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

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

Bitter Angels

By Jimmy Johnson

July 21, 2002


I didn’t sleep very well last night. I think the cat on my chest and the cat on my legs may have had something to do with it. Then this morning, I ran across this old A&J comic. Revenge is a dish best served cold. I can’t wait. I don’t often comment here on the current A&J comic strip, but I will say I enjoyed drawing today’s, which you can visit by clicking on the GoComics logo below, of course. Watching the news, I find myself constantly distracted from whatever is being said by the background behind the speaker, who in most cases is broadcasting remotely from home or office. Now I know how my cats must feel when they watch TV.


Recent Posts

Ghost of Christmas Past

This holiday Arlo & Janis comic strip from 2022 is similar in concept to the new strip that ran yesterday. I thought the latter ...

Spearhead

I have produced a number of comic strips related to Veteran’s Day. Especially in latter years, I have tried to emphasize the universal experience ...

Dark Passage

Remember: it’s that weekend. The return to standard time can be a bit of a shock in the late afternoon, but I rather enjoy ...

What’s old is old, again

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to build a web site, but there are similarities. Everything needs to be just right, or ...

Back to the ol’ drawing board

I don’t have a lot of time this morning. I wasn’t going to post anything, but I’m tired of looking at that old photograph ...

Thursday’s Child

On Sunday, I teased you with the suggestion there are more changes coming here. There are. They will appear soon, and I think you’ll ...

91 responses to “Bitter Angels”

  1. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    I had to take one of our cats to the Vet. He has asthma and got relief but the bill almost gave me asthma! Trying to get the medicine down him is an adventure as well!

  2. Tom (formerly from the Front Range) Avatar
    Tom (formerly from the Front Range)

    Our indoor cat enjoys spending (early) mornings on the screened lanai. Her requests for release usually start around 4 to 4:30. We’ve attempted to close the bedroom door to keep her at bay. Her response is a somewhat subdued meowing outside the door. If we don’t respond to that, she actually “knocks” by jumping and pawing the door. We finally let her out today at 4:45.

    Now for a much needed cat (caused) nap.

  3. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    As non-TV watchers, Jackie and I had to think about today’s cartoon for a few seconds.
    And no, Arlo, one should never awaken a cat. Everyone knows what a difficult time they have falling asleep again.

  4. TruckerRon Avatar

    Things are going to be confusing and busy in Oklahoma’s courts until Congress gets off its duff and straightens out the mess they made over 100 years ago:
    .
    https://www.ksl.com/article/46774853/justices-rule-swath-of-oklahoma-remains-tribal-reservation-potentially-impacting-hundreds-of-convictions

    1. Cozmik Cowboy Avatar
      Cozmik Cowboy

      What can one say, except that, while it is obviously far too little far too late, it’s a start – and quite a shock coming from this SCOTUS. Now let’s see them – and all the lower courts – honor this precedent & return all land seized by treaty violations to its proper guardians.

  5. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Trucker, what comes to my mind is the question of property ownership. If so much of the land around Tulsa is still part of a reservation it seems like it would invalidate a lot of deeds.

    1. Wondering … Avatar
      Wondering …

      Or, if the deed is honored on its face, which government has the right to levy taxes? ( I don’t know if OK currently has a property tax. )

      Wondering why I’ve heard all kinds of commentary regarding personal income taxes, but not any mention of this pretty large swath of land. Thanks Trucker and Mark for the topic.

  6. Rebecca Hedges Avatar
    Rebecca Hedges

    What does Tulsa have to do with this?

    1. Rusty Avatar
      Rusty

      See the article TruckerRon linked. The affected land includes much of Tulsa.

    2. Mark in TTown Avatar
      Mark in TTown

      The Supreme Court ruled that a large part of Oklahoma given to the Muscogee Creeks as a reservation was never changed back to public land in the 1800’s. They were ruling in a criminal case but I can imagine it having a huge effect on civil matters too, as to who has jurisdiction.

  7. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    Revenge is a dish best served cold – and repeatedly.

    1. Mark in TTown Avatar
      Mark in TTown

      Ever look at this one, emb? This is some family’s back yard in California and I’ve seen deer, opossum, raccoons, squirrels so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5QC9ZJkM8

      1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
        curmudgeonly ex-professor

        Seems not to be the intended link….

  8. Jackie Avatar
    Jackie

    Ghost said he didn’t ask for a cat but he has a cat pack that love him. Skipper our inside cat loves him and tries to sleep against his body. The outside cats let him pet them more than they respond to me. The Garfields come in and out and usually one sleeps with us.

