Jun 19th 2012 08:15 am Feeling good

Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
Comic strips have a unique relationship with time. Action alone might unfold slowly in a comic strip. For example, if the characters are out for a stroll, the cartoonist has up to four panels to depict the process. The characters can be drawn walking over hill and dale, and readers might assume this activity covers a half hour or more. However, if the creator introduces dialog, things slow down considerably. For further example, if Arlo and Janis are on a walk, as they often are, and Arlo says something, Janis responds, and this exchange hopefully leads to a snappy punchline. Badabing! This action, in real time, would take no longer than the time it takes the reader to read the comic, perhaps less if he is a slow reader.

When true conversation is introduced, things can slow down to a crawl. If Arlo and Janis are seated around the kitchen table discussing a weighty situation, it can take a week to have a dialog that, in reality, would last maybe 10 minutes. Readers are tempted to think, “They’ve been having this conversation for days,” when in reality they’d have been talking over one cup of coffee. Keep this in mind as you read the current Arlo & Janis strips.

Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

73 Responses to “Feeling good”

  1. Burns on 19 Jun 2012 at 8:40 am #

    And then we have the “Groundhog day” strips. I’m thinking of Spiderman, where a scene might stretch over a month of strips which each strip repeating a lot of what went on in the last week and adding maybe 1/2 panel’s worth of new material. I suppose that is important to do if the subject is complex, but cummon…Spiderman? Anyway, I’ve never had any problem with Jimmy’s pacing in A&J. It always seems completely natural either slow or fast.

  2. Mindy on 19 Jun 2012 at 8:44 am #

    Actually, Jimmy, I think you might well have revealed the fact that the actual production of the strip is, often, rather arduous. I don’t know if that was your intent, really, but I can’t help but suspect that is what was behind your commentary. As vanilla as it might sound, what comes to mind here is the comment, “Keep up the good work?” We all love it, otherwise we’d be elsewhere, no?

  3. Bob, near Mark on 19 Jun 2012 at 9:02 am #

    An outdated concept (and a new name for the boat?)…
    “Dowry” :)

  4. Symply Fargone on 19 Jun 2012 at 9:05 am #

    @Ruth Anne in Winter park,

    Glad you liked it, have been gorging myself too much on it, but it makes a great dessert or breakfast! Symply going to the gym now.

  5. Neal in Bahstawn on 19 Jun 2012 at 10:51 am #

    I think readers understand the space/time continuum as it applies to comic strips. In Doonesbury, the rehearsal dinner took a week to unfold. The morning of the wedding has been two days so far and apparently has several more to run. We are not blithering idiots. Idiots, perhaps, but not blithering; or at least not most of us. And, if we don’t comprehend that this boat-buying business is going to take a while, then we should turn our attention to something more manageable like ‘Zippy’, which has not been funny for more than 30 years.

  6. Judy in Conroe on 19 Jun 2012 at 10:53 am #

    Yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the War of 1812. I know, I know, I should have said something yesterday, but I was busy with an event in The Woodlands. The War of 1812, also known as the “Second War of Independence,” is a part of history that was not covered very much in my schooling, and I think it is even less taught in schools today. Take this opportunity to learn a little more about the beginnings of our country. And be thankful for the patriots, both back then and since, who make possible the freedoms we enjoy in this great land.

    If you hear bells ringing, or sirens blowing, or a cannon firing, or see a parade or one of the tall ships, it just might be another celebration – join in!

  7. Mindy on 19 Jun 2012 at 11:02 am #

    Judy in Conroe, if I hear bells ringing, sirens blowing or cannon firing…I suspect it’s the opening of a new hunting season.

    A guy named Niven, first name unknown, wrote a very entertaining and educational work of fiction about that war, very curiously named “1812,” which I noted in the bookstore turned a lot of people off because it was so “dated.” Go figure.

