 |
||
| Thursday | "When in doubt, click on the cartoon" | March 3, 2005 |
|
|
||
| Thursday | "When in doubt, click on the cartoon" | March 3, 2005 |
|
OK, OK, I know, I know! The truth is, I've been working and posting on the road for several weeks, and I finally returned home this week. The furnace was out (needs to be replaced); my DSL connection had to be reactivated; mail and bills had to be sorted and tended; old friendships had to be toasted. You know how it is. Hence, the spotty updating. I don't want you to worry: 2005 is going to be The Year of the Web at Arlo and Janis Amalgamated. Mark my word.
For today, however, I'm going to leave you with
three cartoons from good, ol' Y2K, and
the
newspaper cartoon. Speaking of the newspaper cartoon,
several of you have written about the series currently running,
asking, "Huh?" I just want you to know, I appreciate your
interest.
I received a letter from John in Valparaiso, Indiana, about this cartoon that ran last week here on arloandjanis.com. John wrote, "An engineer's response is: "The Cup is twice as large as it needs to be!" Guys like John are very handy to have around, until they start making observations such as, "The workforce is twice as large as it needs to be." I received a special email from my old friend George, in Jackson, Tenn. George was the first person to ever email me in my official capacity. It was back in the glory days of email; I'm not sure of the year. For the first time, I had penned into my strip an email address: arlnjan@aol.com. The morning the strip hit the newspapers, I was sitting in front of my computer with a cup of coffee, anxiously waiting to see what would happen. What happened was a nice letter from George, followed by letters from lots of other nice people. George still writes occasionally to (needlessly) remind me of our history and to say hello. I'm always glad when he does. I might as well tell you, I'm going to be on the road tomorrow, and I will update if I can. However, it might be Wednesday. Today, I have three cartoons from 1997 and the newspaper cartoon. Thanks for visiting! (02/28/2005)
Chuck of Chicago is just dying for me to mention that his favorite NCAA basketball team, The University of Illinois, is 28-0 this season and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Well, Chicago is A&J territory, where the strip runs in The Chicago Sun-Times, so I suppose it won't hurt to mention the good fortunes of the Fighting Illini. I love that name, anyway. So, good luck, Chuck! (We started talking about the Boston Red Sox at mid-season on arloandjanis.com, and look what happened to them.) Pursuant to our conversation yesterday, Mike, of Franklin, TN, wrote asking if I ever lobby newspaper editors on behalf of the strip or if that's the exclusive job of United Media, the syndicate that distributes A&J. That's United Media's job. It is responsible for every facet of the strip except creating, writing and drawing it. I have three old cartoons today, and the newspaper cartoon. (02/2402005) Spencer in Toronto was kind enough to write: We absolutely love Arlo and Janis. Too bad none of the four major dailies up here have seen the light to carry your (strip.) We also fully appreciated the reports from France. Fascinating to see and read about. Please let us know what we need to do to lobby our favorite paper up here, The Globe & Mail, to get them to carry Arlo and Janis. If there is anything we can do here in the Great White North, just let us know. Thanks for your insight and great storylines; we hope to see you in our papers soon.
