OK, so this comic strip from December of last year isn’t exactly “rare.” It’s Arlo and Janis sitting on the sofa, for cryin’ out loud. However, there is something out of the ordinary going on here. Can you tell what it is? That’s right! In the third panel, Arlo’s dialog runs to four lines. It is an unwritten rule here (where all rules are unwritten!) that dialog in a comic strip not run for more than three lines. You’d be surprised how easy this really is. Dialog tends to be terse and to the point, and much of what I write is dialog. I believe punchy dialog actually lends authenticity; remember that, would-be comic strip artists, and writers of all stripes.
I bring up dialog, because I periodically get emails from readers who complain (always nicely!) that they have a particularly difficult time reading the text in Arlo & Janis. I don’t doubt they have problems. Newspapers so reduce all comic strips these days that they’ve become almost impossible to read, particularly for the demographic that is keeping newspapers afloat. I do wonder, though, if A&J is particularly unintelligible. I look at other strips in the newspapers, and I don’t see many of them being any easier to read. I like to think it’s because Arlo & Janis is the one they want to read. Anyway, I have two points about this subject. 1) I am aware of the problem. I have gone to a thicker lettering pen, but I think this sometimes makes me squeeze the lettering, which probably is the worst thing I could do. I have experimented with computer fonts made from my own lettering. This is promising, but I haven’t been able to develop one yet that really pleases me. Perhaps I need to expand the three-line rule to four lines. In short, I am working on it. 2) I would like your observations and suggestions on this matter. It might help.
316 responses to “A Rare Arlo & Janis”
Response, Response. Although it might have resonated.
GR6
Some flights out of MPLS-SP look closer to 45* – you know “noise abatement”
But I may be standing in the wrong spot.
Back in the early 60s the morning flight of F106s, after they crossed the end of the runway
@McGuire AFB, stood on their tails – seemed more than 60* maybe 75*?
It did break up Reveille – we were 500? yards from there.
Motor pool shop was 150ft from the runway
No link, Jackie, and the raciest phrase in the post was “sexual objectification”. And as I said, it didn’t drop in the Black Hole of Moderation; it was just “rejected”…the same way that made me feel. 🙁 And we all know how important “feelings” are today, don’t we?
Bear: Speaking of too close to the runway…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzfleD1JGZQ
I kinda hoped to see some of those ladies get their bikinis blown off, but I didn’t. (I wonder if alcohol could have been involved.)
Today while visiting Dinosaur National Monument my lovely wife complained to me about the immodest clothing on display… I mollified her by pointing out that none of them looked very good, that they only succeeded in making their imperfections all too obvious. And it was true, I hadn’t seen so much cellulite or faded tattoos on display in one place for several years.
Good morning Villagers…
Steve, sorry to read about your sister-in-law. Your brother would not have traded in those three extra years for anything. I’m glad he got to spend extra time with his wife. Prayers for you and yours………….Amen.
Sandcastler, now that would shock me….especially with your pony tail hanging 🙂
GR 😉 hippie chick music indeed…Canned Heat…..good tunes, especially their “Vietnam Song”. “Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn, next stop is Vietnam.”
Good for you Jerry, I have a banana every morning, along with peanut butter for the protein.
Went in to see Mom yesterday morning, came home depressed then PO’d. She is starting to lose her memory, lost her cell phone, (which I am paying for). Need to go into Verizon and see what they have for senior citizens….unfortunately, that will tie me into a two year contract. All my sisters see is the expense of getting one like a Jitterbug. Heh, it’s her only contact to the outside world……I’m going to stop before I become enraged again.
Then a follow up from an insurance man, my husband requested him to come by. I let them talk while watching a movie. Then husband called me into the kitchen, they were going over my life insurance policy. He asked me my height and weight, told him around 5’6″ ish, and roughly 120 pounds….he looked at me and said, you’re underweight. My husband told me to flex my biceps, and I did, the insurance man couldn’t believe it….told him it was all muscle no fat…told him what do for a living….lifting about eight thousand pounds in a 4 to 5 time frame and the walking I do. He said that maybe he should think about a job like that instead of paying for a gym workout.
