You probably won’t believe me, but I could not find any more prototypical strips featuring Skeeter and Nat. That project, by the way, went under the working title of “Perdido.” I’ll keep looking, but don’t get your hopes up. Today I am going to show you a strip from 1995, featuring Gene and his first “real” girlfriend, Susan, on a movie date. My favorite thing about Susan was her feisty little sister Emma. I’ll try to post some material featuring her when we’re done at the movies. Speaking of the strip in the previous post, there was a mention of “Tallahassee,” which obviously would be the city in northern Florida. This led to a discussion of whether Arlo & Janis is a “southern” strip. I think I’m qualified to opine on this one. While there might be occasional geographical or meteorological references owed to my own long life in the southeastern U.S., I have never regarded A&J as a “southern” strip. In fact, I strive to make it universal. I do not believe by doing so I am erasing potential color and charm. On the contrary, I don’t think throwing around words like “cornpone” and “pot likker” would add much. Personally, I don’t know what cornpone is, but I do know pot likker is delicious!
