Arlo and Janis
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| Arlo and Janis | |
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 Arlo and Janis |
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| Author(s) | Jimmy Johnson |
| Current status | Running |
| Syndicate(s) | United Feature Syndicate |
| Launch date | July 29, 1985 |
| Genre(s) | Humor |
Arlo and Janis is a comic strip written by Jimmy Johnson. It was first published in newspapers on July 29, 1985.
Contents |
[edit] Storylines
The focus of the strip are its two title characters, a middle-aged, middle-class baby boomer couple with an easygoing approach to their lives. They are frequently joined by their son Gene and quirky cat Ludwig. Ludwig was introduced into the strip in the mid-1990s (casually, as if Arlo and Janis had always had a cat but he had never been mentioned before), and has only more recently become a regular character. Similarly, as Gene slowly matures into his mid-teens (having been approximately 8 when the strip was introduced, he's roughly 17 in 2006; in the June 16, 2006 strip, Janis mentions to Arlo that Gene will be going away to college in a year), his presence in the strip has shrunk dramatically; Johnson maintains that this is due to the way that adolescents detach themselves from their parents and begin to lead their own lives, a process he wanted to show realistically. The family surname is Day, although it's only rarely used in the strip.
[edit] Arlo and Janis' relationship
Despite having been a couple since meeting in college in 1973 (a backstory revealed in a series of strips that also functioned as a parody of the book and film Gone with the Wind), Arlo and Janis are still both sexually active and completely besotten with each other. The libidinous undertones of the strip, which can sometimes be surprisingly overt to readers used to the sanitized feel of other newspaper comics, are an ongoing feature of the strip. In a medium where long marriages are presented as either sexless or antagonistic (The Lockhorns, Andy Capp, etc.), the strips that show the couple's ongoing physical attraction to each other are a refreshing and realistic alternative.
[edit] Other elements
- The strip includes subtle political viewpoint. In particular, Arlo regularly rants about the insidious influence of large corporations on American society.
- There are regular detours into surrealism (e.g., Arlo "calling in sick" and being replaced by a large, realistically drawn alligator for a week of strips)
- Meta-joke strips about the process of writing a daily comic strip, and Arlo's fondness for the Florida-based singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett.
[edit] Geographic setting
Though it's unclear exactly where Arlo and Janis live, Johnson's southern upbringing regularly influences the strip, and it can be assumed that they live in or near a southern city such as Jackson, Mississippi, Birmingham, Alabama or Atlanta, Georgia.
[edit] The names: Arlo and Janis
Given the strip's original baby boomer focus, which has been toned down as the strip has aged into a quirky domestic comedy, it can be assumed that the lead characters are named after 1960s music icons Arlo Guthrie and Janis Joplin. Some readers familiar with the work of Johnson's ex-wife, the newspaper columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson, have suggested that Janis and Rheta are lookalikes. There's some suspicion that Gene is named for Eugene McCarthy.
[edit] Characters
- Source: Arlo and Janis at comics.com
- Arlo
- Arlo is Janis' husband. He works for one of those vague, comic-strip corporations that survives year after year despite inept management, disgruntled workers and no apparent purpose. You can tell when he's at work, because he wears a tie. You can tell when he's not at work, because he wears a tee-shirt. Arlo usually can be found sitting at his desk, sitting on the sofa or sitting on the patio. On rare occasions, he sits in the car.
- Janis
- Janis is Arlo's wife. Apparently, she has a job a lot like Arlo's. Originally, she was to have a cool job like an engineer or an architect or something, but that might involve research, so she was stuck in a comic-strip corporation, too. A highlight of the strip's 15-year run was when Janis bobbed her shoulder-length hair.
- Gene
- Gene is their son. Like the others, he appears in black and white Monday through Saturday and in color on Sundays. Gene is Janis' head with different hair on Arlo's body. For years, he was an integral member of the cast, but upon reaching adolescence, he disappears for days at a time.
- Ludwig
- Ludwig is the cat. He doesn't talk or think or do much of anything, really.
[edit] The artist Jimmy Johnson
Jimmy Johnson lives in the coastal city of Pass Christian, Mississippi. Although his own house was largely undamaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the devastation of his adopted hometown affected Johnson greatly; his blog at ArloAndJanis.com focused on little else for months afterward, and references to the hurricane appeared in the strip in the last third of 2005.
