OK, enough about D-Day. Today’s “old” comic strip is from this past September, and in color at that. From the time I became a comic strip creator, I have sensed there is a trap in characters that never age. People in general tend to establish careers and families as young adults, and that includes comic strip authors. Like other writers, cartoonists write what they know. For these reasons, there has always been an abundance of comic strips about young families and children, and there have always been 70-year-old cartoonists still drawing comic strips about babies in diapers. It’s not entirely their fault. More than patrons of any other medium, readers of newspaper comics seem to expect the same thing on a daily basis. Not all of them, but enough of them that one cannot blame a working cartoonist for doing what it takes to bring home the bacon. Some comic strip authors sense this trap and try to avoid it by allowing characters to age in something like natural time. That has its own traps. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow.
Life in the Slow Lane
By Jimmy Johnson
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 ...
34 responses to “Life in the Slow Lane”
Gasoline Alley is the oldest running-in-real-time strip that I read. The cast of characters has grown with new generations of kids, grandkids, etc. But the oldest character of all passed 100 several years ago. I wonder how much longer old Walt will stick around?
My thought exactly Trucker
But what would the strip be without Walt (and some of the other characters) somewhere in the background.
Joel & Rufus
.
Just 17 days until the big celebration of Skeezix and Nina’s 75th wedding anniversary! (comment at strip)
.
I had a crush on Clovia when I was a kid
For Better or Worse aged their characters in near real time. Including pets who died and family who died in strip. She ended strip but then rebooted it including being able to edit it and change a little. Do not know if plots changed?
Interestingly I saw article on this comic but did not read on this very subject recently. I remember title asked question if this comic was an arcing soap opera or some such? Think it compared to a novel with four panels a day for years and years.
I used to read Gasoline Alley about a half-century ago. My dad told me that he and Skeezix were the same age, which makes Skeezix about a hundred by now. Walt must be pushing 120. I agree with you, Old Bear – Clovia was a hottie. (Maybe still is, but I rarely see the strip anymore.)
I don’t know much about Gasoline Alley, so I naturally made the mistake of googling images of “Clovia” just as my wife walked only to catch me checking out women’s underwear. I had some ‘splaining to do… ?
ps: don’t know why that question mark is there…
Snuffy is coming up on his anniversary, and his artist, John Rose, has been doing guest appearances of characters from other strips. It’s fun to see who shows up next.
That should have read Snuffy Smith
Mark: I mentioned it last week as the characters from the other strips have been very funny. Like you said, Barney Google will probably reach Hootin’ Holler on Sunday or Monday. I really enjoyed the Blondie strip where they had a party that even Arlo and Janis attended.
Doonesbury – characters age, die. It can be done.
Jimmy: Re cartoon characters aging/dying, don’t get any ideas about Gus. Face it…even at age 99, he’d still be the life of the retirement home.
p.s. Jackie says no “Farleying” Ludwig, either.
A perceptive post — I enjoyed it, and I read some of those strips every day even now. Jackie’s comment via Ghost on Farleying gave me a sad smile.
Is Brooke going to do the whole operetta [or attempt at grand opera]? Unwise choice?
https://www.gocomics.com/9chickweedlane/2019/06/11
Peace,
Nancy. Think I learned “tunnerboomies” from Elaine. Learned a lot from her. Been having a grand time at Summer Theology Workshop, starting yesterday.
Peace, emb
Gasoline Alley has gone through periods where the aging effects slowed down, then abruptly moved forward when it was pointed out to the creators. Blondie started out in real-time, but once the kids reached their late teens, that timeline froze. There are a few strips like Baby Blues, Dick Tracy, Luann, and most recently of note, Heart of the City that, like Arlo and Janis, do move forward, but at a somewhat slower rate than real time.
Often the illusion of the passage of time can be simulated by simply adding new members to the cast gradually, creating a sense of progress. There are many ways to make a strip seem to advance without actually going forward in time at all.
I thought this would elicit a lot of comments. Ghost and I had interesting conversation on aging strips.
Remember when Rex Morgan, M.D. finally married June Gale, R N. And they had baby? They must have been at least 70 and 60!! They had played fiotsie since 1950s I remember!
Perhaps some cartoonists don’t allow their characters to age because they are nostalgic. I am that way to a degree. I wish that I could go back in time to the birth of my son and do everything all over again.
Also, some cartoonists might not be enjoying growing older and don’t find it to be amusing. The pitfalls of aging are becoming more and more apparent to me, and there is not much that I am looking forward to.
LOVE today’s strip. Of course you had me at Apollo… I knew 50 years ago that this was a game changer, an event that would define my childhood. One of the good memories instead of all of the tragedy that was prevalent.
What about all the humor Geech had in there about seniors and aging? It was funny. So was Kudzu which did a lot of death jokes
Well, maybe it just takes a southern cartoonist?
Doonesbury creator is of southern origin as well. We see humor differently I think.
Jackie 🙂
I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
Did you make this website yourself or did you hire
someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog and
would like to find out where u got this from. thanks
Good day very nice web site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Amazing ..
I will bookmark your site and take the feeds additionally?
I am happy to seek out so many useful info right here in the
publish, we’d like work out more techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing.
. . . . .
These are actually great ideas in about blogging. You have
touched some nice points here. Any way keep up wrinting.
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly.
I’m quite sure I will learn many new stuff right here!
Best of luck for the next!
I was recommended this web site by way of my cousin. I’m now not certain whether this
put up is written by way of him as nobody else recognise such unique approximately my difficulty.
You’re wonderful! Thank you!
Outstanding quest there. What happened after?
Thanks!
Thanks to my father who informed me on the topic of this webpage,
this weblog is truly amazing.
Ahaa, its fastidious dialogue about this piece
of writing here at this website, I have read all that, so now me also commenting at this place.
cheap flights http://1704milesapart.tumblr.com/ cheap flights