Aug 2nd 2010 06:49 am But how do you feel?
Well, that was quite a party last week! We have some interesting things planned for the coming weeks, too, but I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m moving a little slow this morning. After the long trip down memory lane, I thought I’d post an old cartoon from the more recent past, this date in 2006, to be exact. The kind of back-and-forth dialog exhibited here is rare in comics these days. That’s one of the things I like about the old-style, four-panel layout. It facilitates dialog. I don’t think anyone was better at it than Walt Kelly, with Pogo.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
109 Responses to “But how do you feel?”
Symply Fargone on 02 Aug 2010 at 6:58 am #
Today’s A ‘n J with gene and Meg reminds me of how my Mom tells me that I and my nephew are just like my father. Gene seems for the first time to “my recollection” to show an Arlo side to his humor. The circle continues and I am Symply Fargone.
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 02 Aug 2010 at 7:04 am #
Regarding the old strip, my wife and I have had several conversations like this. However there is a fine line between being cute and being annoying. I guess it depends on the tone of her response as to whether I continue with this type of dialog. Usually it ends up with a “My Cousin Vinny” conversation and one of us says the “%$#!! thing is broken”.
Steve from Richmond on 02 Aug 2010 at 7:09 am #
Pogo – Friday the 13th was on a Tuesday last month but this month we’re back on a Friday. I never quite understood what they meant when they noted that Friday the 13th was on a different day. Been so long. And didn’t someone once try to revive it?
Meg on 02 Aug 2010 at 7:35 am #
“Friday the 13th” was just what (Albert, I think) always called the 13th. He was triskaidekaphobic, I guess. I still use that line though. Kelly’s chillun tried to revive it but gave in to the reality of smaller and smaller comics.
Kelly was great, but don’t sell yourself short, Mr J. I feel like I’m reading two voices when I read your strip. And I am still catching up. You got me started with your links last week and I think I have close to 8000 strips to catch up on!
I like the name of the little girl.
Bill in Paducah on 02 Aug 2010 at 8:15 am #
Love the back and forth – check out this Kelly example:
http://whirledofkelly.blogspot.com/2010/08/lormee-lov-duck.html
Read it while I was skipping Sunday School yesterday…
Lost in A**2 on 02 Aug 2010 at 8:19 am #
Some day, I have to find the ‘complete Pogo.’ I don’t know if it has been published yet. I remember the strip fondly. IIRC, it being dropped occasioned my first letter to the editor of a newspaper.
My two favourite quotes from that strip are the one about the 13th, and, “We have met the enemy. and he is us.”
debbie on 02 Aug 2010 at 9:28 am #
Bill in P: missed you Sunday.
Meg: Had to look up the word triskaidekaphobic.
sideburns on 02 Aug 2010 at 10:27 am #
Albert didn’t have a problem with Friday the Thirteenth but Churchy LaFemme did. To him, every month has a Friday the Thirteenth, even if it doesn’t land on Friday.
Boise Ed on 02 Aug 2010 at 10:27 am #
Walt Kelly was the absolute best!
f on 02 Aug 2010 at 11:08 am #
Unlike Meg, above, I only have about 4,000 strips to catch up on. Guess what I did far too much of over the weekend? I also did some yardwork, did something terrible to my back, and today I’m lying on the couch, trying very hard not to move. I’m turning 50 in a few months–is this what’s in store for me? Bah. I think I got into some poison ivy, too. Humbug.
But enough of my complaining. Congratulations on 25 years, and best wishes for many, many more.
Floyd in Nashville on 02 Aug 2010 at 12:04 pm #
Of course, as soon as Pogo was mentioned, the first thought that immediately flashed to mind was:
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Which was immediately followed by a bit of verse which still stands as one of my favorites:
“Deck us all with Boston Charlie,
Walla Walla, Wash, and Kalamazoo!
Nora’s freezin’ on the trolley,
Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo! ”
I used to look forward to that reprint every Christmas.
Meg on 02 Aug 2010 at 12:59 pm #
I remember Howland (yes, definitely Howland) getting bit twice by a baby critter and saying “how can I be so stupid when I is so smart?”, another like I use from time to time.
