Jim Davis has a pretty terrific sense of humor
From the STC inbox:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BALLANTINE BOOKS TO PUBLISH BOOK INSPIRED BY THE WEBCOMIC GARFIELD MINUS GARFIELD
Collection to be published simultaneously with Garfield 30th anniversary book
NEW YORK, NY – July 30, 2008 – Paws, Inc. and Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, announced last week at Comic-Con International that Ballantine will publish a book inspired by the popular webcomic Garfield Minus Garfield.
Garfield Minus Garfield (www.garfieldminusgarfield.net) made its online debut in February 2008 and quickly became an online sensation based on a simple premise: What would Jim Davis’ Garfield comic strip be like without its lasagna-loving fat cat? Without the presence of Garfield and other characters such as Odie the dog and Nermal the kitten, the strips “create a new, even lonelier atmosphere for Jon Arbuckle…Jon’s observations seem to teeter between existential crisis and deep despair.” (New York Times)
The full-color book format will give readers the experience of having both the original and doctored Garfield strips together on the same page for comparison. Dublin, Ireland-based Garfield Minus Garfield creator Dan Walsh will provide the foreword to the book.
Garfield creator Jim Davis was intrigued by—and pleased with—the concept. “I think it’s an inspired thing to do,” Davis said. “I want to thank Dan for enabling me to see another side of Garfield. Some of the strips he chose were slappers: ‘Oh, I could have left that out.' It would have been funnier.”
Garfield Minus Garfield site creator Dan Walsh says, “When I looked at Jon and laughed at his crazy antics I thought ‘He's just like me.’ As it turns out, I wasn't the only one saw myself in him: millions of visitors from all over the world visit Garfield Minus Garfield and tell me they think the same thing. Now, thanks to the awesome generosity and humor of Jim Davis, Garfield Minus Garfield is going to become a book and I'm absolutely honored to be part of it.”
Ballantine Books has been publishing Garfield books since 1980, and thirty-three Garfield titles have made the New York Times bestseller list. Thirty Years of Laughs and Lasagna: The Life and Times of a Fat, Furry Legend, will be published by Ballantine Books in October 2008. This hardcover anniversary collection will include a foreword from Dean Young, Blondie cartoonist, and exclusive content from Jim Davis.
ABOUT PAWS INC.
Paws, Incorporated was founded in 1981 by cartoonist Jim Davis as a creative house to support Garfield licensing. Today, the company, located in rural Indiana, handles not only the creative angle, but also the business concerns of the corpulent kitty worldwide. Paws boasts a staff of more than 50 artists, writers, and licensing professionals.
Paws, Inc. is a privately held company and the sole owner of the copyrights and trademarks for GARFIELD and GARFIELD Characters.
ABOUT BALLANTINE BOOKS:
Ballantine Books was established in l952 by the legendary paperback pioneers Ian and Betty Ballantine. Today, Ballantine is one of America's largest publishers of hardcover, trade paperback and mass market paperback books -- spanning a remarkably wide variety of subjects. Publishing talented writers from every category and genre, its hardcover program is particularly strong in commercial fiction. Its impressive list of bestselling authors includes Suzanne Brockmann, Julie Garwood, Tess Gerritsen, Kristin Hannah, Linda Howard, Jonathan Kellerman, Lorna Landvik, Judith McNaught, Anne Perry, and Jeff Shaara. Visit the Ballantine website at www.ballantinebooks.com.
ABOUT GARFIELDMINUSGARFIELD.NET
Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. Garfield Minus Garfield began in February 2008 and quickly gained a large following. It has been covered in such publications as Time magazine, Rolling Stone, the Washington Post and the New York Times. Garfield Minus Garfield is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.
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Comments (4)
Is it really about his sense of humor, or about realizing he can pump a few more bucks out of a machine that's been running on fumes for decades?
Posted by Jim Treacher | July 30, 2008 8:40 PM
Treacher took the words right out of my mouth.
I didn't know you could get your whole fist in there, though. That was an education.
Posted by Dan Coyle | July 31, 2008 10:51 AM
I dunno. Far be it from me to speculate about Jim Davis' non-commerical impulses (if indeed he has any), but usually when one reads about this sort of thing it involves cease-and-desist letters and Goliath suing the living shit out of David. The fact that this project is going forward, and from a major publisher, no less, speaks to Davis having a decent sense of humor and not being a total jerkwad. I'm sure he's getting a cut of this, but still.
Posted by Jim D. | July 31, 2008 1:51 PM
[claps twice stridently] Purel!
Is Davis getting a cut of this, or is he getting all of it? It's his work, except with one element removed. He's just pretending to ironically acknowledge how much he sucks. He's like the Robert Goulet of comics.
Posted by Jim Treacher | August 1, 2008 11:05 PM