Call it the accidental controversy.  Yesterday’s Garfield comic, written by series creator Jim Davis, unintentionally created some controversy.  The strip, which ends with a group of spiders celebrating “National Stupid Day” in memory of a colleague squished by Garfield, caused quite the unintentional stir among newspapers since it ran on Veterans Day, in which America honors its veterans, both living and dead.  You can see why some people would be offended.

For the record, Jim Davis has apologized, blaming the vagaries of the comic strip world and his own lack of a calendar featuring marked holidays.  He puts the offensive comic strip down to “the worst timing ever.”  It’s Jon-level bad timing!

Davis added in a letter on Thursday, “The strip that runs in today’s paper seems to be making a statement about Veterans Day.  It absolutely, positively has nothing to do with this important day of remembrance.  I had no idea when writing it that it would appear today — of all days,” he said of the strip that was drawn and created over a year ago.  “I do not use a calendar that lists holidays and other notable days, so when this strip was put in the queue, I had no idea it would run on Veterans Day.  You’d have to go a long way to find someone who was more proud and grateful for what our veterans have done for all of us.”

Davis’s brother served in Vietnam, and his son has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, so I’d be inclined to cut him some slack.  Given the very long production time on comics, and how many are produced and put into the lineup on a daily or weekly basis, it’s forgivable that he not have a good grasp on what runs when.

Tags: Garfield, Veterans Day, Garfield Veterans Day strip causes controversy, controversial comics, comic strip controversy, Jim Davis, accidents, bad timing, National Stupid Day, Garfield National Stupid Day strip, offensive comic strip

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