Summary
One would be hard-pressed to find a more iconic comic strip character thanGarfield(withPeanuts’ Charlie Brown being his only real competitor), and that’s becauseGarfieldis not only a hilarious comic, but it’s been around for so long.Jim Davis createdGarfieldin 1978, and still writes the comic strip to this day. That’s nearly five decades ofGarfieldstories that fans have enjoyed for as many years, which have featured Garfield in comedic situations of all sorts.
While Garfield has no shortage of hilarious moments throughout the strip’s publication history, arguably none of them are as funny as the Garfield strips where he loses.
Garfield is always commenting on how stupid or insufferable others are, or complaining about certain foods and days of the week, or just generally being negative and lazy. In fact, there are manycomic strips where Garfield is just the worst, so watching him lose in any given scenario can be quite fun to witness, as Garfield more than deserves any temporary inconvenience that he (more often than not) brings upon himself. Here are 10 of the funniestGarfieldcomics where Garfield loses!
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10Garfield Gets Jealous of Nermal, & Pays a Hilarious Price
July 13, 2025
Nermal bounces into thisGarfieldcomic strip as he often does, by introducing himself as Nermal, the World’s Cutest Kitten, and then immediately getting bullied by Garfield. In this instance, Garfield is jealous of Jon paying so much attention to Nermal, so Garfield kicks the kitten and causes him to bump his head. This makes Jon give Nernal even more affection, so Garfield tries to use that avenue to gain Jon’s attention. Garfield smashes a plate over his own head, hoping that being injured would make Jon pay attention to him. However, his plan backfires, as Jon scolds the orange cat for breaking one of his best plates.
While Jon should really give both of his cats the attention they deserve,Garfield did not deserve praise for how he treated Nermal, making the fact that he hurt himself the same way he hurt Nermal - only to then get in trouble - absolutely perfect, and incredibly funny.
10 Funniest Garfield Comics Starring Nermal
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9Garfield Bullies Nermal for No Reason, & the World’s Cutest Kitten Fights Back
August 07, 2025
For no reason at all, Garfield decides to lure Nermal onto the table with a toy mouse, snidely thinking to himself how easy it is to mess with kittens. Garfield makes Nermal fling himself off the table, then Garfield just hits Nermal in the head with the toy he was using to mess with the kitten. In the end, however, Garfield gets what’s coming to him for being so pointlessly mean, as Nermal launches an attack against the orange cat, and soundly beats him up before happily walking away with the toy.
While bullying Nermal while fighting for Jon’s attention was mean (as shown in the previous strip), it was at least understandable. In this comic strip, however,Garfield is just messing with Nermal for absolutely no reason, which is what makes Garfield’s comeuppance so great.
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8Adult Nermal Turns the Tables on Garfield in Hilarious Fashion
June 22, 2025
In this three-panel strip, Garfield and Nermal (who has grown up since his ‘world’s cutest kitten’ days) are sitting together, when Nermal starts counting for no apparent reason. So, Garfield asks Nermal why he was counting, only forNermal to explain that he was counting Garfield’s chins. Garfield, unamused by Nermal’s insult, flatly tells the younger cat to go away, only for Nermal to smile at Garfield, evidently proud of himself for getting under the orange cat’s skin.
As the previous fewGarfieldcomic strips have made clear, Garfield has been bullying Nermal since he was a kitten. From tricking Nermal into hurting himself while calling him stupid, to injuring Nermal in a fit of jealousy, Garfield has laid into Nermal pretty hard since the start of their relationship. And now, as an adult, Nermal decided to turn the tables on Garfield by antagonizing him for his own amusement, rather than just retaliating to Garfield’s bullying, and it’s utterly hilarious to see.
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7Garfield’s Reaction to Being Put on a Diet is Perfectly On-Point
July 23, 2025
Garfield and Jon are sitting together in this comic, with Garfield assuredly expecting his owner to give him some food (hopefully lasagna). Instead, however, Jon only gives Garfield some rather upsetting news. Jon tells Garfield that, from this moment forward,Garfield will be put on a diet. While Garfield would usually have something clever to say (or think) in response, this time he’s completely silent. Garfield’s eyes were wide with disbelief, and he became stiff as a board.Jon even thinks that the news may have broken Garfield completely, as he thinks the cat’s mind has snapped.
Usually,Garfieldcomics are funny because of the absurd antics Garfield gets up to, or because of the jokes he tells at the expense of others. This time, however, it’s Garfield’s dumbfounded reaction to the mere mention of being put on a diet that drives this comic (given Garfield’s famous affinity for food), with the fact that Jon think’s Garfield’s mind is broken as a result only hammering home the punchline.
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6Garfield’s Attempt at Being a Hero Backfires Hilariously
July 01, 2025
While Garfield is enjoying a nice day at the beach, he suddenly hears someone cry for help in the ocean. So, Garfield valiantly prepares himself to jump into the water and save them, which seems extra heroic given that Garfield is a cat, and cats famously hate getting wet. However, right before he dives in, Garfield hears the same voice that was screaming for help say, “Ha! Ha! Just kidding!”, which Garfield did not find funny at all. Apparently, a fish was playing a prank on him, as Garfield walks away from the bank thinking, “Fish are not funny”.