When I was a kid, Pogo was the only strip I skipped because the text was hard to read. Then I made the effort. Then I bought every Pogo book I could find! Alas, my children aren’t interested. They think Pearls Before Swine is artwork.
Meg on 02 Aug 2010 at 1:00 pm #
By the way, that last post was prompted by this:
http://comics.com/arlo&janis/1999-12-04/
Tom in Glendora, CA on 02 Aug 2010 at 2:01 pm #
Lost in A**2 – you can’t find a single book that has all of Walt Kelly’s work. There’s a whole bunch of them. I’ve got 40 books plus figurines, cups, posters, printer sheets. Can you tell I’m a Pogo fan? Don’t have the Pogomobile or the record though, but I do have the Viewmaster!
‘sho nuff’
Mary in Ohio on 02 Aug 2010 at 3:18 pm #
Today’s strip is perfect in capturing the delight of little kids in humor. In a few years Meg won’t want to be reminded that she EVER thought it funny, but right now, hearing it every day is as comforting in its own way as being tucked in every night.
Mark in Boston on 02 Aug 2010 at 3:31 pm #
Pogo … where my father picked up the line he often used when making a phone call:
“Hello! Is this the party to whom I am speaking?”
Ceolaf on 02 Aug 2010 at 3:41 pm #
I’m looking at some old strips, from last week’s postings.
I’ve come across March 4, 1999, and find myself a little stunned. I’ve been reading A+J since I can remember (since it got added to the Washington Post?), but I don’t recall anything like panel 3, with Janis dancing while singing, “Wastin’ away again…”
I’ve got to say, I love this strip, and though I find myself givingup on most comic strips, I just think that A+J says so much. And that panel just shocked me. I thought I knew you, man.
Ceolaf on 02 Aug 2010 at 3:43 pm #
I think it might be the sense of movement. Your style to capture the moment, not the movement. You’ve got people in poses, using their static body language to symbolize movement.
But in that panel, you tried to communicate the movement much more directly. It’s interesting, given how unusual it is for you. It really works well, in context.
Nonny on 02 Aug 2010 at 3:52 pm #
Jimmy-Thanks again for last week’s extravaganza! It was the best!
CIDU Bill on 02 Aug 2010 at 6:45 pm #
Today’s new comic reminded me of this one: http://comics.com/arlo&janis/1996-11-22 — only now Gene’s the “dad.”
CIDU Bill on 02 Aug 2010 at 6:48 pm #
(Isn’t it impressive how many of us have so much of the strip’s 25-year run committed to memory? We’re like Trekkies)
Rick in Shermantown, Ohio on 02 Aug 2010 at 6:50 pm #
Talking of old strips reminds me of this:
I will tell the plain truth but on a higher plane.
Loved that strip.
emeritus minnesota biologist on 02 Aug 2010 at 8:44 pm #
Jimmy:
This last week has been incredible, and, I imagine, a lot of work. Twenty-five years of real class. Congratulations.
Your “can see our deck from their kitchen window” reminds me of the much more involved series in 9 Chickweed Lane, where Edda and Amos are espied and photographed “rampant on a Bösendorfer” in their hotel room in Brussels (I think). The Twin Cities Star and Tribune found Brooke McEldowney a bit rich for their taste, perhaps, and replaced 9CL with junk. Sad.
Bill in Paducah on 02 Aug 2010 at 10:28 pm #
Lost in A**2: A few years ago, Fantagraphics was talking about publishing the complete set. There website now says that they had some problems but are now anticipating a 2010 summer or fall release.
Tom in Glendora, CA: I had the record at one time and also made a cassette of it – can’t find either of them now. I did score the Oxydol figures a few years ago.
debbie: You kind of freaked me out with that ‘missed you Sunday’. Couldn’t figure out how you knew, and thought maybe you were revealing yourself as my friend Debbie from church, who had already texted me that she had missed me Sunday. Then I went back and read my original post. duhh. funny though.
E on 03 Aug 2010 at 1:46 am #
Thank you, Jimmy Johnson (that’s an old Quaker way of greeting).
Just…
Thank you.
debbie on 03 Aug 2010 at 4:19 am #
Bill in P: Betcha asked Debbie too! couldn’t resist!
debbie on 03 Aug 2010 at 4:53 am #
(that’ll teach YOU to miss Sunday school!)
