<Tr> <Th> Publisher (s) </Th> <Td> Random House (under Ballantine Books), occasionally Andrews McMeel Publishing </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Genre (s) </Th> <Td> Humor </Td> </Tr> <P> Garfield is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis . Published since 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield; Jon, his owner; and Jon's dog, Odie . As of 2013, it was syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals, and held the Guinness World Record for being the world's most widely syndicated comic strip . </P> <P> Though this is rarely mentioned in print, Garfield is set in Muncie, Indiana, the home of Jim Davis, according to the television special Happy Birthday, Garfield . Common themes in the strip include Garfield's laziness, obsessive eating, coffee, and disdain of Mondays and diets . The strip's focus is mostly on the interactions among Garfield, Jon, and Odie, but other recurring minor characters appear as well . Originally created with the intentions to "come up with a good, marketable character", Garfield has spawned merchandise earning $750 million to $1 billion annually . In addition to the various merchandise and commercial tie - ins, the strip has spawned several animated television specials, two animated television series, two theatrical feature - length live - action / CGI animated films, and three fully CGI animated direct - to - video movies . </P>

When was the first garfield comic strip printed