First Garfield Comic - by Jim Davis for June 19, 1978

Man, I’m glad this service has deep archives. Garfield from ‘78 on, & in color - Woohoo!

The very first Garfield strip, originally published June 19, 1978.

doesnt look anything like he does today, 30years= odie dummer,is that possible?, jon nerdier,and garfield accualy lost weight

Garfield is one of my all time fave’s! Look at him from then till now…… Go Garfield!!!!! I love you :-)

AAAAhhhh Garfield! Look at him from then till now! Garfield is my all time favorite :-)……. Thanks Jim Davis for making such a comic :-)…

nice……hope you’ll make some more…..

awsome

A nice Intro. Garfield Looked Fatter there. Was he put on a diet?

Garfield’s first strip

His first appearance

i hope he can make another full year of new comic strips

presentation

This is apparently the first Garfield strip.

wow it is unbelievable to see how much it has changed:)i love garfield!!!

THE FIRST EVER GARFIELD COMIC STRIP! I CAN”T BELIEVE IT! Thanks GoCOMICS! :)

Garfield hasnt changed much since then…

Garfield hasn’t changed at ALL since then.

Very true

Garfield has changed a LOT since then…on the outside. :)

yeah, he´s changed a lot…but what about Michael Jackson, jennifer lopez, shakira, cher….etc. etc. etc..and all hollywood celebrities….He is like wine…better older. He´s still cute,isn´t he?

WOW!

Wow! The first Garfield strip!

This great to be able to go back this far!

this is cool.

I read Garfield even though I am a dog lover.

woh!!! diffrent!!!

wow

This is Garfield and Jon’s first appearance. Welcome to the good, funny happy life.

i guess Garfield was chubby cos tis justteh beginning of the story… he had nochoice but to loose some weight into the story…..1978 to now is quite a long time not to loose it. Even Jon doesnt look so nerdy….

he kinda looks taller and fatter and odie looks weird

THey look weird

i agree they do look weird lol x

wow garfield is so fat

This is where it all began…

Garfield WAS fat. Nowadays he’s just potbellied.

i like the new garfield more. The old one was just plain ugly. And pot bellied is WAY better than fat.

no, jim davis is both of your cartoonist

The first Garfield! Amazing! Garfield was so fat………..

he’s so fat i want to die!

wow he was very fat

epic….ta…..da!!!

I’m one day older then Garfield! Awesome!

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop

Man, am I glad this strip has deep archives…first one!

They look soooo different…

I’m glad they have some really good and vivid archives. Very happy to see this.

Most changes can happen slowly over the years (decades), but I wonder at what point Garfield went from walking on all fours (i.e. like a cat!) to walking on his hind legs (with clown feet). That must have been a deliberate decision on Jim’s part, and probably surprised everyone at the time!

It’s a bit like finding the Source of the Nile. Or the fabled First Page of the Internet. OK, I better settle down, there are thirty-three years of archives to catch up on. It’s going to be a long week, folks.

“Feed Me.” Reminds me of “Little Shop of Horrors”.

wow garfield is fat. Jon obviously put him on a massive diet

Old school Garfield

This is awesome!

Nice to meet you Garfield and Jon. I can’t believe this is the first ever Garfield comic strip. Thank you GoComics, don’t know what we would do without you.

WOW

holy crap the first time anyone commented on this was 3 years ago

He looks so different now

the FIRST GARFIELD COMIC! (da da daa!)

I wonder when Odie first appeared.

It goes to the root.

Here it is. The beginning of it all. “Feed me”

WOW that is different

If Garfield gets a tombstone when the strip ends it should say"feed me" and nothing else.

Sniff..* So Much memories before i was born T^T

man, garfield is a great comic!

good lord hes huge (:O

Did anyone notice that Garfield was born on a Monday? Maybe that’s why he hates it so much. It is the day Jon came into his life.

Garfield reminds me of a Kliban Cat here.

Wow, I remember this one now. Brings back memories.

Thank you (sorry 4 the delay in replying).

Let me give you too reasons why Garfield was NOT born on this day. 1. He was born on a Saturday in 1971. and 2. he was already a full grown cat by this strip.

FIRST STRIP OF THE “GARFIELD” COMIC WITH GARFIELD AND JON, Over the course of 34 years, Garfield, Jon and Odie change and new characters such as Pooky, Arlene and the brief Lyman come as well but the strip is solely Garfield !