Garfield is famous for not only being a little mean, but incredibly lazy, as there are moments when he won’t even look at someone if it requires him to turn his head. Yet here, Garfield is ready to dive into the ocean just to save a total stranger - a level of compassion and effort rarely exhibited by the character. And it’s at this moment thatGarfield gets totally pranked by a fish(which he probably had coming, given all the fish he’s eaten over the years).
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5Garfield Gets a Bath, Whether He Wants One or Not
June 13, 2025
Garfield is so adamant about not getting a bath that he’s sprinting away from Jon at the mere idea of being bathed. Eventually, however, Jon catches him, and tells Garfield point-blank that he’s getting a bath. Garfield, confident in his ability to avoid such discomfort, thinks to himself, “You and what army?”, at which point the cat leaps off the counter where his little bathtub was held, forcing Jon to admit defeat. Little did Garfield know, however, that Jon’s admittance of defeat was a ruse, and there was another bathtub waiting for Garfield on the floor after he jumped.
This strip not only shows Garfield losing by getting a bath when he fought so hard against it, but it’s also extra funny when considering Jon had been trying to give Garfield a bath in a number of comic strips leading up to this one. Indeed, Garfield was right to feel confident in his ability to outmaneuver Jon and avoid being bathed, as he had done so before - but not this time.
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4Garfield Accidentally Insults Himself While Messing with Jon
July 31, 2025
When Jon is about to go out on the town in a decidedly risky outfit, Garfield does not hold back his feelings about Jon’s new look. When Jon says, “The women will be hysterical over me”, Garfield doesn’t miss the opportunity to think, “That outfit’s hysterical”. Garfield then decides that the fit could use some alterations, so he stuffs Jon’s tie in his owner’s mouth before taking a step back to admire his work. Garfield then turns to the reader, breaking the fourth wall to say,“A smart cat knows just how far to go without crossing over the line”.
But then,Garfield immediately crosses the lineby pulling Jon’s hat over his eyes, andJon’s response is to throw Garfield through the window. The entire strip was hilarious just from watching Garfield mess with Jon - which is always fun to see - but the comic ups the ante with Garfield accidentally insulting himself, resulting in him paying the price for his playful cruelty.
10 Funniest Garfield Comics Where Garfield Beats Up Jon
Jim Davis' cartoon cat Garfield may be famous for his laziness and wisecracks, but when Jon actually irritates him, the claws come out.
3Garfield Suffers the Consequences of His Own God-Tier Actions
July 06, 2025
Garfield is lying in his bed, doing nothing, yet feeling an unyielding sense of dread. He comments to himself that he feels like he’s forgetting something, but his expression indicates that he’s not going to worry too much about it (especially if it requires any kind of effort). However, Garfield suddenly doesn’t have a choice in the matter, as mere moments later, Odie drops right on top of him, only for Garfield to comment on how he forgot that he kicked Odie into next week, a week ago.
This is a fun play on a common turn of phrase, but the reality is, Garfield did kick Odie into the next week the week before, and he did suffer the consequences of that action. Sure, Garfield ‘lost’ by effectively punting Odie onto himself one week ago, but the biggest takeaway here is thatGarfield can somehow bend the fabric of time and space on a whim (so long as there’s a punchline).
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2Garfield’s Teddy Bear Gained Sentience Just to Criticize His Stand-Up Routine
August 17, 2025
Garfield evidently decides to become a stand-up comedian (just likeGarfield’s predecessor, Gnorm Gnat), and he’s practicing his routine on his stuffed animal teddy bear. Unfortunately, his teddy either didn’t appreciate being the punchline of the joke - since Garfield basically called him ugly to his face - or the teddy simply thought Garfield was a shabby comedian. Either way, the teddy bear’s response to Garfield’s set was decidedly negative, as he threw a rotten tomato right in the orange cat’s face, which is especially impressive given that the teddy bear is an inanimate object.
This teddy bear hated Garfield’s set so much, thatthe stuffed animal twisted the natural order of existence itself to gain sentience just to throw a tomato in Garfield’s face. If that’s not hilarious, nothing is.
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1Garfield is Truly Defeated by the One Thing He Hates Most… Monday
June 06, 2025
It’s no secret that Garfield hates Mondays, as it’s one of his most iconic qualities, but it seems fair to say that this one takes the cake. While Garfield is usually slightly annoyed, if not just a little miffed by the fact that Monday has come around again as it’s always destined to, this comic strip shows Garfield a bit more upset than normal. Garfield isn’t just annoyed by this Monday, he’s absolutely infuriated. Garfield even compares the day to a “a terrible movie… with sequels”.
While this isn’t an example of Garfield being forced to experience such inconveniences as a bath or suffering the consequences of shattering the fabric of time and space, it is the perfect example of Garfield losing in a totally different sense. Garfield is having an excruciatingly bad Monday, which plays on his well-known disdain for that day of the week, but in a more elevated way, asGarfield seems more angry than annoyed by this Monday in particular.
It seems ‘Monday’ has beaten Garfield in this comic, leaving him as nothing more than an angry little guy, waiting for the weekend.
Garfield’s time as a comic strip icon is rife with wins, loses, and everything in between, but some of the funniest have to be when Garfield is on the receiving end of any particular punchline, just as he is in these 10 comic strips whereGarfieldloses.
Garfield
Garfield is the central character in Jim Davis’s comic strip, which officially began in 1978 under the same name. Garfield is an orange tabby cat with a love of lasagna and a disdain for Mondays. He tends to torment his owner and dog while trying to secure more food - and quiet.
