Some are non-verbal ( Marmaduke, The Angriest Dog in the World ), some have verbal thoughts but are not understood by humans, ( Garfield, Snoopy in Peanuts ), and some can converse with humans ( Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, Mutts, Citizen Dog, Buckles, Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine and Pooch Cafe ).

Garfield ’ s Jim Davis, for example, switched with Blondie ’ s Stan Drake, while Scott Adams ( Dilbert ) traded strips with Bil Keane ( The Family Circus ).

Some strips which are still in affiliation with the original creator are produced by small teams or entire companies, such as Jim Davis ' Garfield, however there is some debate if these strips fall in this category.

Originally created with the intentions to " come up with a good, marketable character ", Garfield has spawned merchandise earning $ 750 million to $ 1 billion annually.

To manage the merchandise, Davis founded Paws, Inc. By 2002, Garfield became the world's most syndicated strip, appearing in 2, 570 newspapers with 263 million readers worldwide ; by 2004, Garfield appeared in nearly 2, 600 newspapers and sold from $ 750 million to $ 1 billion worth of merchandise in 111 countries.

Garfield was originally created by Davis with the intention to come up with a " good, marketable character ".

While some critics lauded the casting of Bill Murray as the voice of the title character, Garfield: The Movie met with mostly negative reviews: Manohla Dargis of the Los Angeles Times called it " soulless excuse for entertainment ", while Desson Thomson of The Washington Post said of the film " There's nothing to recommend about this film except its sheer innocuousness ".

Garfield. com is the strip's official website, containing archives of past strips along with games and an online store.

Jim Davis has also collaborated with Ball State University and Pearson Digital Learning to create Professor Garfield, a site with educational games focusing on math and reading skills and with Children's Technology Group to create MindWalker, a web browser that allows parents to limit the websites their children can view to a pre-set list.

The Garfield Show, a CGI series, started production in 2008 to coincide with the strip's 30th anniversary.

Studios launched in May a monthly Garfield comic book, with the first issue featuring a story written by Mark Evanier ( who has supervised Garfield and Friends and The Garfield Show ) and illustrated by Davis's long-time assistant Gary Barker.

Gags in the strips commonly deal with Garfield's obesity ( in one strip, Jon jokes, " I wouldn't say Garfield is fat, but the last time he got on a Ferris wheel, the two guys on top starved to death "), and his hatred of any form of exertion or work.

He enjoys destroying things, mauling the mailman, tormenting Odie, kicking Odie off the table ; he also makes snide comments, usually about Jon's inability to get a date ( in one strip, when Jon bemoans the fact that no one will go out with him on New Year's, Garfield replies, " Don't feel bad Jon.

Though Garfield can be very cynical, he does have a soft side for his teddy bear, Pooky, food and sleep, but one Christmas he says " they say I have to get up early, be nice to people, skip breakfast, not play with mice ... I wish it would never end.

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 "; in another, the " geek police " ordered Jon to " throw out his tie "), and his eccentric interests which range from stamp collecting to measuring the growth of his toenails to watching movies with " polka ninjas ".

Odie is a yellow, long-eared beagle with a large, slobbering tongue, who walks on all four legs, though occasionally he will walk on two like Garfield.

Though he will eat nearly anything ( with the exception of raisins and spinach ), Garfield is particularly fond of lasagna ; he also enjoys eating Jon's houseplants and other pets ( mainly birds and fish ).

In the spring of 1863 Garfield returned to the field as Chief of Staff for William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland ; his influence in this position was greater than usual – with duties extending beyond mere communication to actual management of Rosecrans's army.

Rosecrans, a highly energetic man, had a voracious appetite for conversation, which he deployed when he was unable to sleep ; in Garfield he had found " the first well read person in the Army " and thus the ideal candidate for endless discussions through the night.

Garfield conceived a plan to conduct a cavalry raid behind Bragg's line ( similar to that Bragg was employing against Rosecrans ) which Rosecrans approved ; the raid, led by Abel Streight, failed, due in part to poor execution and weather.

