Written By: Scott Nickle
Art By: Sara Talmadge
Published By: Boom Studios
Garfield Homecoming is an interesting pitch that caught my eye. At first glance I imagined that Garfield may finally tackle the Vulture and save New York City, but after a more careful reading it turns out this miniseries instead focuses on something much more creative. Each book will have a different artist with a very stylized and unique take on Garfield as the story unfolds.
The story itself is of course very lighthearted and cute. Issue #1 opens by setting the stage with Jon’s latest plan to get Garfield to lose some weight, ultimately driving our favorite fat cat to run away from home. As the cover art suggests, he ends up at the circus in hopes of finding something good to eat and ends up with perhaps more than he can chew. That last sentence was mandated by the League of Pretentious Online Critics Union.
All joking aside, it is a cute story that I think any Garfield fan would enjoy. It isn’t too grand for its own good, nor is it boring or uneventful. Even with the drastic shift in art direction (which you can see hinted at in the cover of the book) this feels like the kind of Garfield story I want to read.
Much to Talmadge’s credit, the art style is so fun and expressive that it is very easy to get sucked into the events of the story, each scowl and smile conveys so much that I often find lacking from some books, be they for younger or mature audiences. Though a humble package, there is a lot to enjoy in Homecoming, and I can safely recommend this to anyone out there who hates Mondays.
