Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ( named after Davis's grandfather ); his owner, Jon Arbuckle ; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie.

The strip's focus is mostly on the interactions among Garfield, Jon, and Odie, but recurring minor characters appear as well.

Davis later realized that Garfield and Jon could " communicate nonverbally ".

Consider that Jon, according to Garfield canon, cannot hear his cat's thoughts.

Still another approach to editing the strips involves removing Garfield and other main characters from the originals completely, leaving Jon talking to himself.

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.

However, it is mentioned in more than one strip that Jon cannot understand Garfield.

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 "; 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 ".

In one strip when Garfield and Jon are out of the house, Odie is seen reading War and Peace and watching a television program, An Evening With Mozart.

In a 2008 strip that appeared at June 8 and also in Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties, it is implied that Jon and Liz will eventually marry.

Jon has a grandmother who, in a strip, kicked Odie ; Garfield subsequently hugged her.

Jon's parents once visited Jon, Garfield, and Odie in the city.

Most trips end up embarrassing because Garfield will pig out, or Jon will do something stupid, including wearing an ugly shirt, which happened one night when he took Liz on a date.

When Jon does take Liz on a date, Garfield always tags along, and he once ate all the bread, along with all the rest of the food in the place.

Frequently, the characters break the fourth wall, mostly to explain something to the readers, talk about a subject that often sets up the strip's punchline ( like Jon claiming that pets are good for exercise right before he finds Garfield in the kitchen and chases him out ), or give a mere glare when a character is belittled or not impressed.

Ever since Jon and Liz began to go out more frequently, Jon has started hiring pet sitters to look after Garfield and Odie, though they don't always work out.

The longest one of these lasted for over a month ( in 1986 August 25 to September 28 ); it began with Jon telling Garfield to go get the newspaper.

Jon notices Garfield has been gone too long, so he sends Odie out to find him.

Jon starts to get lonely, so he offers a reward for the return of Garfield and Odie.

Another story involved Jon going away on a business trip around Christmas time, leaving Garfield a week's worth of food ( it was more like 11 second's worth of food ) which he devoured instantly, so Garfield leaves his house and gets locked out.

" Jay Leno and Conan O ' Brien also return to the air on NBC, and Jon Stewart would return to the air on Comedy Central three nights later.

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Following fraud allegations in November 2007 involving Stryker Corp. overbilling for Medicare in South Dakota, Republicans called on Democratic organizations to return donations they had received from Stryker and her brother, Jon Stryker.

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