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No. 2264: Gnorm Gnatfield

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Gnorm Gnatfield

First | Previous | 2015-07-31 | Next | Latest

Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=2264

Strip by: Camwoodstock & Tori

Garfield: This is my very first Christmas...
Garfield: I hope you have a loved one to spend today with, because I do.
Garfield: Thanks, Pendleton.
Caption: Merry CHRISTMAS

The author writes:

Before Jim Davis made Garfield, he actually had a strip called Gnorm Gnat. Information on the internet is currently extremely scarce, and all we really know online is that it exists. What doesn't help was that the only paper that accepted it was the local paper for Pendleton, Indiana.

As a result, scanned strips are incredibly scarce, the only real way to see them being the ones lucky enough that got on the dates you see on microfiche films at the local library there. So, this seems like a lost cause, right?

...Well, I happen to live close to that location.

As a result, I got to see these strips! There was actually a few things to talk about. There was a shady dealer who reminds me of Bubs from H*R, whose name was Lyman. I saw a strip where Gnorm was watching TV and got told he'd be seeing a word from the show's sponsors, and then they'd go back to airing the show. Cue the sponsor saying a word, and they go back. That later got re-used in Garfield. Wonder if any die-hard fans wanna dig up that particular 1975 strip, and then edit it so we get it to use that word?

Either way, because of the scarceness of the strip scans, I can't exactly show the Gnorm strip I used, but I can tell you its date (December 25th, 1975.) Also, I can sure say that the one-newspaper-accepted thing actually made specials that referred to the readers a lot more directly!

(P.S. If this manages to get enough SRoMG readers to try and use the microfiche and see the strips, and it gets in the local paper... I will probably laugh so hard, and both have hopes this will get these strips scanned.)

EDIT: There are now scans of Gnorm Gnat from the microfiche! The one used in this strip is shown below.

Gnorm Gnat 1975-12-25

Original Gnorm Gnat strip: 1975-12-25.

Original strip: 1978-12-25.