  8. Galliglo in Ohio on 19 Jun 2012 at 11:07 am #

    I just reviewed the last week or so of the current strips, and realized anew the masterful unfolding of the story. We probably have not commented enough. I, for one, am not inpatient for the resolution… I am savoring the journey.

  9. Neal in Bahstawn on 19 Jun 2012 at 11:19 am #

    Judy, yesterday’s Wall Street Journal noted the bicentennial and carried a story – both fascinating and funny – about how the war is viewed in the U.S. and Canada. Here’s the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404577468423362089922.html.

  10. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 19 Jun 2012 at 11:43 am #

    Did the winner of the War of 1812 get 1813 with 1814 thrown in?

  11. redagainPatti on 19 Jun 2012 at 11:43 am #

    Darling Judy in Conroe,
    I happen to own a cannon ball that was fired down in New Orleans… I used it as an example within my classroom to talk about how important it was for the USA military to develop the Internet in order to have better communications with their men in the field. Both sides down in that battle of New Orleans did not know we had come to peace with each other… so the fighting went on… and a few of us do use history to make a point. I do wish there were more…

    Sweet Symply Fargone,
    Thanks for sharing how to make the blueberry cake. I had missed your directions the first time they were posted.. but this old dog knew how to take your nick and the words “blueberry” and found them in our “The sound of music” post in here… by using the google.

  12. Judy in Conroe on 19 Jun 2012 at 11:44 am #

    Neal in Bahstawn – Great article! I have some Canadian friends and we agree that we will consider both the Canadians and the US Americans “winners” of that war. Certainly there was bravery in the face of aggression on both sides. We can be grateful that our countries have grown past the squabbling in our distant pasts, much as siblings can outgrow childish conflicts (although sometimes they momentarily rear their ugly heads).

  13. Judy in Conroe on 19 Jun 2012 at 11:49 am #

    Patti – thank goodness for teachers! How interesting that you have a cannonball from the Battle of New Orleans. I lived in a suburb of New Orleans for awhile and have been to the Chalmette Battlefield. It was amazing to see it. I sure wouldn’t have thought it a good place to fight a battle. Good thing the US won that battle, or it seems likely that Great Britain would have begun the war again.

  14. redagainPatti on 19 Jun 2012 at 11:59 am #

    Judy in Conroe,
    My daddy was born and raised down in New Orleans.. When work was done to build the oil plant down there… the ball was found… along with other stuff. The man passed it on to me when he found I had a bit of interest knock in my head concerning history and that I would run bits of stuff in while teaching math, computer skills, or writing.
    I wish I knew what became of him after the “storm of 2005″.

  15. phil in Missoula, MT on 19 Jun 2012 at 12:15 pm #

    In 1814, we took a little trip
    Down with Col Jackson to the mighty Mississip
    We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
    And there we met the British at the Battle of New Orleans.

    The story behind that song is actually pretty interesting
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleans

  16. Mark from Maine on 19 Jun 2012 at 12:26 pm #

    PBS just did a special on the War of 1812, with perspectives only from the US and Canada, none, really, from the British. Why? The British were dealing with a gent named Napoleon . . .

    My father wrote a book about the war, specifically in Washington, called “When They Burned the White House.” It’s out of print, but since the 200th anniversary of the burning is coming up in 2014, we’re trying to get an ebook published. I’m helping my mother, the owner of his rights, navigate the terrain. It’s a very interesting process. His agent also represents some 4-5ths of the C.S. Forester family’s estate, and the Forester family has started a “press” primarily for families of authors whose books are out of print. They’re considering publishing his entire back catalog. It’s called enetpress.com. Stay tuned.

    Here’s a quick review of “When They Burned the White House” if you’re interested: http://brianreads.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/when-they-burned-the-white-house/

  17. phil in Missoula, MT on 19 Jun 2012 at 12:27 pm #

    Here’s the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxB42cjHTGg with Johnny Horton. Johnny Cash also did a version some years later

  18. Ghost Rider 6 on 19 Jun 2012 at 12:28 pm #

    Judy: In the future, please endeavor to be more conscientious about informing of us these matters in a timely manner. :)

    Mindy: If they thought “1812” was dated, what would they think of the movie “One Million Years B.C.”?

