Today, I’ve chosen another really old A&J for you, from 1987. I talk a lot here about the evolution of my drawing and sometimes about the evolution of the writing, but I don’t think enough is made of how much the personality of the characters has evolved over time. Arlo and Janis both have become familiar, knowable individuals. In the early days, as in this cartoon, nothing defined the players beyond an air of whimsy that always has existed within the strip and married-couple banter, hopefully from a fresh perspective—mine—but still married-couple banter. The development of the characters is, of course, a reflection of growth in drawing and in writing, yet it’s more: while a sum of the whole, it almost is a separate metamorphosis, the satisfying outcome of the cartoonist’s craft.
Punch Line
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 ...
252 responses to “Punch Line”
And Mark, thank you for correcting me….I’m embarrassed by the fact that I forgot about “The Boss” doing that song.
Sandcastler, I get awestruck anytime I see a military person (male and female) in their full dress.
There is a military base outside Corpus, one time I saw this huge cargo plane preparing for a landing….I was awestruck then how low and slow it made it’s landing, still cannot fathom how it could be that big and look like it was barely moving.
🙂
http://cheezburger.com/8507939840/cute-cats-gifs-whos-keeping-score
Ghost, check this story out: http://www.wsj.com/articles/colt-files-for-bankruptcy-seeks-august-auction-1434367176
Debbe, I could attempt to squeeze into my dress blues. :-). Both sexes eh? Do you swing from both sides of the plate? 😉
Houston is under a tropical rain warning. Seems there is a tropical depression out in the Gulf. At last report, it is lining up to either smite or side swipe us. The problem: bayou, rivers, and creeks are still high from two weeks ago. Standby,.
Jimmy, who says these things never fool anyone? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11675158/Police-in-hour-long-stand-off-with-garden-ornament-they-thought-was-snake.html
time for a new comic
Re Colt, Mark…yep, I’ve been following it. It’s what happens when hedge funds get involved and the financial can cannot be kicked any further down the road.
Sounds like we got out of Houston just in time. All streams and bodies of water were already flooding and muddy nasty water running high. Of course I’d better check Oklahoma this morning unless state no longer joins at Texas border?
Love Jackie
Thanks for the hen house pics, Debbe! That really helps me understand some of the things you’ve discussed. I have a great-uncle who raises rabbits on a large scale, and there are some similarities.
The last several days, we have been in Michigan’s UP along the southern coast of Superior. Doesn’t get any better for me, especially since we acquired some pretty nifty camo mosquito jackets that have mesh hoods. They even have drawstrings at the end of the sleeves so you can cover your hands!
Denise, I have donated blood to your thirsty vampires yall call mosquitoes I n swarms like mass blood suckling carnivores I will be up sailing with you later this summer, so exactly where did you buy these wondrous garments and can Mark link to them? The hats with nets didn’t do much good.
But I agree on weather and scenery and your attitude!
Love Jackie
Taking on water, the rains have arrived, again. Twenty story office building across the way appears at times to be shrouded in mist.
Power out. Scuppers overflowing. Bilge taking on water. Ship still upright.
Man the pumps! Set condition Zebra.
Thanks for the info, Denise. If there’s anything I really want to wear in the Deep South, June through September, it’s a jacket with a hood. 🙂
For those who care: it seems that all 3 Decorah eaglets flew the coop between about 1pm yesterday and now. Hope they remain out of touch with electrical wires….
I’m not surprised the British police didn’t know quite how to handle the “snake of the loose”. After all, they tell people not to defend themselves with anything that might injure their violent criminal attacker.* (Despite what the media would have you believe, they do have violent criminals there. Lots of them.)
https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q589.htm
*Note that they say on their web site that the only legal means of self defense is a rape whistle. Hint: Ladies, blow the whistle until you are blue in the face and perhaps the rapist will lose interest. That should work as least as well as it would on a “venomous adder”.)
British Empire, the sun called. It says it has set on you.
Sand, you make me laugh too. Mark, thank you my friend for the gift of Mark Knoplers who I am listening to right now sing “The Last Laugh” and now “Do America” now.
Ghost, I can’t agree with you on the UK but that is OK, the snake was funny. And I hate snakes pretty badly, just like Indy.
Love Jackie
Power is back, Loon is smiling, universe is humming.
Thought for the Day: Too often, in life-matters, we seek a hardware solution when it’s actually a software fix we need.
Ghost, some just need a reboot, about size 13, applied to the seat of the pants. Others, a boot to the head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8VD4JXUozM
Spoke too soon – one eaglet has returned to the Decorah nest.
Mark, that reminds me of a story told to me by an AF buddy: At his previous base, there was a young guy of Korean ancestry in his unit, just tall enough to meet the minimum height requirement for enlistment and about whom it was said had a Black Belt in Something-Fu, a fact he never confirmed nor denied. One night at a bar, someone at their table had words with someone at another table. The club bouncers put the kibosh on that and things seemed to settle down.
A short time later, the Korean kid got up to visit the facilities. A minute later, four guys from the other table got up and followed him. My buddy and his buddy looked at each other and immediately decided that wasn’t A Good Thingâ„¢. They jumped up and followed. They burst into the restroom to find the four other guys all on the floor, unconscious, and the Korean kid standing at the sink, calmly washing his hands.
GR6, “wax on, wax off.”
What a day. Rain. Sunshine. Power off, on, and flickering.