Jim Davis Admits Studying Cadavers to Perfectly Illustrate Jon Arbuckle
ALBANY, IN — Cartoonist Jim Davis has shared a bizarre behind-the-scenes detail about his creative process for Garfield. In a recent interview, Davis confessed that he spent months studying the muscular systems of human cadavers to ensure he could draw Jon Arbuckle—the iconic, awkward owner of Garfield—with lifelike anatomical accuracy.
“Before I even sketched one panel, I dove into studying real human bodies,” Davis revealed. “I wanted Jon to feel human—not just visually, but spiritually. I dissected over 30 corpses to understand how tendons and ligaments support natural human posture.”
He went on to say he filled entire notebooks with studies of human hands to get Jon’s exaggerated fingers to look both cartoonish and anatomically plausible. “Even when Jon squints, I made sure the orbicularis oculi muscle movement looked believable,” Davis added. “He’s not just a cartoon—Jon is symbolic of the balance between mortality and divinity.”
As for the character Nermal? “That one was based on a bloated roadkill I once saw,” Davis quipped.