Editing Garfield (section)

===Short storylines===
One particular semi-recurring storyline features Jon and Liz on a date in a restaurant. They sometimes are waited on by the Italian Armando, who is refined and sophisticated and shows a great loathing towards Jon, presumably for his immature and uncouth behavior at the prestigious eatery. On other occasions, the couple receives a different waiter, such as a large ogre-like man who intimidates Jon when he is about to report a complaint about the food.

Another commonly recurring character, although hardly ever seen, is Jon's neighbor, Mrs. Feeny. Garfield seems to take both enormous pride and excess zeal in doing whatever it takes to harass her, to the point that she even erects an electric fence (which does not stop him).

Other unique themes are things like "Garfield's Believe it or Don't",<ref>{{cite web|title=Garfield's Believe it, or DON'T|url=http://garfield.nfshost.com/?s=Garfield%27s+Believe+it%2C+or+DON%27T%21|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712032111/http://garfield.nfshost.com/?s=Garfield's+Believe+it,+or+DON'T!|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 12, 2012|publisher=Garfield.nfshost.com|access-date=April 15, 2012|last=Davis|first=Jim|author-link=Jim Davis (cartoonist)|date=January 20, 1986}}</ref> "Garfield's Law",<ref>{{cite web|title=Garfield's law|url=http://garfield.nfshost.com/?s=Garfield%27s+law|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710084143/http://garfield.nfshost.com/?s=Garfield's+law|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 10, 2012|publisher=garfield.nfshost.com|access-date=April 15, 2012|last=Davis|first=Jim|date=November 8, 1982}}</ref> "Garfield's History of Dogs",<ref>{{cite web|title=Garfield Comic Strips September 1980|url=http://garfield.nfshost.com/1980/09/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708094750/http://garfield.nfshost.com/1980/09/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 8, 2012|publisher=garfield.nfshost.com|access-date=April 15, 2012|last=Davis|first=Jim|date=September 1, 1980}}</ref> and "Garfield's History of Cats",<ref>{{cite web|title=Garfield's history of cats garfield.nfshost.com :: search garfield|url=http://garfield.nfshost.com/?s=Garfield%27s+history+of+cats|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709072827/http://garfield.nfshost.com/?s=Garfield's+history+of+cats|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2012|publisher=Garfield.nfshost.com|access-date=April 15, 2012|last=Davis|first=Jim|date=August 6, 1979}}</ref> which show science, history, and the world from Garfield's point of view. Another particular theme is "National Fat Week", where Garfield spends the week making fun of skinny people. Also, there was a storyline involving Garfield catching Odie eating his food and "kicking Odie into next week".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840629.gif|title=The Garfield Vault Strip|date=June 29, 1984|access-date=June 6, 2008|publisher=Garfield.com}}</ref> Soon, Garfield realizes that "Lunch isn't the same without Odie. He always slips up behind me, barks loudly and makes me fall into my food" (Garfield subsequently falls into his food by himself).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840630.gif|title=The Garfield Vault Strip|date=June 30, 1984|access-date=June 6, 2008|publisher=Garfield.com}}</ref>

A few days after the storyline began, Garfield is lying in his bed with a "nagging feeling I'm forgetting something", with Odie landing on Garfield in the next panel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1984/ga840702.gif|title=The Garfield Vault Strip|date=July 2, 1984|access-date=June 6, 2008|publisher=Garfield.com}}</ref> Jon and Liz began to go out more frequently. Jon has started hiring pet sitters to look after Garfield and Odie, though they do not always work out. Two particular examples are Lillian, an eccentric (and very nearsighted) old lady with odd quirks, and Greta, a muscle-bound woman who was hired to look after the pets during New Year's Eve.

Most of December is spent preparing for Christmas, with a predictable focus on presents. Other Christmas themed strips include Jon's attempts at decorating the tree and house, or the attempt to buy the tree. Some years, the Christmas strips started as early as the end of November. Another example is "Splut Week", when Garfield tries to avoid pies that are thrown at him. For most of Garfield's history, being hit with a pie has inevitably resulted in the onomatopoeia "splut", hence the name.

Every week before June 19, the strip focuses on Garfield's birthday, which he dreads because of his fear of getting older. This started happening after his sixth birthday. However, before his 29th birthday, Liz put Garfield on a diet. On June 19, 2007, Garfield was given the greatest birthday present: "I'M OFF MY DIET!" Occasionally the strip celebrates Halloween as well with scary-themed jokes, such as mask gags. There are also seasonal jokes, with snow-related gags common in January or February and beach- or heat-themed jokes in the summer.

[[File:Garfield 1989-10-27 right panel.png|frame|Right panel of the October 27, 1989, strip]]

One storyline, which ran the week before [[Halloween]] in 1989, is unique among Garfield strips in that it is not meant to be humorous.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/its-not-just-you-garfield-is-not-meant-to-be-funny-6199556/ |title=It's Not Just You: Garfield Is Not Meant to Be Funny |date=March 20, 2013 |access-date=April 29, 2018 |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |last=Eveleth |first=Rose |author-link=Rose Eveleth}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=June 2019}} It depicts Garfield awakening in a future in which the house is abandoned and he no longer exists. In Garfield's ''Twentieth Anniversary Collection'', in which the strips are reprinted, Jim Davis discusses the genesis for this series:

{{blockquote|During a writing session for Halloween, I got the idea for this decidedly different series of strips. I wanted to scare people. And what do people fear most? Why, being alone. We carried out the concept to its logical conclusion and got a lot of responses from readers. Reaction ranged from 'Right on!' to 'This isn't a trend, is it?'}}

One of the recurring storylines involves Garfield getting lost or running away. The longest one of these lasted for over a month (in 1986, from August 25 to September 28); it began with Jon telling Garfield to go get the newspaper. Garfield walks outside to get it, but speculates about what will happen if he wanders off – and decides to find out. Jon notices Garfield has been gone too long, so he sends Odie out to find him. He quickly realizes his mistake (Odie, being not too bright, also gets lost). Jon starts to get lonely, so he offers a reward for the return of Garfield and Odie. He is not descriptive, so animals including an elephant, [[monkey]]s, a [[Pinniped|seal]], a snake, a [[kangaroo]] and [[joey (marsupial)|joey]], and turtles are brought to Jon's house for the reward. After a series of events, including Odie being adopted by a small girl, both pets meeting up at a circus that they briefly join, and both going to a pet shop, Garfield and Odie make it back home.

Another story involved Jon going away on a business trip around Christmas time, leaving Garfield a week's worth of food, which he devoured instantly. Garfield then leaves the house and gets locked out. He then reunites with his mother, and eventually makes it back home in the snow on Christmas Eve (December 3–23, 1984). Part of this storyline was taken from the 1983 Emmy-winning special ''[[Garfield on the Town]]''.