Four major daily newspapers! Wow! I'm tickled to hear Spencer and his family like A&J, but I'm sharing his letter with you, because I often get a variation of his question: "Is there anything I can do to get A&J in my local newspaper?" I'm not here to whip you into a frenzy and unleash your wrath on the newspaper editors of the world, but it is worth noting that you're not powerless. As you might guess, a simple letter to the newspaper is the best option--email or otherwise. You can send it to "the editor," but if you can learn the person directly responsible for comics selection, it might help. State concisely but precisely why you like A&J, the same sort of much-appreciated words you send me. If there are others who feel as you do, mention it or even encourage them to write, but don't go overboard in contriving a campaign. Editors tend to balk at that sort of thing. If you're really serious, a follow-up phone call or even a second letter could constitute "Phase 2." Of course, never pass up an opportunity to participate in your newspaper's comics surveys. That's about all you can do, really, but you'd be surprised to learn editors are human beings capable of responding to courtesy and sincerity. Thanks for asking, Spencer. (Is it true much of Toronto is underground?) I have three moldy comics for you today and the ubiquitous newspaper cartoon. (02/23/2005)
Kay sent me an interesting link to an article in The Minneapolis Star-Tribune that I thought I'd pass along. It relates to things we've been talking about the past few weeks. The article is about comic books specifically, not newspaper comic strips, but it does much to explain why that genre doesn't enjoy the success in the U.S. that it does in Europe and Japan. In a nutshell, the article attributes this to the shabby way cartoonists and writers have been treated by the comic book industry in this country. This link let me visit once, but it required me to register with the Star-Tribune to come back. I hope it works for you: http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5249411.html Tomorrow, I'll get to some of the mail. Today, I have three cartoons from 2000 and the newspaper cartoon. (02/22/05) I don't have time again today to write much here, but I am presenting four cartoons from 2000 and the newspaper cartoon. Most of you come for the cartoons, anyway. And that's cool! I'm glad! (02/17/2005)
I know, I know! I'm running late, today. I'm sorry, but I've had to do some things this morning that prevented me sitting down and updating this page when I normally would. In fact, I still don't have much time, so I'm going to leave you with three cartoons from 2000 and the newspaper cartoon. (02/16/2005)
OK, it's February 15. Legend has it, this is the day the male birds get together to watch basketball on TV, while the female birds get together and talk about how sweet he used to be. I'm excited! The number of visitors here at arloandjanis.com is up considerably over a couple of months ago. At the same time, the mail has dropped off. Now, I understand why this might be. Many of you have had your say, and you don't want to bug me with a bunch of pointless mail. I appreciate that, seriously. However, the time has come to invite a little input: comments, questions, pictures of your cat, anything you want to share so I won't have to come up with something new. Just kidding about the cats.
Speaking of something new--not! (Remember when everyone was
saying
Happy Valentine's Day! Did you know people in the Middle Ages believed that on this day of the year, the birds chose a mate? Hence, the basis of our annual holiday of love. Apparently, there were several St. Valentines, and I don't think anyone is sure which particular one has his own day. I remember making our own Valentine's Day "mailboxes" in grade school, and everyone would bring cards for everyone else. The cards were all the same, more or less, the one's you'd give and the one's you'd receive. Still, there was something special about taking the cards home and going through them, seeing your classmates' names written on them. I could always talk myself into believing that the prettiest girl in the class put an extra flourish in her signature, just for my card. Today, I have four Valentine's Day strips, five counting today's newspaper strip. (02/14/2005)
