U.S. Acres

U.S. Acres (known as Orson's Farm in all countries except the United States) is a comic strip that ran from 1986 to 1989 created by Jim Davis, author of the popular comic strip Garfield. The comic was launched on 3 March 1986 in a then-unprecedented 505 newspapers by United Feature Syndicate. At the peak of the comic's popularity, there were children's books, plush animals (particularly of the characters Booker, Sheldon, and Orson), and posters of the main characters. The last comic strips in its run were in early 1989. Its animated adaptation was included in the TV show Garfield and Friends. U.S. Acres features various barnyard animals living on a farm.

Comic strip chronology

Orson the pig:

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:* First appearance - 3 March 1986

Related Topics:
3 March - 1986

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:* First appearance as "Power Pig" - 19 April 1986

Related Topics:
19 April - 1986

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Orson's mom, unnamed:

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:* First appearance - 3 March 1986

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:* Last appearance - 22 March 1986

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Orson's three brothers, unnamed:

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:* First appearance - 4 March 1986

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:* Last appearance - 18 March 1986

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Roy the rooster:

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:* First appearance - 14 April 1986

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Booker and Sheldon:

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:* Booker and Sheldon first appeared as eggs on 6 May 1986 and continued as eggs through May 1986. Booker hatched on 22 May 1986. Sheldon partially hatched (legs only) on 27 May 1986.

Related Topics:
22 May - 27 May

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Wade the duck:

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:* First appearance - 4 August 1986

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The worm

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:* While worms had appeared in the strip throughout most of 1986, the first time that one was given a "voice" was on 1 December 1986. A few of the worm characters occasionally had names, such as "Willy," a young worm, with "Mom" and "Dad" (and who called each other "Estelle" and "Filbert" respectively).

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Lanolin the sheep

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:* First appearance - 15 January 1987

Related Topics:
15 January - 1987

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:* First mentioned by name - 21 January 1987

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Bo the sheep

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:* First appearance - 19 January 1987

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:* First mentioned by name - 21 January 1987

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Max, the skateboarding bird - character was sketched/designed by a child reader in a contest, to give Wade someone else to be afraid of.

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:* First appearance - 3 March 1987

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:* First mentioned by name - 4 March 1987

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:* Last appearance - 7 March 1987

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Cody, the dog

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:* First appearance - 30 November 1987

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:* First mentioned by name - 2 December 1987

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:* Last appearance - 2 July 1988

Related Topics:
2 July - 1988

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Blue, the cat

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:* First appearance - 4 December 1987

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:* Last appearance - 28 March 1988

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Trivia: While Cody and Blue were drawn on the back cover of the first U.S. Acres collected comic strip book, published in early 1987, they did not appear in the comic strip itself until late in 1987 (and thus don't appear until the third book).

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