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

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

The Christmas Caller IV

By Jimmy Johnson

December 24, 1993


OK, where were we? I don’t know why, but the thinly varnished human drama in Arlo & Janis mostly has befallen Gene, even going back years to when he was a rather young boy. I do know that is how I wound up with two strips on my hands, the main event featuring Arlo and Janis where humor is the emphasis, and the sideshow involving Gene and his family where sequential events are key. Fortunately for me, many readers seem to enjoy both treatments, but if pressed I think a majority would prefer one or the other. The Adventures of Gene (Let’s call them.) seem to have a particularly vociferous fan base. It is vociferous, because those fans don’t see much of their favorites, and they get restless. That’s understandable. One solution to this dilemma that often gets floated is a spin-off strip. It might surprise you to learn, I like this idea. I certainly have thought about it myself. The problem is, I don’t think I could pull it off. I probably would have to have some help, and I’ve always been a fiercely solitary act. I would not rule it out, though. With the constant shrinkage of the newspaper syndication business, it does seem prudent to take advantage of what has already been accomplished. I hope I have made myself clear.


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34 responses to “The Christmas Caller IV”

  1. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    JJ, I haven’t been around due to some serious health problems which have suddenly gone away, not virus related by the way. Anyway I suggest that you get a grab bag ready as it appears that you will get a a double shock early Wednesday. I may have to do the same.

    1. David in Granbury Avatar
      David in Granbury

      Jerry, I hope you (and everyone on the coast) stay safe with the approaching double-barrelled hurricane!

    2. TruckerRon Avatar

      Hurricanes on the way? I well remember the 2005 season. My closest brush with them came when I sneaked a load into a drop yard in Lakeland Florida the Friday before Wilma and ran an empty back to our terminal in Dalton GA. I had quite the argument with the dispatcher who had wanted me to sit there over the weekend and complete the delivery to a furniture store in Fort Meyers on Tuesday… which turned out to be the day after landfall in Florida.
      .
      I was never a fan of sitting still for days at a time, and I certainly didn’t want to wait and see where Wilma was going to hit!

  2. Steve from Royal Oak, Mi Avatar

    I agree he said it’d be very difficult to pull off. Plus I don’t think anybody else could really truly capture the spirit of Arlo & Janis. Although you certainly have a group here that would help you with ideas!

  3. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    I get the impression that Jimmy will set any assistants to doing the spin-off strip, since they would have a freer hand there. Gene’s family saga hasn’t had the depth and breadth of A&J, and other hands would find it easier to work out stories without running into resistance from long time readers.

  4. Linda Quesenbury Avatar
    Linda Quesenbury

    You do you….Do not let this new breed of entitled society demand from you until you run out of creative juices, or quit from exhaustion.

  5. Oclvroadbikerider Avatar
    Oclvroadbikerider

    She’ll get skinned especially after the long distance call bill arrives. Remember those?

  6. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    Orbr

    Hotel co. Phone & A&J are customers.

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

    Along with stories of Gene and Mary Lou, I still long for the continuation of “Lost Key.” (Or was it “Lost Keys”?)

  8.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    I think Gene is shocked at the idea of a mother who passes out?

    I remember as a kid being shocked at idea of mom’s who were drunks, who cheated on husbands or husbands who cheated. Worse yet were the dads who liked other men or kids.

    In my youth in 50s and 60s these were seldom talked about, whispered words, yet we knew. Sadly today’s kids deal with this, drugs, abuse and a thousand horrors. And they KNOW.

    1. Sideburns Avatar

      I think that he’d be more shocked by his friend might get beaten just for making a phone call.

  9.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    By the way, I like Ghost’s idea of making Sunday the day you catchup news on Gene’s family. Limit the spin off strip to one day. You already have to do a Sunday anyway so make it something you already have to do but make it something people would look forward to reading.

    1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
      curmudgeonly ex-professor

      I suspect, but do not know, that some folks’ only contact with A&J is via their Sunday paper. If a spin-off were to replace A&J in such a situation, those people would be lost to A&J. Perhaps, if a Gene spin-off is warranted, it could be a weekly (Sunday or not) but in addition to the daily A&J. That way, A&J readership would not be adversely affected. Then, too, if it were a weekly, it’d be only one more strip for JJ to write each week rather than another daily.