Mark in Boston on 03 Aug 2010 at 9:03 pm #
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Songs+of+the+Pogo&ih=9_6_0_1_0_1_0_0_0_1.47_91&fsc=-1
Songs of the Pogo: available not only on CD reissue but as downloadable music tracks.
buzz on 04 Aug 2010 at 1:19 am #
You better not be taking us into Funkiverse or Foobiverse territory. A&J doesn’t always have to be light and silly, and in fact I kind the way it’s starting to morph from gag-a-day into a multi-generational story But. Do. Not. Get. Heavy.
Serious we can take, but Batiuk and Johnston have already broken our hearts (and not in a good way).
Bob, near Mark on 04 Aug 2010 at 4:10 am #
Mark in Boston,
I already have it.
And to paraphrase Kelly’s “Lines Upon a Tranquil Brow,”
“Break out the cigars, this life is for squirrels.
I’m off to the drugstore to whistle at girls.”
Meg on 04 Aug 2010 at 4:37 am #
4 Aug: I’m not liking today’s strip. I hope I’ll have changed my mind in a few days.
Bill in Paducah on 04 Aug 2010 at 5:12 am #
Bob, near Mark
One of my favorites – I’ve used it as my FB status from time to time.
DGoosE on 04 Aug 2010 at 7:05 am #
Thanks for the recycled strips of A&J. They have been much enjoyed. And for the mention of Walt Kelly , one of my life’s heros. I too am lucky enough to have grown up when the strip was in the paper everyday. I adored Pogo, had a crush on Gary Moore because I thought he looked like Pogo. So of course I bought the books when I could find them in used book stores. I read them to my son for bedtime stories! He tells the story that because of this he was the only student in a PoliSci or History class in college that knew the state capital of Louisiana (We were not from LA). When the prof asked the question, he said “Roogey Batoon!” I mean Baton Rouge.” referencing the character who was the manager of the Louisiana Perches, 3 gal singers named Flim, Flam & Flo who lived in a bucket. Pogo and Howland stuck their head in under water to hear the act, then I think Albert drank the bucket. Thanks for giving me a reason to remember the good times.
“Nothing difficult is ever easy.” — Pogo
Symply Fargone on 04 Aug 2010 at 7:25 am #
Ahhhh! Tomorrow can not come fast enough now! Hoping(I HAVE to be correct here) that Meg is not like me and Symply Fargone!
Jim in southwest Illannoy on 04 Aug 2010 at 7:33 am #
Jimmy, I hope you’re not going to let something bad happen to Meg. Please have Gene save her. I know this is a comic strip and not real life, but your fans aren’t ready to deal with Meg drowning.
Jason on 04 Aug 2010 at 8:12 am #
Agreed. Today’s strip is very uncomfortable. I hope Gene saves her and their bond becomes even stronger.
emeritus minnesota biologist on 04 Aug 2010 at 8:16 am #
Ditto. But now I have to look up Funkiverse, Foobiverse, and Batiuk and Johnston.
Rkieck on 04 Aug 2010 at 8:28 am #
“I Go POGO” (Remember when Walt had him running for president? I still have campaign buttons). And … agree about Meg. Not sure this wonderful strip is where we need to deal with tragedy! The rest of the newspaper already has a surplus.
buzz on 04 Aug 2010 at 8:39 am #
@emeritus — FUNKY WINKERBEAN, created by Tom Batiuk, is the Funkiverse. Batiuk is suffering from prostate cancer and his strip in recent years has become very dark and troubling, filled with physically and emotionally maimed characters shunting from one miserable catastrophe to another. He spent the better part of 3 years slowly killing one of his characters from cancer. Death and suffering are suitable subjects for comic strips, but Batiuk’s vision borders on the sadistic.
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, created by Lynn Johnston, is the Foobiverse. FBOFW was at one time one of the very best strips ever, and when Johnston allowed Farley, the family dog to die saving April from drowning, the strip reached a heart-wrenching moment for millions of readers [note to Jimmy: Do >not< let Gene die while saving Meg!]. It also jumped the shark at that point and, as Johnston’s 2nd marriage disintegrated, she tok a good, realistic, fun strip and turned into into a rather ham-fisted hunk of fan fiction where everything worked out perfectly in a saccharine, fairy-tale manner. When it finally ended in August 2008, it had succeeded in repelling millions of previously devoted readers.