    Oddly, we were talking in the office just this morning about how abysmally ignorant most young people are of history these days. Not to mention “ancient history,” which they apparently define as “anything that happened before I was born.”

  19. redagainPatti on 19 Jun 2012 at 12:36 pm #

    LOL Ghost Rider6….
    Thanks Phil,… was looking for that song!

  20. Whistling Rufus on 19 Jun 2012 at 12:45 pm #

    The birds are lovely in today’s strip. They look like terns rather than gulls.

  21. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 19 Jun 2012 at 1:43 pm #

    Whistling Rufus: The Byrds sang a song based on Scripture from the book of Ecclesiastes. It was called Tern, Tern Tern…or something like that.

  22. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 19 Jun 2012 at 2:32 pm #

    The birds in the 19 June strip are most probably Black Skimmers, p. 98-99 and map 87 in Peterson’s “A field guide to the birds”, 4th ed., 1980, Houghton Mifflin, Boston. [I wonder what fraction of HMCO's total worth comes from the Peterson field guides.]

  23. CW in 617 on 19 Jun 2012 at 2:50 pm #

    Earlier today, I walked past streets in the neighborhood named Perry, Lawrence, Erie and Hamilton (Niagara Street was renamed for a Vietnam-era vet). Every year, some of us get together to let our new neighbors know where these names came from; we have a pot-luck picnic as well. Quite nice.

  24. Tom from the Front Range on 19 Jun 2012 at 2:54 pm #

    @Mark from Maine:

    And after watching that PBS special, I’m amazed we aren’t eating our green peas off a knife or using wampum rather than the dollar. How we “won” that war is beyond me. Of course it is hard to call it winning when the borders were unchanged after the fighting. Well, we got a nice national anthem out of it.

  25. Mary in Ohio on 19 Jun 2012 at 3:57 pm #

    Mark from Maine – thanks for the info. I have found a lot of out-of-print gems available as e-books – everything from Civil war books to Fu Manchu stories by Sax Rohmer. Usually onl a couple of bucks, too!

  26. Mark in TTown on 19 Jun 2012 at 5:46 pm #

    Thanks for the Johnny Horton link. Did you know he did the song from the British viewpoint too? Same tune, and all. Without the War of 1812 Andrew Jackson would probably not have been president. It made his national reputation as a military commander.
    Mindy, I am disappointed that nobody picked up on my answer to you yesterday. Your question was “How do you cue a deer?”. My answer was, “over charcoal”. Likely most people just groaned though.

  27. Galliglo in Ohio on 19 Jun 2012 at 6:02 pm #

    Yes, Mark in TTown, we did… *sigh*

  28. Mindy on 19 Jun 2012 at 6:03 pm #

    [Grin] @ Mark in TTown.

  29. Mark from Maine on 19 Jun 2012 at 6:36 pm #

    Tom from the Front Range: Then there’s this old ditty -

    I eat my peas with honey
    I’ve done it all my life
    It’s the only way I know
    To keep them on my knife

  30. Ghost Rider 6 on 19 Jun 2012 at 7:28 pm #

    One definition of “cue” is a “long tapered shaft, used to drive the balls,” but I’m not going there.

  31. Mark in TTown on 19 Jun 2012 at 7:31 pm #

    For Mary in Ohio and anyone else looking for ebooks: http://openlibrary.org/

  32. Mike from Hartland on 19 Jun 2012 at 8:29 pm #

    I think it was the War of 1812 where we lost Toledo and gained the Upper Peninsula.

  33. Fred in NH on 19 Jun 2012 at 8:42 pm #

    Mark from Maine:

    Heh! The version I remember reading as a child was a little different:

    I eat my peas with honey,
    I’ve done it all my life.
    It makes them taste quite funny,
    but it keeps them on my knife!

