Cartoonist and creator of Garfield, Jim Davis, originally channeled the spirit of Peanuts’Charlie Brown to create another of his original characters: Gnorm Gnat. The titular bug suffers from some of the same problems that plague the hit comic strip protagonists. Although Gnorm Gnat didn’t achieve the same levels of popularity as Garfield and Charlie Brown, he shares several characteristics with them, creating a strange mix of both.
The comic strip, Gnorm Gnat, was published from 1973 to 1975. In this brief time, it was only seen in The Pendleton Times, never reaching national syndication the way strips like Peanuts did. Gnorm Gnat preceded Garfield, whose titular cat debuted in 1976 and garnered national success, as well as syndication, for decades.
Garfield presents a very deadpan humor delivery, emphasized with cat antics and cartoon gags. Gnorm has a similar delivery style without the feline feats that make his cat counterpart extra beloved. Yet he still has one of Charlie Brown’s best – and worst – qualities.
One of Charlie Brown’s most endearing qualities is that he’s a perennial loser. He’s often made into a joke by his friends. No matter how many times he tries to kick the football, it never happens. Despite this, his refusal to give up makes him fun to root for. However, a lot of Peanuts popularity comes from Snoopy, which Jim Davis pointed out in an interview with The Washington Post in 1982. Asked about his creation of Garfield, Davis discussed wanting a character that was marketable and settled on an animal, “I notice dog strips are doing well, and I knew an animal strip would be strong.”
Additionally, when discussing licensing, Davis noted that “Snoopy is very popular in licensing. Charlie Brown is not.” Part of Charlie Brown’s appeal is his good nature and mundane adventures, but he isn’t an animal. Despite Gnorm Gnat being an animal, he is similarly not as marketable as a comic strip character like Snoopy or Garfield. Cuddly characters are much easier to sell. Gnorm Gnat can hardly be called cuddly considering he’s a bug and most people would rather stay away from bugs. While he shares similar eye design to Garfield, the titular insect just doesn’t make the licensing cut.
Like Charlie Brown, Gnorm Gnat tends to get the short end of the stick. He finds himself caught in spider webs and instead of being mourned, he knows he’d be mocked – by his own family. He ends up in pain and gets caught in the rain as he finds no luck when it comes to love. Each of these instances is very similar to the adventures Charlie Brown gets into, such as when he lands on his back after kicking a football or when he can’t make headway with his crush, the Little Red-Haired Girl.
Though Gnorm Gnat didn’t quite hit the prime time as a comic strip, it did showcase Jim Davis’ talent as a cartoonist. In fact, some of the gags introduced within the strip have gone on to be well-known Garfield gags. This includes the six-letter word for pain. Gnorm has very few victories to speak of, being caught underneath tape, being tormented by his creator breaking the fourth wall, and failing to win the affection of Natasha, his crush. He has all the luck of Charlie Brown with similar design and humor as Garfield, but the combo would not prove victorious thanks to his general visual appeal – or lack thereof.
Despite Gnorm Gnat’s near-perfect blend of Garfield and Charlie Brown in terms of design, comedic delivery, and perennial loser status, the bug never made it big in comic strips. It seems Jim Davis knew what he was doing when he changed up his approach and created Garfield. Choosing a much more relatable and lovable animal species likely helped pave the way for syndication. Unlike Charlie Brown, Gnorm doesn’t have a comedic counterpart that could help set him apart in positive ways the way Snoopy does. As a result, this Davis creation will likely continue to fall by the wayside as Garfield continues to gain popularity with new generations.
Compared to many other comic strips, Gnorm Gnat’s lifespan was sadly reflective of his existence as a bug. Peanuts was syndicated for almost fifty years, lasting from 1950 until 2000. Garfield’s syndication began in 1978 and has not ended, making it a mainstay in current comic strip publication. Jim Davis has noted that he purposely tries to avoid a lot of material that could isolate some readers, trying to get the broadest reach out of the character’s jokes. This has also allowed it to have immense global success since the majority of seasons and holidays are left out.
Given that several Gnorm Gnat jokes have lived on with Garfield and his owner, Jon, putting riffs on them, there was clear potential within the original strip. The only thing missing from the main character was a bit of fur and an extra dash of reliability that seemingly only dogs and cats can deliver to audiences. The repurposed jokes have been hits and Garfield continues to be published, meaning it was never Davis’ writing that was in question – just the cartoon face delivering it.
Gnorm Gnat didn’t hit the heyday that Garfield and Peanuts enjoyed and have built upon. However, the humor of the comic was still on par with some of the best strips from both in its joke delivery. The biggest problem Gnorm had was primarily the perception that tends to come with bugs. They’re better known as unwanted pests than humorous companions. His licensing potential was far too low with an unlovable general appearance. Nonetheless, Gnorm Gnat is a perfect blend of Garfield and Peanuts’ Charlie Brown, providing the perception of a loser protagonist paired with a delightfully dry sense of humor.
Source: The Washington Post