To address the continued dispute over whether to advance, Rosecrans called a war council of his generals ; 10 of the 15 were opposed to the move, with Garfield voting in favor.

Nevertheless Garfield, in an unusual move, drew up a report of the council's deliberations, and thus convinced Rosecrans to proceed with an advance against Bragg.

According to historian Jean Edward Smith, Grant and Garfield had a " guarded relationship ", since Grant put Thomas in charge of the Army of the Cumberland, rather than Garfield, after Rosecrans was dismissed.

Garfield's detractors later used this letter, which Chase never personally disclosed, to foster widespread criticism of Garfield as a betrayer, despite the fact that Halleck and Lincoln shared the same concerns over Rosecrans's reluctance to attack, and that Garfield had openly conveyed his concerns to Rosecrans.

In later years, Charles Dana of the New York Sun allegedly had sources indicating that Garfield had publicly stated that Rosecrans had fled the battlefield during the Battle of Chickamauga.

Garfield, who shared the opinion of Thaddeus Stevens, was not in favor of this action, because the rank was intended for Grant, who had dismissed Rosecrans.

At the outset, Garfield's relationship with the newly inaugurated President was cool on both sides ; Grant refused a requested post office appointment which Garfield recommended ; Garfield, out of loyalty to his army commander, still harbored some resentment for Grant's dismissal of Rosecrans.

Future president James Garfield, a field officer for the Army of the Cumberland, visited Thomas during the battle, carrying orders from Rosecrans to retreat ; when Thomas said he would have to stay behind to ensure the Army's safety, Garfield told Rosecrans that Thomas was " standing like a rock.

Former President Ulysses S. Grant, an ally of Sen. Conkling, notified President Garfield by letter that he disapproved of Blaine's nomination and staunchly opposed Garfield's appointment of Robertson as the port of New York's customs collector.

President Garfield wrote Grant a stern letter in reply that stated he would not be bound by party patronage and would appoint " men who represented any valuable element in the Republican party.

Garfield made the following comment in 1862 concerning slavery: "... if a man is black, be he friend or foe, he is thought best kept at a distance.

As Phil's assignment proceeds, his childhood friend, Dave Goldman ( John Garfield ), who is Jewish, moves to New York for a job and lives with the Greens while he looks for a home for his family.

A new tenant to the house is an angry young man named Mickey ( John Garfield ), an orchestral arranger and friend of Felix.

Clifford Odets had been a close friend of Garfield from the early days in the Bronx.

In the morning of May 20 Garfield, against his doctor's strict orders, played several strenuous sets of tennis with a friend, mentioning the fact that he had not been to bed the night before.

Albion W. Tourgée, formerly of Ohio and a friend of President James A. Garfield, moved to North Carolina, where he practiced as a lawyer and was appointed a judge.

After a failed attempt to recruit MacKaye's friend Henry Garfield ( later Henry Rollins ), the band recruited Nathan Strejcek as a vocalist.

In one strip, while Garfield confesses how good friend Odie was as Odie never minds Garfield playing tricks on him, Odie slyly pastes a note on Garfield's back that reads " KICK ME ".

Hendryx wanted to name the college after his good friend, President James Garfield.

Jon acquired Odie when Lyman, an old friend of his ( and Odie's original owner ) moved in with him and Garfield.

He was an advisor to his close friend, Congressman James Garfield, on tariff matters, and later to Grover Cleveland.

He worked alongside some of his era's biggest stars, often in war movies such as Action in the North Atlantic ( 1943 ), his breakthrough part ( opposite Humphrey Bogart who also starred with him in Hollywood Canteen ), Destination Tokyo ( 1943 ) with Cary Grant, and Pride of the Marines ( 1945 ) with friend and fellow New Yorker John Garfield.

Shai was formed at Howard University in Washington, D. C. Three of its four members, Marc Gay, founding member Carl Martin, and Darnell Van Rensalier, belonged to the same fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, and along with good friend Garfield A.