More detailed extrapolations of these ‘verses as well as the Luanniverse, the Archiverse, and others can be found at the Comics Curmudgeon:
http://joshreads.com/
http://www.joshreads.com/forums/
Jerry on 04 Aug 2010 at 9:31 am #
Let’s not burn our bridges until we cross them. We don’t know for sure that she’s in the water although there is obviously that possibility. We praise the reality of A & J and the sad fact is that bad things happen to good people in the real world.
Dave on 04 Aug 2010 at 11:21 am #
I agree with Jason and Jim, etc. There is enough stress in my life and in the world that we didn’t need Meg to fall into the water.
CIDU Bill on 04 Aug 2010 at 12:34 pm #
Let’s keep in mind that, like Mary Lou, Meg has lived her whole life by the water. She could probably swim before she could talk.
Mary in Ohio on 04 Aug 2010 at 2:54 pm #
CIDU Bill – good point, and I hope you are correct! I was thinking along those lines as I reread the strip this morning. Scary at our age to realize how important our “imaginary friends” still are! (Of course, in a non-technical sense, for all we KNOW, we are ALL “imaginary friends” here on this board!)
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 04 Aug 2010 at 3:02 pm #
As long as Janis or Arlo or Gene don’t wake up in the shower and this has been all a “dream” sequence. That would be “jumping the shark”.
Mary in Ohio on 04 Aug 2010 at 3:13 pm #
My land, read the comments on comics.com if you think WE might be a little “emotionally involved.”
debbie on 04 Aug 2010 at 3:26 pm #
Duhh! Mary Lou is way too good a mother, Meg could swim before she could walk (they DO live next to the ocean) but Gene is fixing to get a REALLY big scare and well he should.
James Pollock on 04 Aug 2010 at 3:41 pm #
Lynn Johnston put a child in the water and then killed off the (much-beloved-by-fans) family pet in the rescue.
Where’s Ludwig?
Debbie in Alabama on 04 Aug 2010 at 3:48 pm #
Jimmy, I just know Meg can swim. She grew up at the beach!
Ken from Framingham on 04 Aug 2010 at 6:59 pm #
I’ve been absent from commenting for a long time, though my streak of reading dates back to the first few months, I believe… today’s strip was well-turned, understated and the most terrifying I can recall!
sideburns on 04 Aug 2010 at 7:53 pm #
I can assure you, Mary, that I’m not imaginary. If I were, I wouldn’t have so many aches and pains. You, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about.
Mark in Boston on 04 Aug 2010 at 7:59 pm #
But does Gene know that Meg can swim? Can Gene swim? Is he going to jump in after Meg? Jimmy, don’t do this to us!
Jim in SE Mississippi on 04 Aug 2010 at 8:20 pm #
Relax. JJ knows his readership entirely too well to let anything bad happen to Meg.
I hope.
James Pollock on 04 Aug 2010 at 8:32 pm #
I wonder if it is significant that the water in the fourth panel is black?
E on 05 Aug 2010 at 4:56 am #
Many folks on comics.com have commented that living by the water does NOT guarantee knowing how to swim.
Randall on 05 Aug 2010 at 7:38 am #
Get the child out of the water! Terrifying is not a descriptive work I want to use with my buddy Arlo.
Neal in Bahstawn on 05 Aug 2010 at 9:38 am #
I believe we’re about to witness one of those turning points in Gene’s life. It’s the one where you stop living the fantasy life and come to terms with what awaits you in the ‘real’ world. Up until now, Gene has had it both ways: he gets all the benefits of that ‘instant family’ without the obligations that come with it. That’s about to change. He’ll rescue Meg, but he was also the one who wasn’t paying attention when she fell into the water. She could have drowned… that’s going to be evident both to Gene and to Mary Lou. From Mary Lou’s perspective, it raises the question of whether Gene is trustworthy. From Gene’s perspective, it’s the realization that, while he was shooting the breeze with the shrimp guy, someone entrusted to his care came close to dying. Is he really ready for that level of responsibility? If he finds that he is ready (and if Mary Lou can trust him), you’re going to see wedding bells. But it’s just as likely that he’ll realize that he’s not yet ready for this ‘adult’ life and its attendant obligations… in which case it’s back to college in the fall. Either way, he’s going to have learned about the perils of becoming an adult.
