People need a good laugh more today than ever before. Or at least it seems that way. One need only surf through the channels on television and the stations on the radio to know that. Between all of the political mudslinging and all of the general negativity going on in the world, there is so much need for something positive. Thankfully, Nickelodeon and Boom! Studios have been partnering since 2023 to give audiences exactly that through their Garfield comics collections, titled Full Course. Three volumes are currently available with a fourth due out in late October and a fifth come January. The very first of those collections was released Dec. 5, 2023, and is just as entertaining as the volumes that have followed and will follow in the coming weeks and months. That is due in part do its featured stories, just as with those other volumes. This will be discussed shortly. The artwork that accompanies those hilarious stories makes for its own share of engagement and entertainment. It will be discussed a little later. The bonus content, while minimal, is of its own note, too. It will also be discussed later. Each item noted is crucial in its own way to the success of this collection. All things considered they make the collection a great first collection of new Garfield comics for readers of all ages.
Boom! Studios and Nickelodeon’s Garfield comics collection, Full Course: Volume One, is a great collection for comics and Garfield fans of all ages. Just as with the Garfield comics sets that have been published since its release, its success comes in part through its featured stories. Mark Evanier and Scott Nickel shared time as writers for the stories, just as with the aforementioned other Garfield collections. Each writer offers plenty for readers to appreciate, too. One of the most notable of the stories comes in the form of “Jon of the Jungle.” Written by Evanier, this story finds Garfield heling Jon keep from getting fired by crafting a comic strip he thinks Jon’s boss will appreciate. This after Jon’s boss tells him he plans to come see Jon’s work for himself. To a certain extent, this story is a throwback of sorts to Garfield & Friends as there were at least two stories in that beloved cartoon series that involved Jon having to impress another boss with his comic strip ideas. In the case of this story though, it is unique because it makes Jon the star…of sorts. From a joke about a whistle that can summon elephants (yes, elephants) to Jon playing the part of Tarzan, to Odie even getting his own silly sidekick name, there is so much to love even in the 12-page story. It has all the zaniness of the shorts that made Garfield & Friends and the original Garfield comics so fun.
Nickel gets his own credit late in the collection’s finale tale, “Snow Problem.” Spanning 10 pages, the story finds Garfield facing off against a giant snowman that just so happened to have been built by Jon after a really big snowstorm. The not-so-nice Frosty is defeated by Garfield in the unlikeliest of ways, too. Audiences will be left to read for themselves how Garfield melts the big bad snowman, who was brought to life shockingly by a cheap magic wand. What is really fun here in its own way is Garfield’s continued hatred of snow. This has been a constant for Garfield for the now 45+ years that he has been in the comics, so even here Nickel has paid tribute to the legacy of Garfield’s comics.
“Snow Problem” is the only story that Nickel wrote in this collection. By comparison he wrote far more stories in the collections that have followed. Keeping that in mind, Evanier’s talents continue to shine on yet another entry, “The Great Pizza Nightmare.” This story is yet another throwback (intended or not) to Garfield & Friends. This as Garfield & Friends had the episode, “Nighty, Nightmare,” in which Garfield has a nightmare in which he is ultimately kidnapped by aliens who fattened him up for Thanksgiving. The nightmare happened as a result of eating a pizza (what else?) that Jon had ordered, hoping Garfield would not get to it first. Pizza is to blame again here in “The Great Pizza Nightmare.” It causes Garfield this time, to have a nightmare in which he thinks he can eat a load of pizza from Vitos and ice cream from Ichabod’s Ice Cream Palace and not have to pay for it. From there he proceeds to face off against a rather large dog who bullies other animals, again still thinking it is all a dream. Of course, everyone knows where things go from here, but readers will be left to find out what happens for themselves. When the laughs ensured through this and the other stories examined here are considered along with the entertainment and engagement ensured by the rest of the collection’s stories, the whole therein forms a solid foundation for Garfield: Full Course Volume One.
Strengthening that foundation even more is the artwork that accompanies said content. Andy Hirsch, who provided much of the art in the Garfield sets that have been published since this book’s release, has some art here. However, the way is led this time by Gary Barker and Dan Davis. The pair’s work is just as close to Jim Davis’ original art style throughout as Hirsch’s work here and in the later collections. Readers are sure to appreciate that familiar stylistic approach. Nonexistent are the more unique styles that become more commonplace in Volumes 2-4, thankfully. Keeping this in mind, the artwork presented throughout most of this collection makes for just as much aesthetic appeal as general appeal from the stories.
Putting the finishing touch to the collection is its bonus material. The bonus material featured in this collection is scant in comparison to that of the volumes that follow, but it is still welcome. Alongside the familiar cover gallery is a trio of classic Garfield comic strips, going all the way back to the very first, which was published June 19, 1978. Garfield was introduced for the very first time in that strip. As an added celebration, readers also get the very first appearances of Odie and Nermal respectively and learn where each came from. Odie came from one of Jon’s friends while Nermal actually belonged to Jon’s parents. Go figure. Audiences also get alongside this trio of strips, a history of Garfield’s various designs over his now nearly 50 years entertaining audiences. It creates so much nostalgia. As a result, it may even lead some readers to hope for new hardcover (or soft cover) collections of those classic strips. This especially as the latest big screen Garfield offering proved to be a complete dishonor to the legacy of Garfield. Those bonuses are few but do so much to make the collection enjoyable in their own right. When they are collectively considered alongside the collective stories and art that make up the collection’s main body, the whole therein makes the first ever Garfield: Full Course collection a great way to celebrate the near half-century history of Garfield.
Garfield: Full Course Volume One, the debut collection of Garfield comics from Nickelodeon and kaboom!, is a presentation that Garfield fans of all ages will find enjoyable. The collection’s appeal comes in no small part to that appeal. That is because they offer the same smart edge that has been a standard from Jim Davis’ beloved fat furry feline, both on screen and on the printed page. The artwork that accompanies those fun stories makes for just as much appeal because of its familiar look. The bonus content, brief as it is, is sure to create so much nostalgia among older readers. That positive aesthetic puts the finishing touch to the whole of the collection. When all things are considered, the whole makes Garfield: Full Course Volume One such a wonderful way for Nickelodeon and kaboom! to have started this now ongoing series of Garfield comics anthologies.
Garfield: Full Course Volume One is available now. More information on this and other titles from kaboom! is available at:
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