A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

The Devil You Know

By Jimmy Johnson

May 31, 1998


Poor Janis. When will she learn not to lean over in the garden? There are lots of clichés in cartooning. There’s “marooned on a desert island,” and there’s the “burglar with mask and striped shirt,” and there’s the “horse crashes New Year’s Eve party.” (OK, maybe that last one is more like a personal phobia than a cliché.) And, of course, there’s the struggle of conscience represented by the angel-figure in one ear and the devil figure in the other. A worn-out cliché is fun to play around with now and them.


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20 responses to “The Devil You Know”

  1. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    I saw a meme that showed a woman is a slip with “Ego, SuperEgo, Id, Oedipus Complex etc). It was called a Freudian Slip.

    The cliches are sometimes parodies in themselves that set up a great joke. That is what I have seen with Arlo and Janis.

  2. Ken from Framingham Avatar
    Ken from Framingham

    “Poor Janis. When will she learn not to lean over in the garden?”

    Never, I hope! Her leaning over has engendered some of the best A&J!

  3. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    A cliché is never worn-out. Over used, abused, inappropriate, but never worn-out.

    As the saying goes “Any joke first heard is a new joke” no matter how ancient.

  4. emb Avatar
    emb

    This could happen here, and maybe has. “The Meadows” is at the edge of town, only blocks from the PB Mall, main drag w/ Golden Arches, Arby’s, & such. Deer-infested woods nearby, deer tracks all over in winter. Have not seen bears or sign here. but other owners may have.
    https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-lifestyle/pictures-big-bear-goes-to-duluth-mall-finds-it-closed
    Peace,

    1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
      curmudgeonly ex-professor

      That is one BIG black bear!

  5. TruckerRon Avatar

    Mike Love has released a new song entitled, “This Too Shall Pass,” via BMG. Produced by Scott Totten and featuring special guest John Stamos on drums, Love wrote the song as a fun way to encourage positivity during this unprecedented time.
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8OVy33V_OI

    1. Tom (formerly) from the front range. Avatar
      Tom (formerly) from the front range.

      You’d think with all the travel restrictions in place that you wouldn’t find a FLORIDA man in California.
      The story doesn’t mention that the culprit was from Florida but you just know he is.

  6. emb Avatar
    emb

    Ostriches, S Afr. Males are deep black.
    https://explore.org/livecams/african-wildlife/tau
    Peace,

  7. emb Avatar
    emb

    9CL has 6 panels this morning, & is tastefully naughty.
    https://www.gocomics.com/9chickweedlane/2020/05/08
    Now, off to see what’s replaced the ostriches.
    Peace,

  8. Charlie Cook Avatar
    Charlie Cook

    Little anecdote… I was once in a farce where I played a character dresses as a burglar (don’t ask!). The theatre got burgled one night, and the would be thief set off the alarm, so grabbed the nearest bag he could find and hightailed it to the door. Outside, he was apprehended.
    “Is that yours sir?”
    “Yes”
    May I see?”
    As the burglar handed over the bag, he then noticed it said “swag” on the outside, and inside were a stripy shirt, mask and a crowbar…

  9. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    VE Day, 2020.
    For those WWII veterans still living: Thank you for your service.
    For those not (including Jackie’s father and five of my uncles): RIP, Heroes.

  10. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    If Giant Murder Hornets are coming, does that mean we need to keep hoarding toilet paper? Asking for a friend.

    1. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      A couple of years ago, some company introduced a battery-powered “A-Salt Gun” to take down houseflies with a burst of table salt. If that company is on the ball, they’ll introduce a fully-automatic “Magnum” version of it for the Giant Murder Hornets.

  11. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Husky Halfway House update: Our friend Jenni had to make a middle-of-the-night emergency run to the veterinarian’s office, just hours after the rescue of the 72 animals from the puppy-mill operation last week. Three of the new-born pups were suffering from dehydration due to the conditions under which they were being kept prior to being rescued.
    They were treated with IV fluids but, sadly, one of them did not make it. The other two, however, were returned to HHH and are doing fine. One of the survivors, a female, is barely more than half the size of her littermates, but Jenni posted a video a couple of days later, showing that little girl literally knocking her much larger siblings out of her way as she battled her way to the “dinner table”. She’s got heart, and she’ll make someone a wonderful companion one day.

    1. Nancy Kirk in AZ Avatar
      Nancy Kirk in AZ

      “Like/Love” button, Ghost.

  12. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    So I am heading out in the morning to walk 26.2 mi. This will be the second marathon that I’ve completed in 6 weeks. It comes less than 2 weeks after getting run over by a car but I’m no worse for wear. I feel absolutely great and figure I might as well do something productive with my time.

    The temperature is expected to be 28°, but living in Michigan and I’m kind of used to. Of course last week it was 80 degrees!

    Happy Mother’s Day to all.

    1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
      curmudgeonly ex-professor

      Way to go, S/RO!

  13. Jim Young Avatar

    It’s subtle, but I caught the cloven hooves on the evil Arlo instead of flip flops!

  14. bit.ly Avatar

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