Dave in MA on 05 Aug 2010 at 9:47 am #
Neal in Bahstawn (I’m in Quincy at the moment, BTW)…. you have a very insightful mind as to what JJ may be planning….. Let’s hope that you’re correct.
St. Paul Rob on 05 Aug 2010 at 11:26 am #
And here it s “Shark Week” too!
huntch on 05 Aug 2010 at 11:27 am #
This is not mary worth or judge parker – it is not even foob – i get to deal with real life issues in real life – i have found the recent run of issue comics (and it is a comic, not a novel) to be depressing, and not all that interesting
Burns on 05 Aug 2010 at 11:48 am #
Neal…excellent thoughts.
Just a couple more comments: 1) Despite the fact that I still cry thinking about that strip in “FBOFW” where Lynn Johnston had Farley die saving April, it was one of her best sequences EVER. And like you say, it is real life. 2) Sorry to say but the outcome is already decided and sitting somewhere in the syndicator’s computer. Unless (Jimmy! You wouldn’t!) he decided to make it a cliffhanger!
redagainPatti on 05 Aug 2010 at 11:53 am #
Ok, !!! First my parents and now my own children (30 years old & plus) have a rule around water and boats. Life jackets on when ONE foot is off the land and on the dock. Even if you are NOT getting into the boat.
JJ, that would be a good rule to share in the near future in your work.
Your feet or any part of the body can be trapped under the dock and other parts of the boats. There are lines and such wrapped around things under the water and if you fall in, you could get trapped UNDER the water. Even if you can swim like a fish, it is of no help if you can not get back to the surface.
James Pollock on 05 Aug 2010 at 1:10 pm #
Even for people who swim well, problems can arise because 1) wet clothing can be very heavy, and most people who swim don’t do it when fully clothed. 2) cold water can rob endurance. 3) tides and currents can be unexpectedly strong. 4) there can be things in the water that are not seen (when I was about 2 years old, a child was killed on the coast when struck by a log in the surf. I had at least 2 summers where I wasn’t allowed to go into the surf at all when we went to the beach.) 5) they’re in the harbor, and the ships and boats probably aren’t looking for a swimmer in the water.
All that said, I suspect that this is just a scary moment for Gene (and us). Every parent has had them, that moment of panic that happens when you don’t know for sure that your child is safe where your mind runs through endless horrible possibilities. In only a few rare cases is anything like the worst imaginings true. Totally frightening when it happens, but afterwards you can laugh at how your imagination ran wild.
Mary in Ohio on 05 Aug 2010 at 2:55 pm #
Sideburns – no, the aches and pains prove that I too am real.
Maybe today’s (Thursday’s) strip gives a bit of insight into where JJ is headed. But all we can do is guess and hope! (Actually, nothing this traumatic has happened in “Mary Worth” since her stalker killed himself driving drunk several years ago.)
We’ve all done dumb/irresponsible things and been amazed-afterward-at our survival or at the outcome. I’m sure most of us over 30 (welllllllll over 30) have experienced MANY of them. It’s a part of the learning process, once it’s been survived.
Steve the Rigger on 05 Aug 2010 at 7:32 pm #
I am enjoying this exciting turn toward the dramatic.
The reason that I became so enamored with JJ’s work so many years ago is that in addition to being very amusing on such a consistent basis, he occasionally touches a nerve or triggers a memory that is poignant and meaningful even while not being cheerful.
I doubt very much that I’ll be disappointed in the outcome of the latest twist.
Jeff in Ann Arbor on 05 Aug 2010 at 7:57 pm #
“I doubt very much that I’ll be disappointed in the outcome of the latest twist.”
I’m 95% with you, Steve. It’s the other 5% that is making me squirm!
Regardless, there goes Gene’s cell phone!
