I sat at the kitchen table that serves as my desk and pondered what to do. Needing to be somewhere in an hour or so, I didn't want to get into anything too complicated but I had already exhausted my usual trove of Internet time-wasters when I realized that at some point I became a person that people would send things to in order to review, and I looked at the two Garfield graphic novels that had been sitting in front of my door when I got home. After a brief period of musing about how this state of affairs occured, and reading the letter sent with the two books, I decided to take a look at them and review them. After all, that's the entire reason why I have them.
The books, based upon "The Garfield Show" and published by Papercutz, instantly brought to mind afternoons in elementary school reading the various Garfield books they had on hand. However, were the stories contained within any good? There is very little to say about the art. If you like the show's CGI-rendered cast, then you'll like the art in the book. For me, the lack of movement sort of lessens the effect of the CGI, but the designs are close enough to the classic 2-D versions that it's pleasant enough to look at.
Each book contains three stories. The first, "Fish to Fry", is the better of the two with a better grasp of characterization and what makes a Garfield plot work. The only weak story is the titular one, which likely doesn't work as well in print as it does on screen. The first story, "Family Portrait", also suffers slightly, but there is a sense of timing there that makes up for it. The middle segment, "Nice to Nermal", is easily the best of the three. The second book, "The Curse of the Cat People", is far weaker. The basic characterization is there, but the second two stories are just lacking something. The first, and the second book's namesake, is decent enough though I doubt anyone reading a Garfield book really wants to see him travel to a distant cat-ruled planet. Then again, maybe they do. It's a promising premise, but underserved by the small amount of space allotted to it. The other two stories are more typical, but the other two stories, "The Pet Show" and "Bone Diggers", attempt to use lasagna as a deus ex machina to lackluster results.
From an adult's point of view, I can say that these books are worth, at most, a skim-through and perhaps a purchase if you're really into Garfield. Since I doubt adults are the target market for these, however, I must look at them from a child's perspective. In that case, any one will keep a child occupied and perhaps serve as a good introduction to the world of comic strips and graphic novels. Especially if they already like Garfield. So, in the end, I recommend these books only if you're really into Garfield or have a child running around.
For more information, you can visit the official PaperCutz page.
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