One thing I don't normally do is explain my cartoons, no matter how many hundreds of thousands of letters I get begging for help. That isn't to say I expect everyone to understand all my cartoons. Occasionally, there'll come along an idea that I like enough to use even though I know everyone won't understand it; this usually is an esoteric kind of gag that will have particular appeal to fewer readers. Of course, I try not to overdo this sort of thing, but those who don't get a cartoon occasionally needn't feel bad. Still, to ask a humorist to explain a joke is (Please don't take this the wrong way.) poor form. Those of you who don't get a cartoon on a regular basis, well, you can feel bad. However, today, I am going to explain Sunday's cartoon, because I think it's a special case. I believe people reasonably can be excused for not "getting" it, and, besides, I want a lot of people to understand this cartoon. It has a didactic angle. I received a lot of letters asking about this one, and--as is often true in these cases--I received a lot of letters from people who liked it. Anyway, you can see the cartoon at comics.com. Really, the issue is, "Who are the cats?" The two cats are classic cartoon characters. I think most people recognized the second cat, George Herriman's Krazy Kat, but not as many recognized the first cat, Kitty from Cliff Sterrett's Polly and Her Pals. Personally, I think Kitty is the greatest comic strip cat ever. There you have it. And here you have four classic A&J cartoons and the newspaper comic. (02/10/2005)
Obviously, the former option isn't available to you, and I wouldn't recommend it as particularly effective if it were. However, the latter option is available to you, and that's what I do most often when I'm looking for a particular strip. We've talked about this before, but as I said I still get mail from people wanting to find a certain strip. This advanced search option costs money. It's $15.95 for six months, I think, and, yes, I pay for it myself. This isn't a commercial message, but the service works well if you want to find a particular strip--or just want to look at lots of old comics. And did I mention, you can search other strips besides A&J? Today, I have four cartoons from the spring of 2000 and the newspaper cartoon. (02/09/2005)
I received a nice letter from a native of Finland, today, but an embarrassing letter, nonetheless. Emilia writes: As I was reading the entry from Jan. 29, I noticed that you mentioned Scrooge and his creator. The Ducks are my favorite comic characters. Being from Finland it's hard not to be a fan; they seem to be somewhat of an obsession over there. Anyway, you misspelled Carl Barks' name as Banks. I had to write in, since I didn't know if anyone else had. He really was a great and prolific artist and created so much of the Ducks' world. Thanks for reading this. Oh, and if you enjoy duck stories, have you ever heard of Don Rosa? Among other stories, he has written the "Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck." I was telling the truth when I told you how much the Scrooge McDuck comic books influenced me as a kid, but Walt Disney was notorious for being stingy when it came to sharing credit with his huge stable of artists. I came to know of Carl's contribution years later. My first impulse was to blame this on a typo, but I'll be honest. I thought his name was Banks! And, yes, I saw the exhibit in France, and I read those articles to which I referred you, which specifically refer to Carl Barks, but you know how the mind is when it's determined to see what it wants. It's like those brain twisters where you read a passage over and over trying to find the error but never see the extra preposition hiding in plain sight. What I want to know is, why didn't any of you catch it sooner? Anyway, thanks Emilia. Besides, how many times have I told you, I'm not an expert on these things. But enough about other cartoonists! You've been patient, and I'm going to reward you with six cartoons from early 2000, including the first cartoon of the new millennium. (I know, I know: the 21st century started in 2001, really, etc. etc., but we'll skip that discussion.) And there's today's newspaper cartoon. If you like it, don't forget to drop in on my friends Steve and Carson at Radio Margaritaville. (02/08/2005)
As is often the case when ignorance is alleviated, I am finding the subject of Japanese cartoons to be fascinating. Not having young children under foot, I have only indirectly been exposed to the most recent explosion of manga and anime in the U.S., and I have been guilty of associating Japanese comic art primarily with cheap animation. Something else is darkly fascinating to me. Reading about manga, particularly, I was aware of a parallel with the European comics scene, on which we've just spent time. The early comic influences in both places, the geniuses who inspired a vibrant creative atmosphere that thrives today, were artists inspired themselves by comic genius that cropped up first in the United States, people like Winsor McCay and George Herriman and Milton Caniff and Walt Disney. Yet, today, it's difficult to point to an area of comic art where the U.S. matches the verve and individuality of its progeny around the world. It could be argued that American studios are doing remarkable things in the field of computer animation. Perhaps the most visible American characters at the Angouleme festival this year were from The Incredibles. Still, computer animation seems such a far cry from the craft of a Walt Kelly as to be a different thing altogether. Perhaps my ignorance is showing, again. Anyway, here are four cartoons from yesteryear, and today's newspaper cartoon. (02/07/2005)