Jerry on 05 Aug 2010 at 8:50 pm #
When Jimmy Smits died on NYPD Blue I was glued to the tv and they said later that the other cast members had a very difficult time with the scene. I don’t mind telling you that I can shed a tear watching a sad movie on occasion. We do get attached to fictional characters and if we didn’t then we wouldn’t read novels or watch movies or television. Most of us continue to lead a rich fantasy life into our adulthood and find that we are better for it. Those who go too far in either direction are probably on medication along with the great many of us who are on legal or illegal mood altering substances also. As many times as I’ve seen Gone With the Wind I still love to say Clark Gable’s parting line along with him. In the case of Meg we frankly do give a dog gone and I don’t see a problem with it. By the by, Sunday’s comics had a scene in another very popular strip that I have to object to somewhere so I’ll do it here. Hey Gary, I’ve always supported you, but flying blood and guts have no place in the comics. You’ve lost me for good.
TruckerRon on 05 Aug 2010 at 10:44 pm #
It was over 40 years ago. After fiddling with the motor and the fuel lines for an hour (and putting away several beers in the process) my father and uncle got the outboard motor boat going and took off across the lake to buy more food and gas. They didn’t hear my 4 year-old cousin Mark running out on the dock, screaming, “Take me too, Daddy!” They didn’t see him skid those last few feet of the dock into the lake. I did. I heard his mother’s piercing scream from the cabin where she, my mother, and my brother were playing a “Go Fish.” I did.
I ran out to the end of the dock and dropped to my knees. I could see Mark looking up through the water at me, his face just a few inches below the water. I snatched him up from the water and held him as he cried. This event ended well because I was in the right place, paying attention, and reacting instantly. Had I been in the cabin playing cards with the others, I doubt the day could have ended as well.
I hope this event in A&J has as happy an ending.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 06 Aug 2010 at 1:06 am #
That little youngster has a mighty big voice!!
I do hope Gene got to the ring….
JDWalley on 06 Aug 2010 at 1:15 am #
Concerning the 8/6 strip — boy, who didn’t see THAT coming?
James Pollock on 06 Aug 2010 at 2:37 am #
OK, it’s taken a while, but I’ve now gone through everything comics.com has from March of 96 through today (there are some dates that mysteriously get skipped over, some cartoons that come up missing, and one that appears on the wrong date… and I’m not talking about the reruns, I mean there’s a Sunday comic that appears twice only three weeks apart.)
There are some jokes that get re-used. (Not complaining… I don’t think I could come up with a different joke every day for 25 years, and I like to think of myself as having a ready wit. I never would have noticed if I hadn’t gone through nearly 15 years’ worth of cartoons in only a couple of weeks.)
I looked on Amazon to see if the new book was listed yet, so I could put it on my wish list. It isn’t, but prices on the old book have dropped… the lowest offered price is now ONLY $384, down from a high of over $500.
Meg on 06 Aug 2010 at 4:29 am #
Aug 6: Superb!
I usually read the comics in order. Today I jumped to A&J first.
Superb! A great laugh and worth the (thankfully short) arc.
Unless…. Nah. Gene’ll grab the ring. The conversations between Gene – Meg – Meg’s mom (forgot her name!) will be priceless. Without Gene, Arlo grows up and the strip kinda ends.
Rick in Shermantown, Ohio on 06 Aug 2010 at 4:55 am #
Meg:
You actually think that Arlo will grow up?
Evidently, you’re not around men all that much, are you?
debbie on 06 Aug 2010 at 4:57 am #
my last post (and I posted the same thing twice) is still missing-oh well!
but, I think it’s time Gene learned to swim (ah, BETTER.)
debbie on 06 Aug 2010 at 4:59 am #
Gene CAN swim but Joel looks shocked!
James Pollock on 06 Aug 2010 at 5:11 am #
I am surprised that Meg got out of the water so fast, given that both harbor docks and working boats usually don’t have an easy way to get out of the water (since you shouldn’t be IN the water in the harbor in the first place. The harbor is not a good place to go for a swim.)
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 06 Aug 2010 at 6:39 am #
Wonder if Clarence Peabody (the Angel First Class from “Its a Wonderful Life” will jump in and save Gene. Funny how we all were 95% sure how this would end. I agree that this event will alter the relationship, hopefully for the better.