AccuWeather saya Mr. Bill is coming in late tonight….oh boy, just hope we don’t lose electricity, anywhere. When we lose it here, we lose water…..our water pump is 200 feet down. Sometimes in my frenzy, I will fill up the garden tub with water.
TR….that is one of the reason i hate to go into Wal-mart….people really don’t see what they look like from behind….and they really should. It’s enough to make me…….get sick.
later, ya’ll have a blessed day
=^..^=
https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8509599232/h5E1122F1/
ya know, there’s two things in life I hate….change and the way things are 😉 and the new web format at cheezeburger.com is a prime example of that
see what I mean
http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/tag/Cats
Debbe, I agree on the new format. Was not anything wrong with the one they had. On the second post, I really like the black and white photo that’s about 3 down. Looks like one of those 1950’s giant animal movies.
Debbe 😉 So, do you feel good naked? 😀
(The Devil made me ask that. But you should.)
Easy there GR6, Debbe is already in a state of shock. 😉 Besides you asked a silly question; everyone feels good naked. 🙂
Sand, you missed my point entirely in previous posts!!!!
Very, very few women feel good naked. Ask Loon who I am certain does. But she is a secure and self accepting woman. Ask her about the rest of America’s other half.
Where are y’all finding those emoticons on posting for this page? I need some at times.
Love, Jackie
Jackie, try colon and closed paren for smiley face. 🙂 :/
Thank you for all for all of the thoughtful posts. Funerals can be bittersweet as you are sad for the loss, but it is a chance to see so many members of your family.
The one thing that my sister-in-law was adamant about was that she suffered from cirrhosis of the Liver, but did not drink. Not that it should matter, but it did to her.We should all try to take care of ourselves, but at the end of the day we really don’t have much control. But we fight the good fight anyway.
Jackie, did not miss it, just let it fly by. 😉
Still wish we could use emoji in here, so much more freedom of expression.
Still so cool to me that we’ve come here about a favorite comic strip and share our lives. Steve, I know it’s rough. The year of my wife’s cancer, we knew it was a long shot, should she even bother with the chemo? “Why can’t I just go to sleep and die?” but she pushed through the holidays and mercifully passed a few days after New Years…. … ..feeling good naked – my criteria is – if I had to run naked out of a burning building would I be ashamed of my body ?
My reply to Jackie’s “Feel Good Naked” post from last night failed repeatedly to post. (A “reject” message was received rather than a “moderation” one.) So I retyped it from scratch and…same result this morning, although other posts of mine go right through. As some of Jackie’s nautical friends might say, “It beats the flotsam out of me.”
Ghost
I had that the other day – did break it down to 3 post to see if it were content.
But 3 individual each went through. And there were no links so it was not that.
Will make this in 2
Debbe many time s Cheezeburger does not come through with pics.
http://perfectlytimedimages.com/2/perfectly-timed-animal-pics-3/3/
2nd
http://perfectlytimedimages.com/2/perfectly-timed-animal-pics-3/26/
Keeping with the theme. Fun article from Forbes magazine on Roman undergarments.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/06/19/caesar-undressing-ancient-romans-wore-leather-panties-and-loincloths/
Low and to the left.
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/99/e6/83/99e683f839e7c7d929b556c9a7ff14f3.webp
What happens when you jerk the wheel and forget about breath control.
Leather panties, leather thongs, leather bikini bottoms and leather Speedos in the Deep South in the summertime? I don’t think so.
But now I know that Latin for “banana hammock” is “subligaculum”.
Dearest Ghostly One, should leather not be to you liking, don’t watch the “controversial ” new Chobani yogurt commercial. It has the potential to fry your masculine neural wiring. Ta, ta 😉
Actually pretty tame, Loon. The hottest TV commercial ever was from some years back and featured a well-endowed Scandinavian-type blonde in a small white bikini, sitting as she sensually ate a bowl of cream of wheat with a spoon. Or at least my youthful hormones told me so at the time. 😉
Oh, and I’ll note that Arlo once said, “Hollywood’s idea of a homely woman is a beautiful woman with glasses.” Apparently, Hollywood’s (and by extension, the ad biz’s) idea of a lesbian is a beautiful woman without makeup.
Layers and layers of creativity.