothing else to say. This book was released to try to make a quick buck off of an established franchise and a waning fad, and quality wasn’t a priority.
 
 
 

Our Score:

2/10

A Look Inside