This week we’re talking about Gene, the son of Arlo and Janis, and the life he grew into somewhere on the coast. This series, from 10 years ago this month, is one of my favorites. Click on the date below the comic to see the entire two-week sequence on GoComics. I get criticism these days for not featuring Gene and Mary Lou and the low-country gang very often, and it is true I don’t. I will admit, those creative forays were fun and often produced good results. The foibles of Gene, et al, are very popular with certain of my readers. However, those readers are a subset, and evidence indicates more people want a daily dose of Arlo and Janis. And I suspect I have fallen into a familiar trap. Whether a writer or a singer or a cartoonist, every creative person who depends upon his or her craft for a living must walk a fine line between giving the people what they want and keeping material fresh. The problem is particularly acute in the age of “comments,” when voluminous and vociferous input from readers is available constantly. Actually, all my readers are important to me, and this so far is something of an excuse. More to the point, I began to get a little overwhelmed with the coastal cast. Big changes and important twists in their lives deserved much attention, and I didn’t feel as if I had the time to do them justice. As a result, nothing really seemed to happen. I did step away, but this is all on me, really. It’s my job as the cartoonist to solve this sort of problem, and I have been negligent. However, all this talk recently has gotten my juices flowing a bit. To be continued…