Yes Jeff, there goes the cell phone. Hopefully Gene does not have an expensive one, but I bet Meg’s folks will help pay for it.
Poor Janis will realize that her little Gene has REALLY grown up. Relax, Janis. It is a wonderful feeling.
David in Oshkosh on 06 Aug 2010 at 7:09 am #
Great visual punch line in the last frame! Very good timing!
Thanks!
Symply Fargone on 06 Aug 2010 at 7:28 am #
Yeah I knew it all along…(yeah right!), feeling much better and so glad that Meg is not Symply Fargone like me…..
Den in MN on 06 Aug 2010 at 9:08 am #
Jimmy,
Thanks for this interesting and speculation-inducing sequence. Please ignore the detractors, I for one enjoy a bit of drama with my humor; another mode in which Arlo & Janis parallels life!
Gerry from Rochester Hills on 06 Aug 2010 at 10:29 am #
Dang it Jimmy, you did it to me again. I was doing the same thing as “Den in MN”, speculating on what might happen to Meg and its impact to Gene and Mary Lou, hoping for nothing bad to happen but preparing for the worst. And then the last frame hits and it is fantastic, the visual of Captain Joel and Meg’s punchline. Now I have to clean off my laptop screen and keyboard.
Floyd in Nashville on 06 Aug 2010 at 10:47 am #
JJ – regrding today’s strip – PRICELESS!!!
debbie – I *think* Joel’s shock is more due to Meg’s voice than Gene’s swimming.
buzz on 06 Aug 2010 at 10:53 am #
=whew!=
Mirjana on 06 Aug 2010 at 11:58 am #
Awesome.
Trish in GA on 06 Aug 2010 at 12:16 pm #
Gotta say, I loved today’s strip! Made me laugh out loud. Thanks for a very funny Friday opener to my day. I had no doubt that you’d pull a funny twist on this little vignette and you sure didn’t disappoint me.
I grew up with boats as part of my life and unlike a number of posts I’ve been skimming mostly on the comic’s site, everyone I knew was an adequate swimmer. If memory serves more than a few folks in those days landed in the water (not always by their own clumsiness) and had to test those skills. I laughed then, too.
Robin G in GA on 06 Aug 2010 at 1:34 pm #
*whew* indeed. And a great final panel. And now I can’t wait for tomorrow.
Quemegosum on 06 Aug 2010 at 1:56 pm #
I am back after two weeks and read all that has transpired. How do I feel?
Much better. Thanks for your humor. Laughter makes life so much easier. I hope Gene gets through the series that you are now producing. Again thanks.
Mary in Ohio on 06 Aug 2010 at 2:29 pm #
I usually don’t comment on JJ’s artistry because someone else beats me to it, but today’s strip is, in that sense, a gem. All the action in the first panel, Capt Joel’s grim determination in the middle and the full (I believe in animation it’s called a “spit take”)reaction in the last panel as Meg chimes in – beautiful. Of course the apparent outcome makes it even moreso.
Tomorrow being Saturday, we may see a complete jump from this story line – remember how JJ has told us some papers don’t publish Saturday so some series are only 5 days long?
Mary in Ohio on 06 Aug 2010 at 2:56 pm #
Oh dear – I fell into the moderation pit. Well, I loved today’s strip!
debbie on 06 Aug 2010 at 5:34 pm #
Floyd in Nashville: duhh
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 07 Aug 2010 at 3:43 am #
Loved Gene’s reaction in Saturday’s strip
Robin G in GA on 07 Aug 2010 at 6:52 am #
Look at Gene’s expression today–NOW let the speculation begin!
sandcastler on 07 Aug 2010 at 8:43 am #
Jimmy, excellent story telling this week; strayed from the usual but well scripted.
Jim in SE Mississippi on 07 Aug 2010 at 9:06 am #
Since this blog began, I can’t recall a “real time” series creating as much interest as “Meg in the water,” judging by the number and intensity of the comments it has generated. Way to go, JJ!
And from the beginning of this arc, it’s been pretty obvious that, while Mary Lou may have hooked Gene, Meg is the one who set the hook.
buzz on 07 Aug 2010 at 10:55 am #
Perfect ending!
