10 Weirdest Controversies Surrounding Comics

Garfield: the original grumpy cat that we all know and tolerate. Whether you love his Monday-hating, lasagne-eating, catty attitude or not, there is one thing you absolutely cannot deny: you know who he is. You are aware of his existence. And for Garfield creator Jim Davis, that is all he wants.

Jim Davis is everything that Jack Kirby claimed Stan Lee to be. A business-minded marketer with the soul of an ad-man, Davis designed Garfield to be a "good, marketable character," but not necessarily a funny or entertaining one. Davis openly admits to relying on repetitive humour and gags, and employing a team of assistants to write and draw the strips for him. But by plastering the cat's face on everything from lunchboxes to regrettable Bill Murray movies, he has turned Garfield into a literal billion dollar industry.

While many comic fans see Davis as the antithesis of the artist, a phony who delights in selling out, they cannot deny that he has seen huge success doing it. In a bizarre YouTube video uploaded in 2014, Davis sits down in front of a camera to talk about Garfield. He barely mentions the actual character, instead bragging that the Garfield brand now has over 200 million books sold, 331 cartoon episodes, 28 million app downloads, 15 million Facebook fans, 2.5 million branded Mastercards, and 5,000 merchandise products in the marketplace at any given time. Oh, and of course, 2,100 newspapers still print the actual comic strip. Not bad for a glorified logo.