Editing Garfield (section)

===Jon Arbuckle===
'''First appearance: June 19, 1978'''

{{quote box|quote=''Jon:'' Here's my sixth-grade report card. My parents were so proud.<br />
''Garfield, reading the report card:'' "Jon has not shoved any crayons up his nose this term."|source= —''Garfield'' (1996)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1996/ga960311.gif|title=Garfield|date=March 11, 1996|publisher=Garfield.com|access-date=July 26, 2008}}</ref>|width=310px}}

[[Jon Arbuckle|Jon]] (Full name: Jonathan Q. Arbuckle) is Garfield's owner, usually depicted as an awkward clumsy [[geek]] who has trouble finding a date. Jon had a crush on Liz (Garfield's veterinarian) and is now dating her. Jon disapproves of Garfield's "don't care, not interested", attitude and often encourages his pet to take an interest in the world around him, sometimes stating an interesting fact or asking a philosophical question in an attempt to prompt Garfield into thought. Garfield tends to brush off these attempts with a simple yet logical remark, and despite the trouble Garfield causes, Jon has a heart of gold and is very tolerant of Garfield's shortcomings, a fact which Garfield often takes advantage of. Jon's exact age is unknown, as in one 1980 strip where he stated he was 29 (though the fact he said that he would be 30 if he wasn't sick a year and this was said in the context of a joke told to Garfield makes it possible he is a different age) and in an episode of ''The Garfield Show'' he was stated to be 22. His birthday is July 28.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gocomics.com/mobile/garfield/2005/07/28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808190758/http://www.gocomics.com/mobile/garfield/2005/07/28|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 8, 2016|title=Garfield|date=July 28, 2005|publisher=Garfield.com|access-date=July 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gocomics.com/mobile/garfield/2008/07/28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808210333/http://www.gocomics.com/mobile/garfield/2008/07/28|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 8, 2016|title=Garfield|date=July 28, 2008|publisher=Garfield.com|access-date=July 10, 2016}}</ref>

Jon loves (or occasionally hates) Garfield and all cats. Many gags focus on this; his inability to get a date is usually attributed to his lack of social skills, his poor taste in clothes (Garfield remarked in one strip after seeing his closet that "two hundred moths committed suicide";<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/2002/ga020110.gif|title=Garfield|date=January 10, 2002|publisher=Garfield.com|access-date=July 26, 2008}}</ref> in another, the "geek police" ordered Jon to "throw out his tie"),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1989/ga890811.gif|title=Garfield|date=August 11, 1989|publisher=Garfield.com|access-date=July 26, 2008}}</ref> and his eccentric interests which range from stamp collecting to measuring the growth of his toenails to watching movies with "[[polka]] [[ninja]]s". Other strips portray him as lacking intelligence (he is seen reading a [[pop-up book]] in one strip).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1990/ga900324.gif|title=Garfield|date=March 24, 1990|publisher=Garfield.com|access-date=July 26, 2008}}</ref>

Jon was born on a farm that apparently contained few amenities; in one strip, his father, upon seeing indoor plumbing, remarks: "Woo-ha! Ain't science something?"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga841127.gif|title=Garfield|date=November 27, 1984|publisher=Garfield.com|access-date=July 26, 2008}}</ref> Jon occasionally visits his parents, brother and grandmother at their farm. It was implied that Jon is inspired by a drawing of Davis himself when he was first drawing the strip. Jon was portrayed as a [[cartoonist]] in the first strip<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/06/19|title=Garfield by Jim Davis for June 19, 1978 {{!}} GoComics.com|last=Davis|first=Jim|date=June 19, 1978|website=GoComics|language=en|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> and occasional others in the early years; Davis stated his intent had been to express his own frustrations as a cartoonist. Ultimately, Jon's job has been referenced far more frequently in ''Garfield'' animated series than in the strip.