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No. 5988: Jon Arbuckle plus Basic Colour Theory

First | Previous | 2025-10-10 | Latest

Jon Arbuckle plus Basic Colour Theory

First | Previous | 2025-10-10 | Latest

Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=5988

Strip by: Amber Alex

Text: Jon Arbuckle Plus Basic Colour Theory

Strip 1:

Jon {putting on a blue checked jacket over gray trousers}: Give me your honest opinion, Garfield
Jon: {turns around to reveal a blue tie} Do you think this outfit clashes?
Garfield {sitting on a drawer}: No
Garfield: A little dandy, but still quite tasteful

Strip 2:

Jon {wearing a red checked jacket and red bow tie}: Like my new suit, Garfield?
Garfield: Define "like"
Jon: I have a special date tonight
Garfield: Define "special"
Jon: She loves how I dress
Garfield: He's dating a fashion student!

Strip 3:

Jon {wearing a grey jacket with a windowpane check and a red bow tie}: I'm on my way to a party!
{Jon leaves the frame. Beat}
Garfield: Bringing a girl home tonight, no doubt

Strip 4:

Jon {wearing a blue suit and red tie, looking at perfume bottles}: I'm looking for just the right cologne
Jon: That, coupled with my sharp suit, will render women helpless
Garfield {sitting on drawer}: Maybe try your personality first

Strip 5:

Jon {wearing navy suit and bow tie}: Check it out, Garfield
Jon: You can tell a lot about a man by his suit
Jon: {leans in closer} And his cologne
Garfield: You make 10,000 dollars a month and spent half of it at the tailor?

Strip 6:

Jon {wearing a pink jacket with an intricately woven flower pattern, purple silk lapels, and a pink bow tie over grey trousers}: What do you think of my new suit?
Garfield {shocked}: YAAAHHH!
Garfield: {runs away} My eyes! My eyes!
Jon {irritated}: Not a fan of smoking jackets?

Strip 7:

Jon {wearing a green sports coat over charcoal slacks and a brown and green bow tie}: What do you think of my outfit?
Jon: {excited stance}
Garfield: {indifferent}
Jon {still smiling}: Well?
Garfield: {holds up a hand} Not a fan of green, but you do you

Text: Bonus Strip: Domestic Life:

Jon: Liz wants me to take her clothes shopping
Garfield: The woman is a saint
Jon: She calls me a "fashion visionary"
Garfield: She's too kind
Jon: Isn't that cute?
Garfield: Do you specialise in veterinary fashion?

The author writes:

Jon's absolute inability to dress well has at this point become a meme within Garfield that's probably on par with lasagna, Monday sucks, Jon can't date, etc. After I looked at as many such strips as I could find, I broke it down to two factors: Jon mixes too many colours at once, and Jon mixes too many patterns at once.

I couldn't do much against the patterns without a lot more redrawing than I am capable of, but the colours were easy enough to alter. For most of these strips, I turned Jon's trousers gray (why does he have so many argyle trousers?!) and harmonised the colour of the bow tie to that of the coat. About half of the jackets got a different, less outlandish colour, usually navy or gray, and in a few cases, such as the very first strip, I removed the colour of overchecks to take one colour out of the equation.

As a result, I've moved Jon from clown territory back over that fine line into dandy territory. He's still dressed unusually, but now within the limits of good taste, or at least colour theory.

The fourth strip is taken from SRoMG #4086, since that was the only HD scan of the strip I could find at the time. Hat tip to Levellass who made that edit; as much as I've made Jon's suit darker, I've made the strip's punchline lighter again :)

Original strips: 1988-05-20, 1995-09-29, 1995-10-20, 1999-11-10, 2001-11-24, 2007-05-14, 2014-11-08.