Garfield: His 9 Lives

The 1984 book, and 1988 special, that tell the story of each of Garfield's nine lives.

Garfield: His 9 Lives is a 1984 anthology book that shows the nine lives of Jim Davis' comic strip cat Garfield, told in ten segments that begin with the creation of cats.

Quick Facts

Author: Jim Davis
Language: English
Country: United States
Genre: Humor
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Series: Garfield
Released: October 12, 1984
Pages: 128

Facts from the source article.

Background

The stories come in various art styles, and before each one Garfield explains the significance of that life and how it shaped his personality. The current Garfield is his 8th life, and the last life is set in space. In the opening segment, In the Beginning, a design team led by God creates the cat, and God gives it 9 lives simply because he likes cats.

Other segments include Cave Cat, set in the Stone Age; The Vikings, about Vikings from 984 who thaw out in 1984 in St. Paul, Minnesota; Babes and Bullets, a noir story about the detective Sam Spayed; and Lab Animal, about a specimen that escapes a secret government facility.

The book was adapted into an animated television special that premiered on CBS on November 22, 1988, with four new segments such as King Cat, set in ancient Egypt, and Diana's Piano. The special was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. Boom! Studios later adapted the book into comics from 2014 to 2015.