Check this out, guys:
http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/
"Hilariously sad" or "Sadly hilarious"... You Decide!
Yikes. Some are pretty funny. I wouldn't try that with Marmaduke.
BTW, is the Garfield comic strip still published? What strikes me as really impressive is Jim Davis' reaction (http://travors.com/post/31027718).
I've never cared for Marmaduke.
I knew that people were making a version of this that didn't have Garfeild's dialogged/thought bubbles, but not one where Garfield is completely absent. In any case, it seems to be funnier and serves to make John seem even more pathetic. I know the Garfield comic strips have been taking a lot of lak in recent years for not being as funny anymore and not using the old supporting characters anymore. As a kid I used to love the old cartoon.
I've always thought that Alan [Jon Cryer] from the sitcom Two & a Half Men would have been the perfect John for the Garfield movie.
Arbuckle (http://www.tailsteak.com/arbuckle/) has been doing something similar for a while. Fans submit redrawn comics, which have Garfeild in them minus his though bubbles.
Saw the same ref that Stumpy posted. I think it's cool how Jim Davis reacted to it. Don't see that often this day and age.
I'm a fan as well. It actually got me to read Garfield in the papers, just to look for strips that worked better without Garfield. :)
Wow kinda trippy and surreal in a way. It certainly makes one really feel for the deranged and depressed Mr. Arbuckle.