Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for March 18, 2014

OK, quick, everybody! What’s wrong with this strip?

We have nothing to fear but whatever that hairy, fanged monstrosity behind you is.err, I mean FEAR ITSELF?(Yeah, right.)

The stepdaughter’s eyes looked blunked out in the first frame.

Meg is beginning to resemble Agnes and those kids haverather large honkers!

I can see Meg as a mother very soon……….

The readers who complain?.It’s a story, let it be told.

“Everything”

Readers with short attention spans?

Not a danged thing.

This is the story of my life.

Oh, and the one kid lost his eyes somewhere along the way.

No, his eyes are just the same as the biggest kid’s in the second panel – just a short line segment in the outline of his head. It is harder to see. . . .

Many people, kids especially, expect that things are fully worked out down to the last detail. Tell them what you know, what you expect, and if it works out different, they claim you lied to them. There is no way out of this. “A man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest” – Paul Simon

I wonder if gus’s other daughter, will make it into the strip.

I usually try to be positive, but since you asked . . . Before I even read that first question from GR6. I was thinking, “My, what an ugly lot!” But I’ll go with whatever Jimmy wants to dish out.

The black kid has no eyes.

Gene’s in a tough spot cause he’s not Meg’s dad and so doesn’t want to over step and have to deal with a pissed off Mary Lou. I’ve been there. tap dancing in a mine field.

the kids do look eyeless. poor quality control.

I can kind of see where a lot of the comments are coming from in regards to the drawing of the kids and of the story line itself. The current arc is not really up to the same quality level as we are accustomed to with Mr. Johnson’s work…. BUT… we also need to keep in mind that this is a MAJOR CHANGE in character action and development for the comic. With that in mind, I think Mr. Johnson is working to develop these characters (including Meg, older) and like most early effort by writers of comic strips, there will be an evolution of how these characters look. I suspect within the next 2-3 months, Mr. Johnson will have firmed up in his mind the images of these younger kid characters. Likely the same sort of idea applies equally well to the dialogue the kids have, which compared to most of Mr. Johnson’s work, seems a bit off compared his usual high quality. I suspect that as he works through the characters some more, the dialogue will get as crisp and high quality as with the other characters. So…. in a nutshell…. I am suggesting we enjoy the development, and give Mr. Johnson some time to sort out the details a bit. It is still one helluva enjoyable comic!

1) Why are so many people all bothered by the change in direction here? It’s a comic strip, for Pete’s sake. Although it’s enjoyable, it’s not worth getting all worked up about (sorry, Mr. Johnson). If it’s not your cup of tea then stop reading for a while and check back periodically and see if the the story has moved on. And . . . 2) as for the drawing, there are so, so many strips where the art work is just awful. A&J is well drawn.

It takes a Retired Dude to set the record straight! Well said.

I appreciate this comic so much more when it has continuing stories, rather than daily gags!

I don’t mind the storyline ~ it’s just the way the kids are drawn creeps me out.

Has it ever been established what Meg’s father’s name is?

So much for the concept of a happy childhood.

So, I am hopeful that no one here thought my comments were “grouchy” for I was really trying to say to everyone…. let’s let Mr. Johnson have a bit of time to grow and develop these new characters both mechanically (how he draws them) and psychologically (how he writes their dialogue). It is a process that always occurs. It is rather enjoyable watching the process in work, at least in my opinion.

J.J’s just trying to go where Gasoline Alley went… you know, multi-generational, aging characters.

I like Luddie too, though.

Gene needs a haircut bad!

I think nothing’s wrong with the strip but I’m a bit confused. Did I miss something awhile back or is Meg really being written as older? I think the last time I saw her she was about six but now she and her friends seem to be ten or so. Its something about the clothes. Its like in the soap operas when a kid goes to summer camp and returns two weeks later as a teenager with her own story line; just takes some time to get used to it.

Is that old guy with the bulbous nose and double chin a dwarf???