      1. Ghost Avatar
        Ghost

        I had not thought about that. But my “modest proposal” included using only *some* of the Sunday strips for the Coastal Branch News Report as an option to doing so *every* Sunday.
        Alternatively, I suppose Saturday or some other day would would work as well.

  10. Jackie Avatar
    Jackie

    Why would some people only get a Sunday strip? Have not read a newspaper since I cancelled my subscription when my mother died. Same time I turned off television (much happier getting news from Google who I have trained)

    Don’t the syndicates sell a package deal?

    1. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      Perhaps some non-subscribers buy only the Sunday edition of their metropolitan papers. But if they followed the comics I suppose they’d have to do so on-line anyway.

  11. Steve Avatar
    Steve

    I think it’s a treat to get the “Gene story” interspersed with the A&J story. Readers get a glimpse of Gene’s life which A&J May not be fully aware of. Keep it up.

  12. Kathleen Cunningham Avatar
    Kathleen Cunningham

    I’d like Gene & Mary Lou & Meg to remain a part of the Arlo & Janis strip. I like Meg & ML’s dad, & the change of scenery. Gene & ML should have a baby. During this time of Covid I would have thought it would have been a perfect time for Arlo & Janis to shelter at the coast with the kids as so many other families have done.

  13. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    I don’t think that I need to worry about evacuation but couldn’t with four cats anyway. Would I risk my life for four cats? They”re my children and they come to me when it thunders. I’m not leaving them.

    1. Jackie Avatar
      Jackie

      Jerry I have evacuated with several cats before. It can be done. I am with you, they are my babies, my fur babies and yes I’d risk my life for them. Love to your furbies.

  14. emb Avatar
    emb

    All:
    This article should be a comfort to those of us worried that AI is about to take over the world. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/22/1007539/gpt3-openai-language-generator-artificial-intelligence-ai-opinion/
    I’d worry about COVID-19, or [STOP: mustn’t get political].
    Peace,

    1. TruckerRon Avatar

      GPT3 writes like a desperate freshman at 4 a.m. trying to bamboozle his way through that first essay on an unfamiliar topic!

  15. Rob Fargher Avatar
    Rob Fargher

    “The Adventures of Gene”?? No, no, it’s got to be “Meg’s Eggs”. 🙂

  16. Jackie Avatar
    Jackie

    Thank God I never read anything that anyone links or forwards. It makes my life that much happier.

  17. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    Fill Trump with sand and throw him on top of the levee. Like a miracle the hurricane will disappear. It’s just been a hoax anyway.

  18. TruckerRon Avatar

    No, Jerry, the hoax is about the meteor. I got this at spaceweather.com…
     
    CAVEAT IMPACTOR–‘ELECTION DAY ASTEROID’ IS NO THREAT: Many news sources are reporting the approach of asteroid 2018 VP1, which might hit Earth on Nov. 2nd. According to NASA, there is a significant 0.4% chance of impact. There’s no need to fear, however, because this asteroid is really small–only about 2 meters in diameter. Even if the space rock does hit Earth, the vast majority of its mass will disintegrate harmlessly high in the atmosphere, producing a beautiful fireball, not Armageddon.
     
    The election day asteroid truly isn’t a threat, but I’ve seen multiple references to it in the news with alarmist headlines.

    1. David in Granbury Avatar
      David in Granbury

      It was fun, but I kept waiting for the “epic drum solo” part. I was expecting something like the drums in the Surfaris “Wipeout.” 😀

  19. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Re the 8-24-20 real-time cartoon: My first thought was that Janis had come up with a new role-playing game. Arlo would probably have thought so, too, had he wandered into the bathroom.
    It is easy for me to tell when I am wearing a mask. The incipient asphyxiation alerts me. I wear them, but boy howdy, it sure makes it hard to breathe in Oklahoma in the summertime.

    1. TruckerRon Avatar

      That does have a lot to do with humidity, doesn’t it… Also, the odor of my own burps gets to me after a while!!!

    2. Rusty Avatar
      Rusty

      Ghost, I’ll see your “Oklahoma” and raise you a “Houston”…and no asphyxiation even! 😉

  20. Jackie Avatar
    Jackie

    Ghost and I are lost as to why Arlo is lapping Ludwig as a Payback.

    Who knows explanation?

    1. Rusty Avatar
      Rusty

      Cats getting the zoomies in the middle of the night while you’re trying to sleep… 🙂