Line #54 Webcomic/GarfieldMinusGarfield


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Garfield_Minus_Garfield_6790.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:[[GenreShift From a funny comic to a depressing and psychedelic experience in one eraser move.]]]]
3
4	->''I'm not crazy, I promise... someone deleted Garfield.''
5	-->-- '''Jon Arbuckle commenting on the webcomic'''
6
7	InAWorld where Garfield never existed, one man imagines that he does.
8
9	''Garfield Minus Garfield'' is a strip adapted by Dan Walsh from selected ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' strips. In this edited version, Jon is the only main character; all other main or non-essential cast (and their associated dialogue) have been removed. However, Jon still behaves as though they, most often Garfield, were there.
10
11	''Garfield Minus Garfield'' has been published in a book, which contains the original strips alongside their "Minused" versions, as well as a foreword by ''Garfield'' creator Creator/JimDavis (who not only openly approved of the concept, but made several "Minused" strips for the book).
12
13	Other people have made edits to Garfield strips, these edits including, but not limited to: putting random Garfield panels together; ''Silent Garfield'', which removes all thought balloons; ''Realfield'', similar to Silent Garfield and also replaces Garfield with a photo-realistic cat drawing; and ''Garfield As Garfield'', which replaces Garfield with the 20th President of the United States, James A. Garfield. These predate ''Garfield Minus Garfield'' by a few years. Dan Walsh admitted he was not the first to come up with the idea of editing the strip or removing Garfield entirely, but he was the first to put the edits on one site as opposed to assorted forums and imageboards, and so got the most attention.
14
15	It can be seen [[http://www.garfieldminusgarfield.net here]]. As with everything, there exists a subreddit for the comic; the [[https://old.reddit.com/r/garfieldminusgarfield/ [=/r/garfieldminusgarfield subreddit=]]] See also [[http://garfield.zweistein.cz/ randomized Garfield Minus Garfield]] for more madness.
16	----
17	!!''Garfield Minus Garfield'' provides examples of:
18	* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: By removing the main character, Jim Davis' work becomes a masterpiece of existential angst.
19	* AffectionateParody: The creator has said that he loves the original comic, so it's definitely affectionate.
20	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:[[invoked]] The point of the comic is to show how sad, pathetic, and most likely psychotic Jon appears if he is just viewed a little differently. [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/31294376 For example.]]
21	* AnimatedAdaptation:
22	** Someone took the [[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials Garfield Thanksgiving special]] and edited it into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KVsQXeE6A this]].
23	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93lHMRS3j4o Now someone's done the Christmas special too]], just in case your childhood wasn't ruined enough.
24	* AntiHumor: One strip has Jon throwing a carrot to Garfield, with the latter then using it to bait rabbits. The edited version? [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/119958209/original Jon... throws a carrot.]]
25	* AsideGlance: Jon seems to do a very bitter aside glance after saying something optimistic that he doesn't truly believe. [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/10247948180/g-g-the-book A typical example.]]
26	* BeatPanel: With Garfield gone, a lot of panels are left empty, or at the very least include no action or dialogue. [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/52632656 This works]] [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/63002549 surprisingly]] [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/28199766 well.]] A variation of this involves a [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/53988817 single panel of Jon]] [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/46688966 doing something]] [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/81692788 zany or eccentric]], surrounded by two empty panels. Oddly enough, the empty panels make it funnier.
27	* BlackComedy: With the titular sarcastic cat removed, the comic becomes a [[DeconstructiveParody depressingly realistic portrayal]] of a lonely man's pathetically empty lifestyle, all of it PlayedForLaughs.
28	* BlackComedyBurst: The end of the above Thanksgiving edit. [[spoiler:Jon realizes that Liz put him on a diet, goes crazy and '''kills Liz with a chainsaw''' ([[GoryDiscretionShot although offscreen]]), and then it goes back to more Jon talking to non-existent pets.]]
29	* BodyHorror: [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/132962506517/knees Are knees supposed to bend this way?]]
30	* BreakingTheFourthWall:
31	** [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/32126020 This one]] comes surprisingly close.
32	** [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/28042880 "Why are you looking at me like that?"]]
