| Gnorm Gnat | |
|---|---|
.png) Gnorm Gnat, the eponymous character | |
| Author(s) | Jim Davis |
| Current status/schedule | Ended |
| Launch date | March 1, 1973 |
| End date | December 25, 1975 |
| Syndicate(s) | None |
| Genre(s) | Humor |
| Followed by | Garfield |
Gnorm Gnat is an American gag-a-day comic strip by Jim Davis based on fictional insects, with the primary focus on a gnat named Gnorm. The strip appeared in The Pendleton Times in Pendleton, Indiana, the only newspaper to publish the strip,[1] from 1973 to 1975, but failure to take the character to mainstream success led Davis to instead create the comic strip Garfield. Mike Peters, creator of Mother Goose and Grimm, has said that Gnorm Gnat is now a part of "cartoon folklore" as a failure that paved the way for major success.[2]
- ^ Loderhose, Gary (1999). Legendary Hoosiers: Famous Folks from the State of Indiana. Guild Press. p. 122. ISBN 9781578600977.
Garfield wasn't Jim Davis's first comic strip. His first attempt failed. A cartoon featuring a gnat named Gnorm, it appeared in only one newspaper, the Pendleton (Indiana) Times. Jim ended the strip by having a giant shoe crush the gnat.
- ^ Peters, Mike. "Foreword". In 20 Years & Still Kicking!: Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection. By Jim Davis. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998, p. 10.