Around him are characters that seem printed straight from his beloved comics their wild curls, oily comb overs and wide, bouncing eyes matching his caricatured drawing style. His apartment is a lurid, sticky den of non-stop central heating, deplorable roommates and cannibal fish that will leave viewers reaching for the anti-bac. Robert’s absurd cartoonist’s worldview is a constantly surprising, constantly uncomfortable place to observe.
Their films Daddy Longlegs, Good Time and recent hit Uncut Gems all follow chaotic men spiralling towards combustion, and although perhaps slightly more innocent, Robert easily fits in with their family of frenetic schemers. With its feverish momentum, claustrophobic framing and clammy atmosphere, it’s no surprise to see Benny and Josh Safdie’s names scrawled on the credits (they are producers). We’re on our game now as much as ever.It's up there with the year's best comic book movies. We’re looking over our shoulders, because these kids are good. And a lot of them are really good,” he says. Now, if you put your comic online and your mom likes it, you’re a cartoonist. “Years ago, the only cartoonists were syndicated newspaper cartoonists. “Until someone taps me on the shoulder and says, ‘Jim, you’re not funny anymore,’” he says with a laugh. Also that year, Davis announced that more than 11,000 hand-drawn Garfield comics would go up for auction.Īt 77, Davis still produces the strip, but for how long? In 2019, Nickelodeon’s parent company Viacom acquired the rights to Garfield. On the business side of things, though, Davis has made some recent changes. If he ever got skinny, I’d have to retire because I’d lose papers.” “It’s hard to mess with lazy and fat,” says Davis. He steers clear of politics and controversy (“social comment is done in the rest of the newspaper,” he says) and sticks to what works: Gags that aren’t tied to a time or a place, and relatable traits. They’re playing golf or going to the park or something.” The gags that I like but don’t think are as strong as the others, I put them on Saturday, because nobody reads the comics on Saturday. “I usually throw Odie or a dog gag in on a Wednesday and then on Friday, there’s usually a date gag or an Arlene or Liz gag because people are headed out. Monday gags are pretty down, pretty slow, he’s usually lying on his back … I personally don’t hate Mondays, but, boy, Garfield does,” says Davis.
“I picture someone opening up a paper and I’ll ask, ‘What do they see? How are they reacting to it, and what day is it?’ I gauge the gag to the day of the week. In fact, when he sits down to craft a strip in his office - surrounded by family photos, favourite books, his Emmys, and sometimes his black Labrador retriever Gracie (he has no cats) - Davis has them specifically in mind. A human in a cat suit, is how I refer to it.”ĭavis, though, has a soft spot for those who still seek Garfield out in newspapers. But as a cat, it’s like, isn’t that cute? And by virtue of him being a cat, more people can identify with him. “I thought if I’m going to do a comic strip, I’m going to use an animal, because people really are much more forgiving of animals,” says Davis. And I thought ‘I don’t want to have to deal with that,’” says Davis. “More and more, he was getting comments about inappropriate relationships and all kinds of things.
Meanwhile, he was answering Ryan’s fan mail. Asthma kept him indoors, and a fondness of drawing kept him entertained.Īfter university he worked for Tom Ryan, creator of the American frontier comic strip Tumbleweeds, and he tried to get his own strip, Gnorm Gnat, syndicated. He grew up on a farm in Indiana, where he estimates 25 cats roamed free.
Article contentĭavis’s childhood also proved key to his success - and it revealed just how feisty and funny felines can be. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
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