  34. Lost in A**2 on 19 Jun 2012 at 9:03 pm #

    No, the Toledo War was a decade or two later. IIRC, Ohio had already been admitted to the Union. That State Up North was in the process of applying for admission. Wisconsin was the loser of that war. :)

  35. Bob, near Mark on 19 Jun 2012 at 9:12 pm #

    Another source for free ebooks:
    http://ereadernewstoday.com/category/free-kindle-books/

  36. Alyre on 20 Jun 2012 at 6:05 am #

    Today’s strip is a changing of the guard…..yes??

  37. Mr.Q on 20 Jun 2012 at 7:04 am #

    Jimmy,
    Take your time. All will be revealed as the artist intends.

  38. John in Richmond Texas on 20 Jun 2012 at 8:17 am #

    Is Ludwig in a kennel?

  39. phil in Missoula, MT on 20 Jun 2012 at 8:43 am #

    Good point, John…could Ludwig become a ship’s cat?

  40. Symply Fargone on 20 Jun 2012 at 8:49 am #

    @Mark in TTown

    I giggled for a while, sorry i did not acknowledge your joke….I’d ude it!

    @ Redagain Patty,

    Glad you liked it, haven’t been called sweet in a while too :)

    With that and the first day in the 90′s(97 predicted) in Massachusetts, I think I will go for a motorcycle ride to a friends house and go swimming, with that i am still Symply Fargone (hope all of you are in a good way too! :)

  41. phil in Missoula, MT on 20 Jun 2012 at 9:02 am #

    Thanks for the Free Books link Bob. Here’s another:
    http://www.gutenberg.org/

  42. Boise Ed on 20 Jun 2012 at 11:01 am #

    Today’s strip is a bit cryptic. On http://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis one of the comments below helps to explain it, though: “Hey, WAIT,everyone! Today’s “Arlo and Janis” in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a line of text along the top of each panel. In the first panel, it says, “What’s wrong, Arlo?”. . . “I don’t know! I feel like Gus is playing games with me!” (2) “But he longer he does, the more I realize we really can’t afford this!” (3) “That explains the mood!” . . . “Sorry, I guess I got up on the wrong side of the bed!” (4) “That’s bad!! The bed on the boat only has one side!” The gulls are still shown in each panel, with the text above.”

    I can’t imagine why the overlords of Kansas City would omit that dialog.

  43. Dave in NC on 20 Jun 2012 at 11:09 am #

    they didn’t omit the dialog …. the poster was making it up. The Milwaukee J&S doesn’t carry A&J

  44. Dave in NC on 20 Jun 2012 at 11:14 am #

    … correction … at least they don’t in the online version. I can’t speak to the print form.

  45. Bob, near Mark on 20 Jun 2012 at 11:47 am #

    Our local daily has the text as Boise Ed posted above. Don’t know why it’s missing at gocomics. Perhaps the on-line strip had the color added but the text was forgotten.

  46. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 20 Jun 2012 at 12:05 pm #

    This sounds like a MAD magazine spoof where they take a Dave Berg cartoon from the 1960′s and change the words to reflect today. I had NO idea what today’s cartoon was about as the Seattle online paper where I view it just had the pictures of the birds. I have to admit that I was really searching hard to figure that one out.

    So, if those weren’t the words, maybe our friends here at the blog can help Jimmy “fill in the blanks” Today is “Make up your own dialog to Arlo and Janis Day!” :-P

  47. Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 20 Jun 2012 at 12:33 pm #

    One thing from today’s strip I thought was a fabulous detail: notice the sea birds are dropping a little “package” as they take off and land? I believe this is a standard reaction for seagulls (and many other birds). I’ll leave it to our resident biologists to confirm or deny this factoid, but I love how JJ obviously studies his subjects and adds details like this that aren’t necessary for the story but make things more life-like.

  48. Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 20 Jun 2012 at 12:37 pm #

    BTW, Comics.com has reposted the strip with the dialog.

