The Sad, Lonely Life of Jon Arbuckle

I was browsing through BoingBoing (a sweet site full of tasty internet miscellany) a while ago and I came across a posting about Garfield Minus Garfield. This is a daily comic created by removing any traces of the orange feline from classic Garfield strips. The result is a sad, hilarious, and usually creepy look into the mind of a guy who has chosen to spend most of his day talking to his cat. The creator himself considers it a meditation on "schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life." All interesting themes, to be sure, and the strip certainly does make you think. By removing the personable furball from the strip, the relationship between pet and owner is stripped away, and we are forced to consider Jon as a real individual. How would we react to him if he wasn't accompanied by a cartoon cat who talks and, what's more, makes witty quips? I like this little piece of alternative media, because it creates an entirely new perspective on a well-established cartoon personality by simply removing a key piece of context. I loved Garfield growing up, and I always loved Jon's outbursts and nerdy episodes; this is just icing on the cake.