Here Are the Darkest Implications of the ‘Garfield’ Franchise

In the dark recesses of the Garfield universe, Mondays are the most trivial of evils.

To the general public, the iconic orange tabby cat is associated with lasagna, laziness and Bill Murray. Garfield is the original grumpy cat, a lethargic, comedic cartoon character whose darkest qualities are his acrimonious actions against annoyances like Nermal and Odie. On the internet, however, the Garfield franchise has carried much more macabre connotations ever since 2018, when online fan artists began putting Garfield in H.R. Giger or Hieronymus Bosch-esque horror scenes in communities such as the 800,000 user-strong subreddit r/imsorryjon. The number of nightmare-inducing Garfield memes on the internet is staggering, but in the actual Garfield canon, there are more than enough implications over which even the most tired tomcats can lose sleep.

In the non-horrific Garfield subreddit, superfans of the cat comic recently discussed the darkest implications in the Garfield universe. Here are the franchise’s most unsettling undertones, starting with…

2 Lyman Isn’t Just “Missing,” and Jon Has More Pets Than Just Cats and Dogs

Early in the series, Jon’s neighbor Lyman played a central role in the story as one of Jon’s few human friends with whom he could engage in his usual banter. As Garfield slowly took over the role of his master’s sounding board, Davis cut Lyman from the comic strip — but not from fans’ memories. After angry Garfield readers demanded to know what happened to Odie’s original owner, Davis famously “joked,” “Don’t look in Jon’s basement.” In the now-defunct flash game Garfield's Scary Scavenger Hunt from the Garfield website, our protagonist took an ill-advised peak downstairs where he found Lyman chained to the wall.

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