Comparing Garfield from then….he’s still the same cat we know and love.

I bet Garfield’s last line in the last strip will be"feed me".

Yes. FEED HIM..

Awwwww yeeaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

FEED THE FATTY!!!!!!!!

Garfield is awesome… but the first strip doesn’t have much of a point.

yeahhh thats the begin…

Happy 35th, Garfield!

Jon: our only thought is to entertain you Garfield: feed me…lol!!!!!….Happy Birthday Garfield!!!!!!

Happy first birthday, Garfield. And to think, you were 12 years old when I was born. How time flies.

No way! Gocomics have ALL Garfield strips?? Cool.

Yay! 113th Comment!

the first one.

He’s come a long way,he looks thinner these days!

Yikes, Garf sure is FAT! How did he lose that much weight?

Move Over Heathcliff, there’s a new cat on the block.

YOWZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the only thing that has changed about Garfield is his looks

Gotta love Garfield!!!

Garfield owns Jon!?

woah

I love to see how the drawing has changed (improved).The first one! Wow!

The first Garfield from June 19, 1978!

wow, never seen this first strip.

June 19, 1978 – one of the greatest days in history. It was definitely the greatest day in the history of comics, I know that much!

feed me indeed!

Originals are one of my favourites.

70’s oooooooooooo

old and first

okkkkkkkkkk

A day without Garfield is truly a bad day. He makes me feel good!

wow…they looked SOOOOOOOO DIFFERENT BACK THEN!!!

Garfield, my fave RedCat

How come you never see Jon as a cartoonist anymore?

A legend was born!

wait 1st comic?

omg is this garfield !!Mmmm this explains why he has big feet

welcome to the world garfield

Pretty cool.

Damn, he did lose weight.

HE WAS FAT

O.o Jon is a cartoonist? :o

:D Wow

:D

140th comment

Happy 38th Garfield!

Good ol’ Garfield!

first garfield

Eight years after the first comment on this strip – I can’t help but add a comment of my own. I was wondering what Jon’s job was. So he’s a cartoonist!

He’s very old?

Hello, Jon and Garfield!

…The first one Its BEAUTIFUL no Garfield ugly back then

Garfield is the most hilarious comic ever!

Garfield is fat as a car

FAAAT

FAAAT

It’s a really good comic for a 12 year old and I’ve read some of the comments and this is the old one so its pretty good.

It’s a really good comic for a 12 year old and I’ve read some of the comments and this is the old one so its pretty good.

It’s a really good comic for a 12 year old and I’ve read some of the comments and this is the old one so its pretty good.

i like the 1980s garfield comics the most buut this this is the first garfield comic ever

Hey, I changed a lot!

Jon evidently does not know what Garfield is thinking (some pet owners can actually understand their pets to a certain extent, after they have had that pet for a long time).

Things change.

40 years ago today! Happy 40th birthday, Garfield! 6/19/18

…and so it begins.

Garfield’s AVENTURES BEGIN!!!!!!!!!

there breaking the fourth wall

TOO MANY COMMENTS!!!

yes

Classical

Garfield has an ego that’s as big as his belly.

(o_0)/ I know the answer

@SqueaksTheHamster

garfield is so fat in this

A legend is born…

They look so… horrible.

Looking back after reading lots of these comics, it is now so obvious that this comic sums up both personalities so well. Of course now I’m thinking of this as a Garfield Minus Garfield, and we see a glimpse of a very mentally unstable Jon.

HOLLY CRAP THIS WAS A LONG TIME AGO~!

Feed me. Jon feed him cause it’s the first comic strip

so this was the first garfield.

Man, all old comics at first look weird sometimes kinda ugly

The adventure begins… also never getting on this comic with my tablet again it lags soooooooooooooooo bad!

The very first one! Memorys

Happy 41st Garfield!

Watch out fourth wall

garfiled so far I guess it’s the baby fat am I right????

Garfield*

Fat*

old Garfield just looks so different

Hi, Garfield and Jon!

man, this strip never gets old!

Jon being a cartoon isn’t really mentioned again except on 3/18/1979. Anywho, how can Jon and Garfield see out of such small eyes?

sweet

Only thought ey

Kinda funny how this is the ONLY strip mentioning Jon’s job

the very first comic

This and zingy are the only 2 comics I’ve seen that have the character(s) introduce themselves in the first comic.