    1. Cozmik Cowboy Avatar
      Cozmik Cowboy

      I asked my youngest where I went wrong with him; both his brothers had 2 dogs each, like decent, upstanding people, so what was he doing with a cat???
      He said that he didn’t pick the cat, the cat picked him, and several of his friends concurred, including the guy the cat lived with before deciding he lived with my son. And, said feline had moved himself, uninvited into that guy’s place from someone else’s. So I guess I can’t blame my son.

      Still an embarrassment to the family, though…………

  9. Dennis Avatar
    Dennis

    Yep, that’s me. Jimmy, we have so much in common. That too reminds me of a favorite scene in one of my favorite Movies, ‘Animal House’.

  10. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    I did have a funny story coming back from the Vet. I had to return home to start a zoom meeting and was able to start it via my phone. I sent a message to the other participants: “I am away from my desk, but will return by 3:05. meow”

    My cat was in the front seat, in his carrier, singing the song of his people…

  11. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar
  12. Burns Avatar
    Burns

    Jimmy, I usually think of things you have said about cartooning every time I see a new J&J. I bet you are proud of today’s. “How do I show it is night without the usual “clock hanging on the wall” or “moon through the window”? It was great!

  13. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Mark, I managed to sneak in and out of Tulsa to take care of some business this morning without encountering any Muscogee Creek Nation Border Patrol agents. 🙂

  14. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Remember that time when Arlo observed that the relatively new ability of easily having all sorts of goods delivered right to your door had the knock on effect of filling one’s closets with empty cardboard boxes? Remember that time when you googled or whatevered “knock on effect”? Yeah, me, too. (Don’t feel bad…it’s apparently of British origin, not unlike “pokies”. Those zany Brits.)
    Anyway, today, on just about the only blog other than A&J that I follow, I learned of a couple of knock on effects of the COVID-19. Yes, I know there are plenty of obvious ones, but these are a couple of which I had not thought. One is that new bicycles are pretty much unobtainable, and that bike shops are snowed under with repair orders for older ones that have been dug out of garages or basements and been found to be suffering from flat tires or in need of sprocket adjustments under the dust and cobwebs. Apparently, in many places cycling is considered a socially-responsible way one can get out and get some exercise without running hard afoul of the Face Condom Police or the Stay-at-Home Constabulary. (I wonder if the zany Brits are proposing to “Defund the Constabulary.” I certainly hope not, as then who would there be to arrive on the scene and inquire “Alright, what’s all this, then?”)
    The other thing about which I did not know is that birdseed and suet cakes are also in short supply, as bird-watching has become popular as a way to have your entertainment come to you.

  15. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    The retro strip brings back to mind the novel “Good Omens.”

  16. TruckerRon Avatar

    There’s been a run on soft drink cans (12 oz) with people stocking up ridiculous amounts of them. The can companies simply cannot produce enough of them to keep up, so many grocery stores here in Utah are limiting the number you can buy. There’s no problems with 2-liter bottles or even smaller plastic bottles.

  17. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    TruckerRon:

    Hilarious! Thanks for posting.

  18. TruckerRon Avatar

    Then there’s a flying couch potato… or is it a flying man cave, complete with a flatscreen TV? It happened in Ölüdeniz/Turkey:
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4usUy2QLjRc

  19. emb Avatar
    emb

    Neat donkey. Hope Brit mammalogists know about her. Hmm. “Herpetologists.” How come speelczech oks them but not us?
    Wrote about music for my funeral, but that went into cyberspace.
    Peace,

  20. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Arlo, there’s a place for sweaty hugs. The front lawn, however, is not it.

    1. TruckerRon Avatar

      Judging by her hand in the final panel, she has a better spot in mind. Perhaps the shower?

  21. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    Because of the pandemic, my wife ask me to cut her hair. Obviously I have no experience and she’s rather particular about her hair. I agreed but told her I would have to get a signed release, alert my attorney and check the weather forecast for humidity, dew point and the wind for the opportune time since we would be doing this outside. Reminded me of you and Janis.

  22. emb Avatar
    emb

    Wife used to cut my hair. Then I went to her hairdresser for a few years. She took time off to heal from surgery, & I decided to try Elaine’s tools. Works pretty well. We’ve been using the same barber-style clipper for 6 decades.
    Sometime this morning the IDNR [I presume] attached radios to the backs of at least 2 of the young eagles the Decorah pair raised this year. Radios = about a third as big as an eagle’s head; antenna extends straight back from the shoulders. Don’t think it harms them any, but 1 seems really ticked.
    https://explore.org/livecams/birds/decorah-eagles
    Peace,

    1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
      curmudgeonly ex-professor

      I think the transmitters were installed last week. In a blurb today, I read that the eaglets seem unbothered by same, going so far as to “preen” the antenna wire!