  49. Robin in Fl on 20 Jun 2012 at 12:52 pm #

    Glad I came by today–I had NO idea there was supposed to be dialog. I thought it was amusing without–how birds insist on “that pole” when there are so many others nearby. So now I can review the strip metaphysically, transcendentally, philosophically, etc. Oh never mind–I’ll just go watch the sea birds shove each other off the poles here.

  50. sideburns on 20 Jun 2012 at 3:48 pm #

    Thanks, Bob, for that link. It’s no use to me because I have a Nook, but I did pass it on to a friend with a Kindle.

  51. Bob, near Mark on 20 Jun 2012 at 4:17 pm #

    sideburns,
    You can download a free Kindle reader for your PC or laptop from Amazon. Then you can read Kindle e-books.

    I know, it’s a little difficult to hold your PC in your lap to read. :)

  52. Bob, near Mark on 20 Jun 2012 at 4:18 pm #

    phil in Missoula, MT,

    Thanks. I’ve known about the Gutenberg project for a few years now, but I’m sure others could use the link.

  53. Bob in Orland Park on 20 Jun 2012 at 4:29 pm #

    AHA! I knew I’d find the answer here. The Chicago Sun-Times didn’t have the dialog either. Wife and I wer scratching our heads over that one.

  54. Mary in Ohio on 20 Jun 2012 at 5:06 pm #

    Thanks for the e-book links. I onl have a laptop so I even bookmarked Kindle.

    The Gazette had no dialogue either. I spent a long time perusing the art, but couldn’t find 6 differences between the panels so I gave up.

  55. Bob, near Mark on 20 Jun 2012 at 5:41 pm #

    I wonder if the newspapers that ran today’s (6-20) strip without dialog are papers that run the strip in color. My local daily runs it in B&W, and had the dialog printed in the strip. Perhaps the colorization process has something to do with the dialog being missing?? GoComics runs it in color, and until later in the day the dialog was missing.

  56. Galliglo in Ohio on 20 Jun 2012 at 7:30 pm #

    Well… the little blooper in today’s strip certainly created a lot of conversation in A & J land! Just finished reading the comments on GoComics – there were a bunch.

    Funny… when I read the strip this morning, there was no dialogue and I didn’t think that much about it. The drawing was lovely and expressive of the activity of seagulls. As with all great art, each viewer projected his own interpretation of the meaning. Pretty cool!

  57. sideburns on 20 Jun 2012 at 7:30 pm #

    Yes, Bob, I know; I already have a Kindle reader on my desktop. What I’m looking for are ebooks for my Nook, that I can read when I’m away from home.

  58. Ghost Rider 6 on 20 Jun 2012 at 7:33 pm #

    I, like others, actually read something connected to the storyline into the initial dialog-less version this morning. I’m not sure if that says more about us or about Mr. Johnson’s command of his craft. I’m sure he will explain what happened when he has time to post again. And knowing him as we do, it may even be an amusing story.

    Speaking of which…remember, Mindy, tomorrow is “Wet T-Shirt Story” day.

  59. Ghost Rider 6 on 20 Jun 2012 at 7:36 pm #

    Gal: Also funny…we were posting at the same time, and we sort of made the same point.

  60. Mary in Ohio on 20 Jun 2012 at 7:46 pm #

    The Gazette strips are in black and white, so colorization wasn’t the difference. When I read it online, I realized the dialogue took up a good amount of space and was not positioned so that it might have been cropped off at the edge. Can’t wait to see what JJ says!

  61. Mindy on 20 Jun 2012 at 8:10 pm #

    Yeah, Mindy from Indy, remember tomorrow. :)

  62. Ghost Rider 6 on 20 Jun 2012 at 8:26 pm #

    Hey! Wait a minute!

    Of course, if you have a “Wet T-Shirt Story”, Lady Mindy of Whydid, you’re welcome to share it with us, also.

