Lyman

Lyman: 

1) Friend of Jon's who lived with him for a while and was the original owner of Odie. 

2) He disappeared from the comic in 1983 and his disappearance was never fully elaborated upon. 

3) His last appearance in the strip was a cameo in the logo panel for the Sunday strip published on June 19, 1988.

4) A webcomic called Melonpool involved this character in one of its storylines, showing why he disappeared from the Garfield strips in the first place. 

5) Of course, since Melonpool is a spoof piece, it has no continuity with Davis' work and is just for kicks with a disclaimer attached. 

6) Recently, Davis was forced to directly address the issue of 'What happened to Lyman?'. 

7) According to Davis, Lyman's original purpose was to be someone who Jon could actually talk to and express other ideas?a role more and more taken over by Garfield himself. 

8) Hence he was removed without explanation. 

9) The closest thing Davis has ever given to explain his absence is "Don't look in Jon's basement"