This summer, Boom! Studios and Nickelodeon will bring a brand-new volume of Garfield comics to audiences when they release Garfield: Full Course Volume 6. The coming volume is set for release June 17. So there is still a little time to wait for that collection to drop. As audiences await its release, they can also enjoy the current collection, Full Course Volume 5. Released Jan. 14 (how about that, just over five months to the day between volumes), the 200-page collection is an intriguing new addition to the companies’ ongoing Garfield comics series. That is due in part to its stories, which will be addressed shortly. Just as much of interest herein is the writing within the stories. This item will be examined a little later. The artwork featured throughout the stories rounds out the presentation’s most important elements and will also be examined later. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of this latest Garfield comics collection. All things considered, they make Full Course Volume 5 worth reading every now and then.
Full Course Volume 5, the latest collection of Garfield comics from Boom! Studios and Nickelodeon, is an intriguing addition to the ongoing Full Course series of releases. That is due in no small part to its featured stories. The collection is fleshed out by two separate stories, the first being a new reimagining of Jim Davis’ original 1984 Garfield book, His 9 Lives and its 1988 made-for-TV adaptation by the same name. The second story is an expansive story of how Garfield spent some time with other owners after “running away from home.” The lead story both lifts from its source material while also adding new tales in place of others, creating a unique reimagining of the whole along the way. Lifted and reimagined from the original book and television special are “Cave Cat,” “Lab Cat,” “Space Cat,” “King Cat,” and “Sam Spayed: The Lethal Lasagna.” The new stories added this time around are: “Pirate Cat,” “Super Cat,” and “Cowboy Cat.” For those doing the math, yes, there are only seven lives in this latest comics collection. Garfield’s 8th life, which in the TV special and book, finds Garfield in his current life, is nonexistent from this tale. Why that is the case is anyone’s guess.
In reading through the featured tales, “Lab Cat,” which is among the most memorable segments from the TV special (It is known as “Lab Animal” in the book), is just as memorable here. That is because it largely stays true to its source material while also somewhat indirectly lifting from the much more controversial tale, “Primal Self,” from the original book. In “Primal Self,” Garfield actually becomes uber feral and ends up killing his elderly owner. Yes, that is the case. In this latest update of “Lab Cat,” Garfield becomes a hulking feral cat as a result of being injected with a serum by an evil military scientist, and proceeds to kill the scientist in the brief story. In the TV special, the serum turns Garfield into a dog, allowing him to escape his captors in disguise as one of their dogs.
“Sam Spayed” is another notable addition to this collection. This tale is a reimagining of the original story, “Babes and Bullets,” which while it was included in the original book collection, did not end up in he TV special. Instead it ended up as its own TV special. The original story saw Garfield as a hard boiled detective investigating the death of a pastor. The update featured in this collection takes a much more lighthearted approach, opting instead to have Garfield (once again as said hard boiled detective) investigating instead what he presumes is an attempt on his own life by way of his lasagna being poisoned. Not to give away too much but his lasagna turned out to not be poisoned and the real culprit gets what said figure deserves in the end. This story is much more in line with something that one might expect from Garfield & Friends than the edgier content of the story’s source material.
Yet one more notable addition to this collection comes in the form of the closer, “Space Cat.” This tale is yet another full-on reimagining from the original story. Instead of Garfield being trapped in a spaceship run by an artificial intelligence that happens to be Odie, at the mercy of a warring alien species, this tale proves a Star Wars spoof in which Garfield plays the part of essentially Han Solo and Jon is actually the bad guy (again not to give away too much). How this tale ends will be left for readers to discover for themselves, too, but it goes somewhat in line with how the book and TV special ended although it is still a reimagining in itself.
Between these three tales and all of the others featured herein, the whole makes the new update of Garfield: His 9 Lives an intriguing presentation in itself worth reading at least once.
The second of the collection’s stories is a four-chapter tale that finds Garfield running away from home after Jon decides to stop spoiling him. This at the direction of a book titled, How To Unspoil Your Spoiled Cat. The book was written, funnily by one Dr. Emso Rongg. Yes, that is his name and he comes into play later in the story, Once again this will be left for audiences to discover for themselves. Garfield ends up becoming pet to a circus clown, a little girl whose mom has some not so nice dogs, and a cat lady along the way, each scenario having its own hilarious tale. He also has to deal with a pair of stupid robbers. This story is hardly the first time that Garfield has ever run away from home for better conditions. At least two episodes of Garfield & Friends saw Garfield leave home and temporarily ending up with different owners, so this situation is anything but new here. What makes the scenario here so fun, regardless of how Garfield handles each unexpected situation. In the end, Garfield, of course, returns home, after Jon comes to Garfield. That finale will be left for readers to discover for themselves. When it and the collection’s main story are considered collectively, the whole therein makes for a relatively stable foundation for Full Course Volume Five.
Building on the foundation former by the stories is the writing therein. All of the fourth wall breaking that has long been a tradition of Garfield comics is here in both stories and used just the right amount to make it welcome. Garfield’s equally familiar edgy attitude is just as much on display throughout each story. Even an element as simple as Garfield’s narration at points makes for its own share of engagement and entertainment. On yet another note, a moment such as when Garfield is kidnapped by a pair of robbers, the writing shines as the pair of dolts goes back and forth about how little they got and how one of the pair complains about the other’s inability to tie knots. Robbers generally are not going to act like the pair, which makes the duo’s back and forth so funny, once again showing another example of the writing’s strength. Between everything noted here and the rest of the writing contained in these stories, the whole therein strengthens the presentation that is Full Course Volume Five even more.
Putting the final touch to this presentation is its collective artwork. Going back to the lead story that is Garfield: His Nine Lives, the initial television special allowed for a variety of art styles. From the cartoony to the truly artistic to the serious, the art styles featured were widespread. Readers get just as much variety here, which is in itself a throwback to that television special. It is essentially a tribute to that approach, making for even more applause. In regard to the second story’s art, there is just as much variety. The illustrations of Ben Sears in “Big Cat, Tiny House” conjures thoughts of the “squiggle vision” art used in the hit cult TV series Dr. Katz while the collective work of Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb in “The Lap of Luxury” leads one to make comparison to art styles used in certain cartoons today on Disney Channel. The more silly, cartoony look of “The Cat Lady” courtesy of Genevieve FT gives audiences yet another unique look while thankfully, Andy Hirsch — who has served long term as an artist on this series of books — ensures established audiences get the classic, familiar look of Garfield and company in the chapter breaks. Simply put, audiences get plenty of familiarity and uniqueness in the book’s art, making for its own share of engagement and entertainment, too. When the aesthetic appeal of the artwork is considered alongside the stories and their collective writing, that whole makes Full Course Volume Five a work that readers are sure to appreciate.
Garfield: Full Course Volume Five, the latest collection of Garfield comics from Boom! Studios and Nickelodeon, is another interesting offering from the companies. It is a presentation that proves worth reading every now and then. That is due in part to its featured stories. Both stories offer familiarity and something new, balancing the two sides relatively well along the way. The writing thereof adds to the book’s appeal for that same reason. From Garfield’s edgy attitude to more comical elements that have been trademarks of the Garfield universe for decades, the writing makes for just as much appeal as the stories. The variety and familiarity of the artwork featured throughout the stories puts the finishing touch to the whole, rounding out the presentation’s most important elements. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the collection. All things considered they make Garfield: Full Course Volume Five a mostly successful new collection of Garfield comics that deems worth reading every now and then.
Garfield: Full Course Volume Five is available now through Boom! Studios. More information on this and other titles from Boom! Studios is available now at:
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