33	** [[HypocriticalHumor And then]] [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/45648050 he starts staring back at us.]]
34	* CaptainObvious: [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/297050415/gorge-yourself-on-laughs-garfield-minus-garfield In this strip.]] Happens a lot given that Jon is no longer actually speaking to anyone.
35	%%* ChristmasSpecial
36	* CloudCuckooLander: Jon also becomes even more of one of these without Garfield. [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/46030022259/ For example.]]
37	* [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Life]]: Jon's life is portrayed as lonely and aimless.
38	%%* DadaComics
39	* DarkerAndEdgier: It's amazing how much the presence of Garfield lightened up everything. It's disturbingly sad without him. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR2nM4-ki5A Very much so with the proper background music.]]
40	* DarkParody: Because Garfield isn't there, it seems as though Jon is depressed or insane because he's talking to no one.
41	* DeconstructiveParody: The series as a whole is a deconstruction of its source material, but it's a Deconstructive Parody because it's played for laughs and is a parody of the original. Seeing as WordOfGod apparently stated that Garfield never talked in the comic[[hottip:*:though canonically they can still communicate regardless]] this highlights just how much of a wreck Jon really is.
42	* DissonantSerenity: [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/48781102 "Ever hear one of those voices inside you?"]]
43	* DrivenToSuicide: [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/196643873 This one.]]
44	** [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/150414909912/view Also here.]]
45	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Several early edits went beyond removing Garfield from the strip. [[https://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/26598295 One early edit]] outright changed Jon's dialogue (from [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2005/03/10 "boredom"]] to "noise"). [[https://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/26654167 Another edit]] replaced the last row of panels with Jon bursting into tears.
46	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: As one may conclude from the title, the comic consists of ''Garfield'' strips changed so that the titular cat is absent.
47	* FoodAsBribe: Jon sometimes puts food on the table for what he believes to be God. At least, that's what it looks like when Garfield is removed from the strip.
48	%%* GenreBusting
49	* GenreShift: It's amazing how deleting Garfield from the strip immediately changes a comedy into a commentary of one man's losing battle with isolation and depression in suburban America.
50	* HopeSpot: While most strips featuring an upbeat Jon ruin his mood by having something bad happening to him off-screen, [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/27442555 this]] strip averts the trend.
51	* MadnessMantra: As seen [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/31043731 here]], "lonely".
52	* MinimalistCast: Jon is literally the only character, with Garfield, Odie and Liz removed. Other minor characters appear occasionally, however - an "imaginary friend" that first appeared [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/36307497 here]] can serve as the only possible explanation for strips like [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/41318925 this]].
53	* MoodSwinger: Jon. [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/44547555944/ And how!]]
54	* ParodyAssistance: Jim Davis not only approved of GMG, but has even produced several new strips himself.
55	%%* RemixComic
56	* SanitySlippage: Some of the comics in the video compilation linked in the [[YMMV/GarfieldMinusGarfield YMMV]] tab show that Jon is slowly going mad. Examples include [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/27473059 smushing ice cream cones into his face]], [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/40406640 dressing up for a date... that's in three weeks]], ''[[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/78032638 jumping in the streets dressed as a pink clown]]'', [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/81381173 chasing cars in the manner of dogs]], [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/503880743/try-g-g-in-book-form breaking]] down sobbing at the most random times, [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/30759171 Madness Speak]], and, finally, [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/69159474 being sent to a Mental Hospital]].
57	* ShoutOut: In ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' [[http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2009/03/16/ here]] and [[http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2009/03/17/ here]].
58	* TakeThat: Some of the more... ''high-brow'' comics aficionados out there initially (and approvingly) viewed the strip as being this to Jim Davis, who often gets dismissed as "uncouth" and as a sell-out in such circles. Then, the author clarified that he loves the original comics, which made said aficionados shut up for the most part. Jim Davis himself incidentally loves these remakes enough to have allowed them to be printed in a book form.
59	* YouBastard: [[http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/post/144519740772/terrible "I told about that terrible thing you did."]] Jon then [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou glares menacingly at the reader]].

Context Webcomic / GarfieldMinusGarfield