Are used to only watch the garfild show but now I like the. Comics

he is 40

wow.

Start of an Epic Legend.

Jon sure did shrink

Wow, that was a longgggg time ago

Was go comics even here back then!?

greetings from 2020

When In Rome…

feed meh

Jon can’t hear Garfield can he?

garfeild would never lose wieght

None of the comics actually show Jon working

jim is makeing himself like jon

it doesn’t even look like today Garfield comics

Welcome To The World Garfield And Jon

First Comment

the beginning

from a while ago

It’s just the beginning

FIRST GARFIELD COMIC STRIP EVER!!!!!! THIS SHOULD BE A HOLIDAY!!!!!!

WHO THINKS JUNE 19 SHOULD BE A HOLIDAY?!?

H

What

my mom wasnt alive when this comic was made: wow plus how is the first comic not in black and white?

Feed me entertainment

Is anybody ever gonna see my comment?

garfield is 42 years old

200TH COMENT!

I got here using random page.

THE OLD GARFIELD BELIKE “FEED ME NOW DUDE OR ELSE!!! I will SEND YOU TO CHINA!!”

247 comments wow that’s a lot

On November 25th 2020

Don’t even know what I just said

this is scary

woo hoo i <3 garfield

hi

https://garfield.fandom.com/wiki/Jon_(comic_strip)?file=Missing.JPG

So it started…

This is where the legend began

wow the first!

this looks… different.

A legend was born this day

Garfield looks weird.

So tacky.

First comic!

Omg it takes years for me to open and see all the comments. Thats how many there are

Anyone else here that got here by hitting the two arrow button?

So, this is the first Garfield comic

yupp

1978 and Jon is still a dumbutt.

Nice intro, though Garfield looks one donut away from the big bang.

Why pin the very first comic of the series?

I love JIM DAVIS!!!!!!!!!

where it began

On this very day, possibly the most successful comic strip of all time was born!

First strip and it already breaks the fourth wall!

older than my parents!

1st comic! older than me by like 3 times

Where is odie I wonder. By the way this is the worlds best comic.

Garfield the comic first started as the name Jon in 1977 you might say that there is no 1977 in Garfield but go to the Garfield wiki then go to comics and there will be a 1977 in the year date.

The start of a great strip. Wow it looked real different

He looked so different back then

anyone realize garfield comics started on monday?

Wow thirteen years and the comment section is still active

well i see the very first garfield

wow, these characters looked really different back then. And while I like how old strips are and think they are more funny, I like the look of newer strips

And so it begins…

At this state of the strip Garfield is the fattest being alive!

1st comic

I DID IT. I READ EVERY GARFIELD.

hi

why hello garfield and jon

This is basically how they portray Garfield in memes, how he looks here.

Oh lord

The original

wow i pressed the random button and got this strip

garfield looks chubbier in the older comics. Remember that

the 1st garfield!

where it all began (well, ignoring the jon comics from 76-78)

LEEEETTTTSSSS GOOOO

And the legacy began 9/10

garfield was born on this day

First Garf! Let’s go!

What a historic beginning to a wonderful strip!

I like how cute JOnn is

it surprising how people after 14 years of this comic stric read the comments and write comments

It’s a bit weird, because most comics begin in January, seeing a new comic randomly syndicated in June is a bit random, ngl

The old me

The one that started it all…

The first words of our nation: “feed me” Go garfield!

Imma be commenting on every Garfield strip starting from this one.

He’s Fat.

ello?

e

The first garf comic :)

I’m lasagna

the first comic

And the rest is history…

AND so it begins…..

this is where it all began.

The beginning of a legend

Boy oh boy has he chaneged

Feed me syemore.

Where one of the most infamous strips began

Wow he’s fat.

Honestly I can’t believe he lost weight

And thus, a legend was born.

And thus the laughter began.

The birth of a legend.

the start to one of the most legendary comics of all time. like if you agree

Just rewatching the comics june 1978 to february 1979 since that was before i sign up the gocomics and didnt read the comments. Happy 0th birthday Garfield!

isn’t this also Jon’s birthday?

and a legend was born

And this, started Garfield, a comic legend.

That one Garfield line “feed me” will be forever iconic

Back to 1978!