History ComicStrip / Jon

In a set-up that sounds ''very'' familiar in hindsight, the comic is about a cartoonist named Jon Arbuckle and his fat cat Garfield, who are occasionally joined by Jon's friend Lyman and his dog, Odi-- sorry, "Spot". Its humor and jokes are near identical to ''Garfield'''s, down to the lasagna jokes, but the art-style is different: Jon wields a squatter face and more prominent nose, Garfield is a solid instead of a tabby and "Spot" is [[ArtEvolution initially]] drawn with pointed ears and a triangular snout akin to a stylized chihuahua. Many of the strips were even later redone in ''Garfield'', however there's a quite a number of comics that were thrown away, partially owing to the later strip's shift in focus from Jon to Garfield. Also notable for the comic, is that, due to Jon's protagonist status, there are several strips where the famous cat is entirely absent. However, Garfield eventually claimed the lead role by the end of 1977, mostly due to pressure from comic syndicators to rework his cat as the star, feeling that he had better lines than Jon.

** Unlike his original design, March 1978 strips depict Garfield with thick tabby stripes, bringing him closer to his more familiar design.

''Jon'', later renamed ''Garfield'', is an obscure comic strip by Creator/JimDavis made for an local Indiana weekly newspaper named ''Pendleton Times'' from 1976 to 1978, between ''ComicStrip/GnormGnat'' and the identically-titled ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'', being a prototypical version of the latter.

In a set-up that sounds ''very'' familiar in hindsight, the comic is about a cartoonist named Jon Arbuckle and his fat cat Garfield, who are occasionally joined by Jon's friend Lyman and his dog, Odi-- sorry, "Spot". Its humor and jokes are near identical to ''Garfield'''s, down to the lasagna jokes, but the art-style is different. Many of the strips were even later redone in ''Garfield'', however there's a quite a number of comics that were thrown away, partially owing to the later strip's shift in focus from Jon to Garfield. Also notable for the comic, is that, due to the fact it was focused on Jon, there are several strips where the famous cat is entirely absent. However, the strip shifted focus from Jon to Garfield mostly due to pressure from comic syndicators to rework his cat as the star as they felt the cat had better lines than his human.

While it was published, Davis attempted to sell the strip to the syndicates, being eventually retooled into its current ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' form and picked up nationally by Creator/UnitedFeatureSyndicate in January of 1978 (the national strip would begin being published that June).

In a set-up that sounds ''very'' familiar in hindsight, the comic is about a cartoonist named Jon Arbuckle and his fat cat Garfield, who are occasionally joined by Jon's friend Lyman and his dog, Odi-- sorry, "Spot". Its humor and jokes are near identical to ''Garfield'''s, down to the lasagna jokes, but the art-style is different. Many of the strips were even later redone in ''Garfield'', however there's a quite a number of comics that were thrown away. Also notable for the comic, is that, due to the fact it was focused on Jon, there are several strips where the famous cat is entirely absent. However, the strip shifted focus from Jon to Garfield mostly due to pressure from comic syndicators to rework his cat as the star as they felt the cat had better lines than his human.

Not to be confused with the ''Garfield'' fan-comic ''Webcomic/{{Jon}}'' by Gale Gilligan.

** Liz looks like a completely different person, having blonde hair, no makeup, and a very innocent look that treats Jon with curiosity and fear. She's also initially identified as "that girl." After only two appearances like this, she reappears with her familiar black hair and more importantly her extreme deadpan demeanor.

** Another strip is [[FourthWallMailSlot a letter from a reader]] who asks Garfield on how to cure their pet cat's "sniffles", trying all sorts of unorthodox methods such as swinging the cat by the tail or putting its head in a a plastic bag. Garfield, after expressing disgust over the above methods, sarcastically suggests shoving a cherry bomb into the cat's nose.

** Another strip is a letter from a reader who asks Garfield on how to cure their pet cat's "sniffles", trying all sorts of unorthodox methods such as swinging the cat by the tail or putting its head in a a plastic bag. Garfield, after expressing disgust over the above methods, sarcastically suggests shoving a cherry bomb into the cat's nose.

In a set-up that sounds ''very'' familiar in hindsight, the comic is about a cartoonist named Jon Arbuckle and his fat cat Garfield, who are occasionally joined by Jon's friend Lyman and his dog, Odi-- sorry, "Spot". Its humor and jokes are near identical to ''Garfield'''s, down to the lasagna jokes, but the art-style is different. Many of the strips were even later redone in ''Garfield''. Also notable for the comic, is that, due to the fact it was focused on Jon, there are several strips where the famous cat is entirely absent. However, the strip shifted focus from Jon to Garfield mostly due to pressure from comic syndicators to rework his cat as the star as they felt the cat had better lines than his human.

** Odie is named "Spot". This explains the joke in ''Garfield'' when Garfield snarks "They should have named him 'Spot'" (referencing Odie's PottyFailure), which was originally "So ''that's'' why they call him 'Spot'" and had to be changed when it was recycled for the later strip.