Keith wrote to say how much he enjoyed the festival coverage and added: You haven't mentioned Japanese comics. I'm pretty sure they're big over there--they must be with the saturation of them in American kids' TV shows. My early experience with them was Speed Racer, which I never much liked. I assume they've improved since then. I plead guilty to general ignorance of Japanese comics. Indeed, though, I do know that nowhere in the world are comics so widely read as in Japan. It's a huge subject, and frankly I don't know where to begin. I did see on French television a documentary about Japanese comics. I saw some beautiful animation, specifically clips from a classic film Grave of the Fireflies. Of course, I couldn't understand a word of the narrative, so that took away from the experience somewhat, but I came away with an appreciation of the artistry in the best of Japanese comics. As Keith mentioned, there are many Japanese influences on comics and other cartoon-related products in the U.S. today; that much I do know. If anyone wants to jump in and try tackling this topic, feel free. With the festival coverage, I've been traveling and updating the Web for 11 days straight. I am going to take tomorrow and the weekend off for myriad reasons. I hope you'll come back Monday. I leave you for the week with no less than five old cartoons, the conclusion to the little series that began yesterday, "Gene Gets Dumped." And don't forget to visit the newspaper cartoon. (02/03/2005)
Apparently, some people out there think if they name their dog after a character in my strip, I will run his picture on my Web site. Mark, for example, writes: Three landmarks in your career: 1) the first day you had a cartoon published, 2) the first day you had a cartoon syndicated in a major paper and 3) the first day you had a dog named after one of your cartoon characters. Your life must be pretty complete now. True to his word, Mark and his family evidently have named their new dog Arlo. Now, Mark. I just can't start down that road. Tomorrow, there'll be a cat named Arlo. Then, a parakeet named Arlo. Then, a manatee. Then a Thompson's gazelle. I just can't run a picture of every pet named Arlo. I can, however, provide a link to Arlo's picture. He's an, um... interesting looking dog, Mark. Good luck to all of you. And thanks for making my life complete. I'm running a little late today, as things are still pretty much in the air, routine-wise. However, I have four cartoons that are the beginning of a little series way back in '96, when Gene is dumped by his then girlfriend Susan. And there's always a newspaper cartoon. So far. (02/02/2005)
Regarding the "thing" hanging above The Adventures of Blake and Mortimer exhibit at the Angouleme comics festival, Lynn from Mill Valley, CA, (That's her home!) writes: It looks to me like a bust of Akhenaten, the 'heretic' pharaoh who decided there was only one god, "Aten," represented by a sun with a bunch of arms with little hands reaching down to the pharaoh and his people. He moved the seat of government to a place called Tel al Armarna and sparked a creative revolution in Egypt by encouraging a realistic depiction of people rather than the very stylized work seen previously. He was presented as a man with a big gut, wimpy shoulders and a long face, supposedly all the result of some genetic problem. He married the beautiful Nefertiti. Naturally! To paraphrase Liza Minelli in the movie Arthur, "Why would Akhenaten marry a dog?" However, I think Lynn is right. The "thing" does look like Akhenaten. I always encourage readers to chime in with amplifications and clarifications of the things we discuss here. Not only does it serve to keep the record straight, it gives me something to write about another day. Today, I have four cartoons from February of 1998, and the regular newspaper cartoon. For newcomers to the site and forgetful regulars, click on the cartoons to advance. Happy Groundhog's Day Eve! (02/01/2005)
It's been a rough winter for a lot of you, hasn't it? While I was prowling the cartoon festival this weekend, my friends and family back in Alabama were hit by an ice storm. People in New England and the upper Midwest have been measuring snow in feet the past week or so. Late last summer, many of you were concerned for us living along the northern Gulf of Mexico. I lucked out and escaped hurricane damage, although it was close, but others were not so lucky. Then, the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. I've been tempted to mention it here several times, but... what do you say? A lot of people suffered through the Florida hurricanes, but then we're faced with 200,000 plus killed, entire towns and villages washed off the map in numerous countries. It may sound corny, but I count myself lucky every day I see that big, orange ball in the sky, again. Well, didn't mean to depress you! I pulled out five cold-weather cartoons from January of 2001, in case you people in New England aren't tired of thinking about the cold weather, yet. And there's the newspaper cartoon. Au revoir! (01/31/2005)
