Marvin (comic strip)

Marvin & Family is a daily newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Tom Armstrong and distributed in the U.S. by Hearst's King Features Syndicate. It debuted in 1982. It revolves around the life and times of a young baby boy named Marvin, his father and mother, Jeff and Jenny Miller, and their dog Bitsy. Other characters include Megan, Marvin's cousin; Janet, who is Megan's mother and Jenny's sister (she and her husband were divorced); Ming Ming, Janet's adopted daughter from China; Bea and Roy, Marvin's grandparents; Bea and Roy's schnauzer named Junior; and Roy's pill-addict friend Bernie. Prior to 2013 the strip's name was simply Marvin.

In 1989, CBS aired a special, "Marvin, Baby of the Year."

Bea and Roy Arnold lost their retirement savings in the 2008 recession and had to move in with Jeff and Jenny; Janet did not have enough room.

In 2010, the Millers got new neighbors, the Purfects, who are so perfect they make the Millers feel inadequate. Rodney Purfect has a Ph.D. and is a company president, has won the Heisman Trophy and climbed Mount Kiliminjaro. He is six feet five inches tall and very manly. Barbie Purfect is a housewife who attended cooking school in Paris, was a cheerleader, class president and sorority president. Rodney Perfect II is two and a half but reads at a third grade level, performed his piano composition for Queen Elizabeth II and was potty trained at 6 months.

In 2011, at age 2 1/2, Marvin's Kiddie Korral classmate Warren had a 195 IQ and had developed Cryspace.

Jeff has a macho friend, Ted.

In 2005, Marvin guest starred in the comic strip Blondie for their 75th anniversary.

Creator Tom Armstrong has made what some fans consider not so subtle changes to the strip's character design including changes to the faces and even changing the size of the characters' noses, In one e-mail to a fan Armstrong explains why he made these changes.

There was an earlier strip named Marvin, which was created by Pat Moran and syndicated in 1973.