Easliy one of the funniest strips out there (I'd say "funniest new strips" but they already have two books out for it), I think the perfect way to describe Get Fuzzy is this:

It's like Garfield, only funny.

Think about it- Garfield's set-up has sassy cat with clueless dog under ownership of bachelor.

Get Fuzzy's set-up has sassy cat with clueless dog under ownership of bachelor.

The key difference is that Get Fuzzy's characters are more well-rounded. Bucky (the cat) is obnoxious and sassy (like Garfield) but isn't quite as bright as he thinks he is. Satchel (the dog) is clueless but sweethearted. Rob (the batchelor) serves as Bucky's foil more often than not and can operate independently of the gags.

As for it's being "funny" where Garfield is not, well, for many years, Garfield was pretty funny. But in recent times Jim Davis has fallen upon having to repeat a string of continuing "gags" (Jon can't get a date, Garfield likes lasagna, Odie has atomic slurps, Jon is a mega-nerd, etc.). Get Fuzzy, on the other hand doesn't pigeon-hole it's characters, and has actual story arcs that actually extend beyond a week's time.

So while Garfield limps on, a shadow of its normal self, we can console ourselves in the genuine wit and laugh-out-loud humor of Get Fuzzy.

I couldn't agree more, Sparrow. Those are good summaries of both strips.

"Get Fuzzy" is better art. It's the only comic I read in the paper.

Much better art, allegra, agreed. In fact I'd put Get Fuzzy right up there with The Far Side, Pogo and Calvin & Hobbes among cartoons that are just as much fun to look at as they are to read.

People who dismiss Fuzzy as 'just' a copy of Garfield are forgetting that - as Sparrow pointed out - for a lot of years Garfield was about as clever, cynical and sharply-observed as any strip out there. (Remember, "Show me a mouser, and I'll show you a cat with bad breath?" Or Garfield's little holiday poem: "Labour Day, Schmabour Day/What a dumb day/To hire some jerk, then send him away/To celebrate work by playing all day.")
Even Jon, while still overtly put-upon, was no more than your average Joe outmatched by a snarkier-than-average cat. Then Davis realised he could get lotsa cheap laughs out of silly nerd jokes, and there went sharp and cynical.

And then, of course, he threw all his energies into conquering the world one suction-cup doll at a time, which left no energy whatsoever for clever.

Result: A stale, slightly cheezy self-parody, where Get Fuzzy is hip, fresh and original. There's no comparison in my book.

Now it's kerriem's turn to get the "good summary" compliment from me.

A co-worker of mine has a "Get Fuzzy" 2003 calendar at her workstation. Each page features a large, full color rendition of the punchline frame from one strip (slightly redrawn from how it originally appeared) and in one corner, the entire strip from which the frame originated. The calendar part itself has a few small pics of the characters on certain days of each month. This is just funny to look at!

The Boston Globe carries it. On Friday March 7, 2003. Rob and satchel are discussing signs of the apocalypse. Satchel claims a Red Sox and Cubs World Series. As a nit picker and Red Six fan I feel I must point out the Red Sox appearing in the World Series is not a sign of the apocalypse. The Red Sox winning the World Series (out right not like the 6 game tie in 1975) is a sign of the apocalypse.

Red Six? Didn't he get shot down over the Death Star?

A Sox/Cubs series would be a sure sign of impending doom, I think, because one of them would theoretically have to win the thing...

Anyone else remeber the halloween "Bucky's House of Pun (ching you in the head)?"

LOL