For a comic strip that has been around as long as it has, Arlo & Janis is blessed with a steady influx of new readers, especially on the Web. Occasionally, when events skip from the title characters to their son and his family, many of those new readers are left asking, “Who th’ heck are these people, and where is Arlo & Janis?” Now this will be a snooze for most of you, who’ve been reading A&J for a long time, but I thought it would be fun to take time on the blog today to introduce those other people in Arlo & Janis.
We must begin, of course, with Gene. Simply, Gene is the son of Arlo and Janis. For years in the strip, he was an almost daily presence, playing the role of the precocious little boy. But the characters age in A&J, if not in real time something close to it. Eventually, he went off to college, but he spent his summers working in a seafood restaurant “on the coast” that belonged to the family of a childhood friend. You might rightly ask, “What coast?” It’s never specified, but I grew up visiting the beaches of the northern Gulf Coast, from Gulfport to Apalachicola, so I suppose influence from that area is inevitable. You are free to insert the coast of your choice.
That childhood friend was Mary Lou. Mary Lou grew up on the beach, and she and Gene first met when they both were about 12 years old. They may have been the same age, but when it came to “precocious,” Mary Lou was far beyond young Gene. Yet, they bonded as friends. For several years, Gene would return to the beach with his vacationing parents and renew his acquaintance with Mary Lou. However, “Lou,” as she’s sometimes called, was destined for a life crisis of her own, and the two drifted apart briefly. The age of digital communication being what it is, though, they never lost touch completely, and by the time Gene the college boy arrived to work at her family’s restaurant, they were in love. Having weathered her crisis, Mary Lou played a large role in the day-to-day running of her father’s restaurant and initiated Gene into the demanding business of hospitality.
That “life crisis” was Meg, Mary Lou’s daughter. An intelligent and good-natured only-child, she literally grew up in the family business. She spent many hours doing homework and coloring in her grandfather’s cluttered office, and she sometimes lagged for quarters with the bus boys behind the restaurant. To further amuse herself, she would sit in a booth at slow times and bundle silverware and napkins. To be sure, she inherited the family work ethic, but the child in her took immediately to the child in Gene. They’ve been buds from the time they met. And, no, Gene is not Meg’s biological father, since it often is asked.
Gus is the patriarch of the coast clan, Mary Lou’s father and Meg’s grandfather. Starting from nothing, “Pop” has owned and operated a series of motels and restaurants along the coast. He owned the motel where Gene’s family stayed on several of their vacations, which is why Mary Lou was living at the beach when she and Gene met as children. Actually, Gus’ real business all along was real estate, as he sold one concern and purchased another. That beach property you wish you’d bought back when it was dirt cheap? Well, Gus did buy it, and he’s done quite well. After the kids married, Gus made Mary Lou and Gene partners in his popular restaurant, and when he sold the site to developers he rewarded their hard work generously. It was this largess that is bankrolling their current dream of living for themselves on their small farm. A no-nonsense man with an infinite love for his daughter and granddaughter, Gus is one of my favorite characters.
Well, that’s about it! I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief recap. I would like to remind everyone that there’s one more week in the Kickstarter campaign to resurrect the parsonage in Camp Hill. If you’re interested, click on the link below. If nothing else, check out the video! I worked a long time on that sucker, believe it or not!
133 responses to ““Who are these people?””
Good am. Been a long time reader but it was good to read the Bios. Like watching TV reruns in the summer. There are somethings you forget the first time and you enjoy seeing it again. Would like to see more of Gene and his family.
Gosh, Jimmy – you ARE up early! The bios of the other Day family is a nice touch. Always good to visit with old friends and far-away family…
“northern Gulf Coat”
Are you sure it wasn’t a jacket 🙂
Wow! A red-letter day at arloandjanis.com! Wonderful, these bios, Jimmy! I’ve been reading your work for years, but I did not recall Meg lagging for quarters or that Gus made money via real estate, exactly.