Bob, near Mark on 07 Aug 2010 at 12:15 pm #
buzz,
Perfect ending? As Yogi said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
Who knows (other than JJ) what may come next?
Mary in Ohio on 07 Aug 2010 at 2:28 pm #
Yes – Gene’s expressions today are a study. (How – and why – did he keep his shoes on? Or why did he go in with them on? If Cap’n Joel had gone in with those boots on, he would be bottom walking like a hard-hat diver.)
JJ has been studiously avoiding us this week. It will be fun to see what he has to say when he (pardon the pun) surfaces.
My Friday post is still in moderation. We will see if it’s all the parentheticals.
Tom (Somewhere in Georgia) on 07 Aug 2010 at 3:48 pm #
This week’s story is a good one! I sure am glad that it turned out so well. Hope Meg’s mom has a calm attitude…
redagainPatti on 07 Aug 2010 at 5:05 pm #
ok.. thank goodness!…. lifejackets… JJ, chance to talk about life jackets…. please?
Steve the Rigger on 07 Aug 2010 at 5:51 pm #
Mary, I think the last time I fell into the dreaded “Well of Moderation” was when I quoted a passage from a book that I got from another site.
I know that I used quotation marks. I may have used parenthesis marks too. I don’t remember.
About the kid falling into the water.
Seriously, I think some of you guys were not showing much faith in old Jimmy.
If he had killed somebody off, you can rest assured that it would have been for a very good reason.
Meg on 08 Aug 2010 at 4:57 am #
James wrote “I am surprised that Meg got out of the water so fast, given that both harbor docks and working boats usually don’t have an easy way to get out of the water”. I love that JJ saw that detail and “there’s a ladder”. I guess Meg was on that boat way more than Gene was. Maybe it wasn’t the first time she was in the water.
I also found it interesting that JJ pointed a lot of us at this discussion list just a week before pulling this. I’ve never been here before the 25th anniversary series!
And Steve ~ I remember watching a series called “Blake’s 7″ many years ago. One of the “7″ died for no good reason. That was unique and shocking. If I ever write a book (OK, unlikely) someone will die for no good reason (although there may turn out to be a reason no-one understood at the time).
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 08 Aug 2010 at 12:37 pm #
There is “no good reason” for going into moderation. I woke up on Saturday at 5:00 AM and just posted that I loved Gene’s reaction and it is still in limbo. No problem.
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 08 Aug 2010 at 12:38 pm #
We’ll try it once more but with a different email:
There is “no good reason” for going into moderation. I woke up on Saturday at 5:00 AM and just posted that I loved Gene’s reaction and it is still in limbo. No problem.
Boise Ed on 08 Aug 2010 at 12:48 pm #
Meg: I suspect the fatal disease on “Blake’s 7″ was “contract dispute.”
As for today’s Sunday strip, that’s a great rule of thumb, but doesn’t much apply to those of us who tend to watch via DVR and speed through the ads.
James Pollock on 08 Aug 2010 at 1:12 pm #
(real) Meg, I’m pretty sure that (cartoon) Meg hasn’t gone into the water off Joel’s boat before, or he would have reacted differently than he did. For one thing, he would have kept a closer eye on her, even if Gene didn’t, if she’d fallen off his boat into the water before.
Mary in Ohio on 08 Aug 2010 at 3:13 pm #
Wow – great timing for BOTH Megs!
catshoes on 08 Aug 2010 at 3:44 pm #
I did not like this story line, even with the ending. It seems to me somehow beneath JJ to write something like this (a backhanded compliment– his writing is so much better than every one else’s). One effect is had one me was to get me to read all the comments every day over on comics.com. It also left me wondering if JJ reads those comments as he does these?
Kat on 08 Aug 2010 at 11:04 pm #
It is not often that a comic strip makes me cry. When I saw her say “you jumped in the water to save me,” I did.
DanJ on 09 Aug 2010 at 1:18 pm #
Quite a wonderful Silver Anniversary celebration. Thanks, Jimmy!
Debbie in Alabama on 09 Aug 2010 at 4:59 pm #
Transitioning? Great choice. There no doubt will be some “transitioning” in Gene and Mary Lou’s relationship too, but I think it will Gene-sided in the change.