Garfield the cat first appeared in comics in 1978, when Jim Davis’s strip entered nationwide newspaper syndication. The first syndicated Garfield strip ran on June 19, 1978, through United Feature Syndicate.
The character had an earlier development history. Davis created a locally published strip called Jon in 1976, featuring the future Garfield and Jon Arbuckle. The strip was renamed Garfield in 1977 before the national launch. Those earlier appearances can make the question seem more complicated, but 1978 is the standard answer for Garfield’s debut as a nationally syndicated comic strip.
Garfield was inspired partly by cats Davis knew while growing up in Indiana. Davis named him after his grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis, and designed him after noticing that newspaper comics had many popular dogs but few prominent cat characters.
Garfield quickly became known for his laziness, sarcasm, hatred of Mondays, and love of lasagna. The strip later expanded into television specials, animated series, books, films, and extensive merchandise, making the orange tabby one of the most recognizable comic characters worldwide.