As a child, I was quite the fan of Garfield. Some might even say horrifyingly fascinated with Garfield, and I've never figured out why. Maybe it was the combination of cats and sarcastic humour, because as we all know, there are few things in the world I love more than cats and sarcastic humour.
As I grew older, my palate refined somewhat. I can still enjoy the occasional Garfield strip, but the bar has been raised significantly by other comics out there--most notably Calvin and Hobbes--and I can't get as excited about the minimalistic layout, the one-dimensionalism, and the cottage industry that the strip exudes.

One of the concepts I find completely obvious yet endlessly fascinating is how, with one tiny change, something can go from mediocre to sublime. Be it a food recipe or a photograph or the written word, sometimes having someone reach out and make that one crucial change can completely transform something. So it is with Garfield, even, and though nostalgia occasionally prompts me to leaf through the old, original Garfield comics, Garfield minus Garfield brings it to an entire other plane of profundity.