Jim Davis was born on July 28, 1945, in Marion, Indiana. He later attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he distinguished himself by earning one of the lowest cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university. The Garfield strip was born on June 19, 1978, syndicated in 41 U.S. newspapers. Today it’s syndicated in more than 2,100 newspapers worldwide with more than 200 million readers, leading Guinness World Records to name Garfield The Most Widely Syndicated Comic Strip in the World. Davis has had many successes with Garfield, including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program and induction into the Licensing Hall of Fame (1998), but his most prized awards are from his peers in the National Cartoonist Society: Best Humor Strip (1981 and 1985), the Elzie Segar Award (1990), and the coveted Reuben Award (1990) for overall excellence in cartooning.
Mark Evanier, an Emmy-nominated writer for The Garfield Show, and Scott Nickel, a longtime writer for the official Garfield comics. This collection features art by Gary Barker, a lead artist at Paws, Inc., Dan Davis and Mike DeCarlo, who have collectively worked on the strip and licensed Garfield comics for many years, Andy Hirsch, Mark & Stephanie Heike, David DeGrand, and Fred Hembeck.
Gary Barker is a U.S. comic artist and illustrator, primarily as an artist on Garfield for comic strip creator Jim Davis. He has works published with Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, BOOM! Studios, and others. Gary Barker is a native Hoosier now living in Florida with his better half and their cat.