You know, these are all such good people you’ve invented. No wonder we all keep coming back for more. Hope there are lots of newbies starting to read you. Two more things:
“Picking and Grinning” is a great moniker for their produce stand—especially compared to that limp “Garden of Eatin'” one of them was throwing around once.
But now to find out there really is picking there—what a cool surprise! Wow, Mary Lou and Gene are smart at beating the bushes for business. Ya gotta be. You know.
Saw the blurb on the strip and went back, nothing going. I was just too early! Enjoyed the bios. I bet you have been up all night.
Gus reminds me of “Mike”, the Greek, who owned the Outrigger on Pensacola Beach back in the 60s. I was a pallbearer at his funeral. A great guy.
Next we need to have a “Whatever happen to?” blog….Seriously you kind of did that with Janis’ old co-worker and frankly I really didn’t care. But when Robin shows up again, let us know that back story on her. Or do we need to tell you?
Just love your strip,….been reading it for a very long time…almost 80 yr old mother/grandmother/great-grandmother
How about the boat(s)? I’m always wondering what happened.
Didn’t Gene have an older brother, way back when, or am I remembering a different cartoon?
Fran, that was in “Zits.” Jeremy had an older brother, Chad, who went off to college. (Remember the singing duo Chad and Jeremy from the ’60s?) He wasn’t actually written out, just stopped being mentioned.
Jimmy beat me to it.
Or Richie Cunningham’s older brother on Happy Days. That would have been a decent story-line.
Has it ever been explained why Gene has been blonde lately after always having dark hair?
This was a great idea – and I’ve been reading for years (just don’t put much on the comment section)
And wasn’t Gene named after Eugene McCarthy?
Wow! Many people came out for this party! Great to have them. I’ve been reading A&J since the beginning since JJ is a fellow alumnus of Auburn University and I had a subscription to the Opelika/Auburn News back in the 70’s to keep up with all things Auburn. Keep up the great work, JJ and never forget: IT’S GREAT TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER !!!
God bless us every one.
P.S. If the Good Lord is willing, I have plans to attend my 50 year class reunion of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine Class of 1967 in the Spring! WAR EAGLE !!!
Y’all need to stay around and keep partying. Must confess I like the matured Arlo and Janis far more than the early days. Oh lord, another pun! But I dislike “kid humor” so Gene improved with age.
Pregnant Mary Lou was one of guttsiest arcs in comic history and Jimmy handled it so well. I loved her entire dysfunctional functioning family including Gus, the restaurant and the boat.
The boat! The boats! What has happened to the boat?
Consensus seemed to be that Gene’s mysterious hair-color change was a syndicate colorist fail, which would have caused even more confusion and comment had it been corrected. Mary Lou has undergone more than one hair-color change, all of which have apparently gone unremarked. I wonder why. 🙂
I believe we were recently promised an explanation of the schooner’s disappearance, but it has not yet appeared.
Will we have a backstory on Mary Lou and Meg?
I’m very interested to know more about that.
Because we women do that, change at whim. That’s why we are whimen.
I know, puns are lowest form of humor after bathroom walls.
I’ve been reading Arlo & Janis since the 80’s and have 3 sons; age 34, 30, and 26. Gene has aged along with my sons. Stories reflected my son’s age but since Gene aged slower than real time, the comparison shifted from one son to the next. I always thought of Gus as being Greek like so many restaurant owners in Alabama and on the Gulf coast where I have lived fo
Leigh Ann, buy a copy of Beaucoup Arlo and Janis. The backstory is in there, along with Gene’s other girlfriends.
Ha, I thought there was going to be some kind of back story to the band that I’d missed. 🙂
Guys, Jimmy’s Kickstarter fund raiser is at near $14,000.
If you can, kick in a little more or kick in period, even if not huge amount. I had hoped he’d reach $20,000 and double his goal because this dream is selling hope. And hope is what faith and Christianity are about, should you want to view it in that respect.
But think of it as a friend with a dream of leaving his town better than he found it. I like that.