Gnorm Gnat

Infobox Comic strip
title=Gnorm Gnat


caption= Gnorm Gnat
creator=Jim Davis
current=
status=Ended
syndicate=None
comictype=print
genre=Humor
first=
followed by=Garfield

"Gnorm Gnat" was a comic strip by Jim Davis based on fictional insects, especially a gnat named Gnorm. The strip appeared in "The Pendleton Times" in Pendleton, Indiana in the 1970s, but failures to take the character to more mainstream success led Davis to create the popular comic strip "Garfield". Mike Peters, the cartoonist for "Mother Goose and Grimm", has said that "Gnorm Gnat" is now a part of "cartoon folklore", but not for merit in its own right.Peters, Mike. "Foreword." In "20 Years & Still Kicking!: Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection." By Jim Davis. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998, p. 10.]

History

Davis developed the idea for the strip while assisting another cartoonist named Tom Ryan in a comic strip called "Tumbleweeds." Davis felt he had more possibilities for stories working with insect characters, and the strip was adopted by "The Pendleton Times". However, Davis also approached syndicates to publish "Gnorm Gnat" and was rejected.Davis, Jim. "20 Years & Still Kicking!: Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection." New York: Ballantine Books, 1998, p. 14.] According to writers Mark Acey and Scott Nickel, Davis would receive rejections for "Gnorm Gnat" for years.Acey, Mark and Scott Nickel, "Garfield at 25: In Dog Years I'd Be Dead." New York: Ballantine Books, 2002, p. 14.] "I thought bugs were funny, and nobody else did", Davis would later tell the press. [Aucoin, Don. "Everyone's favourite fat cat turns 25." "The Record". Kitchener, Ontario: June 17, 2003, pg. C.2.]

Davis also recounted that one editor had advised him that "Your art is good, your gags are great, but bugs- nobody can identify with bugs!" Davis took the advice to heart and killed off the character Gnorm by means of having him stepped on by a foot, and Davis then turned to "Garfield". Some in the media have also reported that Davis had become "bored with the strip." [Lenz, Ryan. "Drawing on cartoon cat's success." "Packet and Times." Orillia, Ontario: July 23, 2003, pg. B.3.] Another reporter has suggested that the idea that no one can relate to insects has been disproved by some jokes in the comic strip "The Far Side" by Gary Larson. [Doup, Liz. "Flabby tabby Garfield is 20." "The Gazette". Montreal, Quebec: June 19, 1998, pg. D.7.]

Legacy

"Garfield" became a success. In 1992, one "Garfield" book called "Garfield Takes His Licks" referenced Gnorm as an in-joke. "Gnorm Gnat" was listed among the "Top Ten Comic Strips Jim Davis Tried Before "Garfield", being placed behind "Garfield the Toaster" and above "Milt the Incontinent Hamster." [Davis, Jim. "Garfield Takes His Licks". New York: Ballantine Books, 1992.] In 1997, one "Garfield" comic strip featured a fly talking to a spider; Davis alluded to "Gnorm Gnat" by commenting that, "After nearly thirty years, I finally got a bug strip published." [Davis, Jim. "20 Years & Still Kicking!: Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection." New York: Ballantine Books, 1998, p. 155.]

However, Davis' fellow-cartoonist Mike Peters looked back on "Gnorm Gnat" in an unfavourable way. Peters claimed, "We can always be thankful that Jim's first strip never made it... "Gnorm Gnat" has gone down in cartoon folklore as a most fortunate failure. Can you imagine a bright orange gnat on every car window? A great, huge gnat for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. A big fat gnat saying 'I hate Tuesdays.'"

Characters

Acey and Nickel explain that the characters of "Gnorm Gnat" were meant to be presented in a "simple, humorous style" of appearance. Davis displays the characters and describes them in the book "20 Years & Still Kicking!: Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection."
*Gnorm Gnat is a gnat who Davis says plays the "straight man" who sometimes behaves like the character Walter Mitty. As mentioned, the comic strip ends with his death. Gnorm's eyes suggest the "Garfield" character.
*Lyman is an insect with buck teeth who wears a hat. He is supposed to be insane. Davis later named a character after him in "Garfield".
*Freddy is a fruit fly depressed over his supposedly imminent death.
*Dr. Rosenwurm is a worm who is highly intelligent.
*Cecil Slug is a slug merely described as a stupid character.
*Drac Webb is a villain who eats other characters. Another character is named Wench Webb.

References