Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for April 15, 2016

A little strange. What’s up with her lately? Suppose it has anything to do with her reluctance to name the place? What was it again? There is something going on that we don’t know yet…..

Maybe she’s finally pregnant

I hope Gene is not going to dress like Arlo from now on – kinda creepy

pretty snarky comment there in panel 4… watch out Gene, thin ice ahead!

She’s cleaning windows in the same room (almost on top of him) at the same time he’s trying to paint? Or vice versa….

I see the service station building turning into MaryLu’s fresh egg Quiche and Salad Bar restaurant, with fresh eggs and produce outside

Old saying I picked up: “misers are hard to live with, but they make great ancestors”

Not funny. Not entertaining.

Don’t look a gift chicken in the beak, get some, it may provide higher education for her someday….

Has anyone informed Meg that chickens only lay well for about three years, and that, unless artificial light is used, hardly at all in winter? (Is it perpetual summer there?)

boring

I think they’re both just making wry comments on the fact that they don’t have much money.

Do any of you realize ho difficult it is to write and draw a cartoon day in and day out, all year, every year? I’m an artist…and I can draw cartoons, but I cannot draw a daily srip. I don’t have what it takes. Then on top of the hard work…people whine and criticize? A cartoon strip is meant to be read and enjoyed and laughed at, maybe to give a person something to think about, to ponder over. But mostly, just to enjoy. No one here went to “art critic school”.

I like the fact that we’ve gotten away from the joke-a-day strips for awhile. Set up some narrative that flows. Plus he’s giving Mary Lu more back story, remember when they met she was seeing someone else, something happened and we may be finally finding out what that is.

Get the kid a couple more chickens and include a rooster. Then, with a little patience she can have lots of chickens.

Mary Lou does indeed seem a bit moody during this series. Probably she is feeling the anxiety over the ambiguities of their chosen career (farming, small scale). It is very understandable. I do hope that after the colorist eventually realizes that Gene’s hair was traditionally brown…. that it reverts back. To me, the blond is a rather jarring error every time I see it…. even when I remember that it will likely be this way for several weeks in order for the error to be caught and corrected. I wonder if there is any symbolism or meaning in the darkness of the walls in their home today? I do not recall them being cast so darkly previously, even when the home was just bought and was a broken-down rattle trap. If it is symbolic, it could be of Mary Lou’s mood…. or it could be portending some sort of bad luck, potentially.

Puberty?

something mysterious is going on.

As for winter, they’re on the Gulf coast of Mississippi, likely near Mr Johnson’s home town of Pass Christian. It can get chilly at times, but winters are mostly mild. Arlo and Janis might live in a suburb of Jackson, which is several hours away.