March 19, 1993
The traditional comic strip is comparable to a little play or a little movie. It is a visual medium ideally supported by a plot (albeit simple), action and dialog. However, some of the best “scenes” can be implied. Had to be implied in this case, but would it have been any funnier if I’d actually drawn Janis dancing around sans bikini top? I don’t think so. Yesterday, I said in today’s post I would answer Rob’s question about son Gene and his family on the coast, but that wasn’t entirely accurate. I will address the question soon. It is one I get a lot, and I’m giving it some thought. I don’t have enough time today to do it justice, but I will tackle it soon. Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to it.
51 responses to “A Crab Strip”
Answering the second question reminds me of a stand-up that Ellen does about annoying people that talk during movies. “Is she going to open the door?” ” Is the ghost hiding under the bed?” “I don’t know, let’s find out together!”
Not that Rob’s question is annoying at all. We ALL want to know about Gene and his family….but let’s read the upcoming strips and find out! 🙂
I wasn’t annoying? Hmm, I’ll have to try harder! 🙂
A third question: Why did Arlo abandon his sailing dream after he got his sailboat?
JJ: Looking forward to your response. I’ve often wondered approximately how long it takes you from the time you put a drawing to paper till we get to read them?
Jimmy, fess up… At some point, you did draw a topless Janis, didn’t you?
Sunbathing on the boat? Vacation in St Martin? I’d be surprised if it never happened before. Never published of course. That would be indiscreet.
Cheers
Otis
Yes
Believe I own one of them….
You don’t know?
He apparently has a number of them. 🙂
Details, man, details!
For “After Dark”? 🙂 Inquiring minds are curious now… 🙂
Have a great day!
Rusty
🙂 Hmmm!
And if your hint of a few day or 3 ago was accurate and you actually are retiring in a hair under 3 years, on your last day you will give a link to it, right?
Well that could be a make-good for the long delayed After Dark book.
On a visit to Jamaica once upon a time, my wife kept a pile of “crab rocks” handy to keep the little critters at bay. ?
They’re just so cute!
The best line that I remember is when Gene asked his dad if he knew Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings.
Love the strip.
I’ve got one worse than that…I was a camp counsellor in college back in the early ’80s, when “Ebony & Ivory” was a hit. We had a kid ask if we knew McCartney had been in a band before he sang with Stevie Wonder…and said it WAS “Wings”… 🙂
@sideburns: Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony’s Adept series is one that made it through several shelf culls including pre-move. The line about the robot referees of the robot games is priceless.
Re 8-5-20 “retro real-time” cartoon: This probably proves that I wasn’t seeing A&J in a newspaper as far back as the early 1990s, as I’m pretty sure I would have remembered this one. Also, it shows me that Janis has a long history of mishaps that result in her ending up topless.
My best young Jackie topless story was living in the historic home in the tower on the fourth floor where the ballroom (turned into attic) and my apartment resided at end of ancient elevator. I was sunbathing like Janis, on top of the port cache batterment roof when an entire garden club tour arrived looking for a better view.
Oh Boy!!!
Sounds like they got the “better view”… 🙂
Decided to help grow the Arlo and Janis Fans group as thanks to Jimmy for 35 years of fun and laughter. Just as I began inviting people Facebook shut me down for 24 hours.
I began again inviting and I got shut down permanently for being a phisher! Except I thought I had my phone taken over by a phisher, not Facebook!
24 hours later we determined the bogus looking notification was indeed Facebook and I filled out the form. Got them to reopen account but I am still banned from inviting friends to join groups.
It seems Very High Response to joining groups is only achieved by Serbian based individuals. Sorry Jimmy, I will try again if Facebook unlocks my account! Dangerous old lady!
Never forget what Clopin sings in Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame:
“We find you totally innocent. Which is the worst crime of all.”
What’s really ironic about that is that Facebook pushes you to invite people to join groups by pushing photos of your friends at you when you are on the group’s sites. So they are punishing you for doing what they wanted in the first place. I understand it is a private business and they can make their own rules, but there should be some thought and consistency behind the rules.
Thanks for trying! Perhaps you should stick to being our on-premise mascot, Jackie. You’re so good at it!
Carbon credit card receipts…. Kids today would think that wassome kind of ecological statement
When Janis was a mermaid, believe one distant view panel had a dot in it. Censors either didn’t notice or used good judgment. Before Playboy came on the scene, figure photography was considered a legit [if somewhat iffy] art form. But USPS regs prohibited pubic hair; couldn’t mail it. Edward Weston was a noted serious professional photographer [dates available online]. Lots of photos of CA shore near/on Pt. Lobos, many solely of rocks & sand, but some tasteful nudes. One of a sunning model, frontal but a leg hiding pubes [speelczech accepts pubes!]. Actually one hair showed, but it got by the USPS. Got by me, too, & prob most other hormone-raging teens.
That model became Weston’s lover for a time, & wrote an illustrated biography/autobiography. There it was, but easily missed. Censors too busy drooling over other things, 2 in particular.
Peace,
Here’s the link to the first strip of the Mermaid series. https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2000/03/20?ct=v&cti=1098101 There is, alas, no little dot.
March 29th does have a visible curve, though. Yep, ya’ made me look.
I just read through the mermaid series again; this time I noted that the ending pun was delivered on April Fool’s Day. Good one, JJ!
JLF: Thought it was in a later, distant strip, like this one:
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2000/03/24?ct=v&cti=1098101
but it’s not there. Must recalling a different dot, from a different comic. Beats me.
Peace,
I recall there was one with Janis in the bathroom, and people were commenting on whether something was part of her anatomy or just an ink drop. That’s the best I can nail it down, and it is probably the one you are thinking of, emb.
One that I remember being somewhere, perhaps here, with a “dot” was this celebration of spring:
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/1997/03/20
And in searching for that one, I discovered JJ had recycled the poem in this one:
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2017/03/26
Reread The Beautiful Mermaid, the best arc you ever drew or wrote Jimmy. I love it now, loved it then. The plot is wonderful and your art work excellent. The little jokes like feeding her worms, the bra, the bar fight are all superb.
Thank you again! Followed by the squirrel falling from the tree!
I love the squirrel falling, and “It was just the cutest little lizard”. I think the lizard up the pants leg was the winner for how fast Janis could undress.
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