  63. Mindy from Indy on 20 Jun 2012 at 8:49 pm #

    Hey Mindy! No pawning this one off on me. I do have a “wet T-shirt” though – unfortunately, mine involves tripping whilst carrying a large pan of eggs and boiling water. No permanent damage done, but boy did it hurt.

    As for today’s strip – I saw the dialogue-less first, too. I thought it was one of Jimmie’s (I forget what he calls them) “stuck-for-an-idea” strips while he decided which way the story line was going to go. I thought it was quite nifty. I vaguely remember a fridge magnet we picked up in Florida that almost recreated that last panel exactly. Memories.

  64. Lost in A**2 on 20 Jun 2012 at 8:58 pm #

    I moved around a bit while growing up; my father was part of SAC. When we were living on the shore of Lake Huron, we, and the other kids around us, referred to gulls as “B-52s,” for their habit of relieving themselves in flight. Most other birds seem to . . . exercise . . . while roosting.

    I shared today’s strip with my long-haired bunkie just before stopping by here. I was surprised to see dialog, for I didn’t remember it from my morning visit. Thank you, all, for confirming that I’ve not (yet, completely) lost my marbles.

    I had thought to ask Mr. Johnson about his deadline, but yesterday’s comments on the artistry of his birds really couldn’t have inspired today’s strip. :)

  65. Mark in Boston on 20 Jun 2012 at 9:07 pm #

    The Boston Globe is another one of the papers with no dialog.

    Does it make a difference whether it’s printed as a long strip or as a square? The Globe has it in the “square” column along with Cornered. A&J is one of the few strips that can go either long or square. It does mean that Jimmy has to always have four equal-sized panels.

  66. Mark in TTown on 20 Jun 2012 at 9:11 pm #

    Well, we had the dialogue about colorizing the strips. Seems that we had a “silent” strip today through some miracle of modern technology. Having the conversation added made a world of difference to what seemed to be a strip about seagulls. Were they Gertrude and Heathcliff, by chance, Jimmy?

  67. Ghost Rider 6 on 20 Jun 2012 at 9:23 pm #

    Lady Mindy, let me guess…your wet T-shirt incident occurred at work, and your employer immediately revised its policy concerning transportation of pans of boiling water.

  68. Bob, near Mark on 20 Jun 2012 at 9:28 pm #

    Mark in TTown,
    Haven’t thought about Gertrude and Heathcliff for years. When Johnny Carson was a writer for Red Skelton, he wrote the “Gertrude and Heathcliff” jokes.

  69. Mindy from Indy on 20 Jun 2012 at 10:16 pm #

    @Ghost Rider 6 – First, I really love that title. :-) Second, yes it was at work (fastest I’ve ever removed an article of clothing – 2/3 of the way – not all!) but no, the policy change I caused was about proper work attire. And no, the two are not related. I was actually one of the “good” employees; I only took part in a few … um, you know, I need to check the statute of limitations on those first. That’s another story for yet another day.

  70. Mindy on 20 Jun 2012 at 11:40 pm #

    I am laughing my buns off!

  71. Ghost Rider 6 on 21 Jun 2012 at 12:01 am #

    Lady Mindy of Whydid: This is somewhat uncanny. I recently stated I would have more later ref your question to get policies changed. What I was going to suggest was that you tackle your company’s, wait for it, wait for it, dress code. But now that will have to wait for yet another day, as another day starts in, like, right now.

  72. Ghost Rider 6 on 21 Jun 2012 at 12:03 am #

    “quest” not “question.” Got in a rush trying to post in a timely manner.

  73. Ghost Rider 6 on 21 Jun 2012 at 12:38 am #

    Lady Mindy of Whydid: I’ve warned Mindy that not supplying sufficient detail can feed the fevered imaginations out here. Your story about removing an article of clothing, brief as it was (the story, not the article of clothing…or was it?), didn’t leave a lot to the imagination, however. You are to be commended.

    Mindy: Remember…promised story due later today…fevered imaginations…details, details, details.