The comic strip Arlo & Janis will be 35 years old this year, on July 29, to be exact. I’m always ambivalent about anniversaries of this sort. I’m very thrilled to still be slinging dust in the demolition derby that is the syndicated comics biz, and, for the most part, I’m proud of my dinged up body of work. However, part of me is reticent to bring up these important anniversaries, which seem to fall at five-year intervals for some arbitrary reason. I’m not certain it’s wise to remind you how long I’ve been around. Comic strips have an often well-deserved reputation for becoming stale with time, for coasting gently down hill. I have tried to avoid this; you’ll have to be the judge. There’s not much doubt in my mind the artwork is stronger than ever. I also want to believe the quotidian humor is at least as strong as it has been in any given period. There’s also no doubt I am not as inventive or as bold as I was as a younger man. I drive more defensively these days, a derby strategy that carries its own risks. But enough about me! Go, and enjoy your spring weekend. We’ll talk more about all this in coming weeks.