Today’s retro Web cartoon returns to the theme of virtual card games, and the retro Thanksgiving series continues in newspapers. The Thanksgiving series, from 1996, was one of the first occasions I let myself get really goofy with the cast. Until about this time, I’d played it straight: the reality-based foibles of a young family. Some people liked the new approach, and some did not. As the creator, I must say I’m not sure where the strip would be if I didn’t feel free to go a little crazy now and then. There’s always the ultimate defense: it is a comic strip!

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. Now, it’s back to business. The book Beaucoup Arlo & Janis goes on sale here Monday. Black Monday, we’re calling it.