Trivia / Gnorm Gnat

• Creator Backlash: Given his constant Self-Deprecation for it, it's clear that Jim Davis doesn't think highly of Gnorm Gnat.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Prior to 2019, almost no strips circulated. One of the few that did was published in the Garfield anthology 20 Years and Still Kicking, two others cropped up in Garfield at 25: In Dog Years I'd Be Dead, and another was actually a one-shot drawing of Gnorm done for a filler gag in Garfield Takes Up Space. For the longest time, the only way to read these strips was via microfilm at the Pendleton Library (such as what happened with the Christmas strip of 1975, when a Square Root of Minus Garfield editor attested to doing exactly this), but eventually some of the strips were archived when the microfilms were scanned for digitized use much later on.
• Lying Creator: Davis frequently claimed that he ended the comic by having Gnorm get crushed by a giant foot. The actual final strip that we have archival of merely features Christmas greetings for the city of Pendleton, Indiana; the only city that accepted the strip.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: For many years, it was reported that the last strip featured a giant human foot squashing Gnorm. The actual final strip documented, from Christmas 1975, merely features a "Merry Christmas" graphic taking up most of the panel, along with a drawing of Gnorm saying "Thanks, Pendleton!"
• Popularity Redo: A handful of Gnorm Gnat strips dealing with non-bug related topics were remade into strips for its successor, Jon. As most of Jon was also remade into strips for Garfield's first year, this meant some Gnorm Gnat material actually got syndicated... without Gnorm.
• Torch the Franchise and Run: Jim Davis supposedly ended the comic by having a giant foot stomp on Gnorm. This later turned out to be an urban legend (that Davis himself helped spread). The actual final strip was a simple 1975 Christmas strip of Gnorm saying "Thanks, Pendleton" to the fourth wall.

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