Well, as I hope you know by now, we're in Angouleme, France, for the 32nd annual comics festival that's staged here, the largest comics festival in the world outside of Japan, they say. Today is the last day of the event. I enjoyed visiting some exhibits and preparing today's entry for you, but I'm about cartooned out, to be honest. So, I don't have a lot to say by way of introduction, but I do hope you've enjoyed learning about some of the major European comic influences. I know I have, and I think I'll be a better cartoonist for it. In your case, you're presumably here, because you're an Arlo and Janis fan. As far as I'm concerned, comics fans can't get any better than that! Let's go to the festival one more time! (01/30/2005)
Welcome to this special, Saturday edition of arloandjanis.com. As you probably know by now, we're in Angouleme, France, at the 32nd Festival International de la Bande Dessinee. Yesterday, we were talking about how to pronounce this place. Laurent wrote: It's actually Ahn-goo-lehm (the n is actually silent, but you don't have an equivalent in English). Thank you, Laurent! A couple of you helpfully wrote to observe that I posted no A&J cartoons yesterday. Well, as I'm often busy on Friday drawing future A&J cartoons and don't have time to post anything on the Web, I refuse to feel bad about that. However, take heart. Things will be back to normal around here next week. I'm very glad you want to see my cartoons. Many more of you have written wanting to see a picture of yours truly included in the festival coverage. Well, there's one more day of the festival to go, and I'll think about it. I'm not making any promises. So, here's Saturday in Ahn goo lehm. And as long as you're here, you might as well go to the newspaper cartoon! (01/29/2005)
The bust in the photograph is of Georges Rémi (1907-1983), better known as Hergé, creator of the comic adventure character Tintin. He is credited by many with popularizing, if not inventing, the modern European comic strip, the bande dessinée. This bronze casting sits in the middle of Angoulême's main street, which recently has been renamed Rue Hergé. I told you this is a cartoon kind of town. I gave you my best shot at pronouncing bande dessinée
yesterday, but a couple of readers wrote wanting to know how to
pronounce the town, Angoulême. It's something like The official Tintin Web site is very slick and informative. If you don't want to wade through it, though, here is a much simpler site with lots of Tintin information. The comics festival, which we're discussing this weekend, is off to a slow start. Townspeople awoke this morning to a sheen of snow and ice on the streets of Angoulême, but it was gone by mid morning, and the crowd is building Friday afternoon. Remember how we do this: click on a photograph to go to the next. Speaking of Rue Hergé... (01/28/2005)
I swear, when I brought this subject up last November, I did not know I'd be here come January. However, I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool to attend the festival and take pictures and write about it for my Web readers?" That's the way I do things. It drives my family and friends nuts. Lest you think I'm hob-nobbing over here, playing the big shot cartoonist from the States, I'm not. Some friends in Angouleme have helped me navigate the festival, but basically I'm just a guy walking around with a digital camera who can only speak to people in imbecilic phrases like, "How money much that?" Contrary to what you may have heard, the French can be very helpful with those who don't speak their language, especially when the question is, "How money much that?" They're like people everywhere. I thought about the best way to do this, and this is what I came up with: I'm going to link you to a photograph, with commentary, and you click on the photograph to go to the next commentary. Yes! Just like we do the A&J cartoons every day. Well, let's go! No, I'm not going to forego today's A&J in all the excitement, although I'm leaving you with only three. And there's the newspaper cartoon, bless its heart. (01/27/2005)
|
Thanks
to all of you who've written in the past week or so. Some of you
have written asking about my conspicuous absence of late. I
apologize. The fact is, this Web site takes most of an hour to
update every day and sometimes more. I'm not complaining, but
there are times when there are other things to do. Officially,
the policy here remains: regular updates Monday through Thursday
and sometimes on Friday. I'm very happy you enjoy it and want to
see it continue.
Readers
often write to ask me how they might find a particular A&J
strip that ran, oh... sometime about two years ago, or maybe
five. Well, if I were looking for a particular cartoon, I would
run up to my attic and go through my trunk full of totally
disorganized original art, hoping against hope to maybe find the
cartoon I wanted. Or I might go to
I
have a treat for you, today. On Thursday, I clumsily introduced
the subject of comics in Japan and invited readers to contribute
what they would to this voluminous subject. Lee Zion of
Harrisonburg, VA, came through like a champ, with a concise and
informative overview that
