Plugs for Hire Department
It’s no secret that Robert B. Parker (or at least his Boston private eye Spenser, had a thing for Jimmy Johnson’s Arlo and Janis comic strip. He mentioned the strip frequently in his books, perhaps most notably in Back Story (2003). Even Parker’s successor, Ace Atkins, has Spenser still reading the strip.
In 2005, the cartoonist eventually noticed.
This one comes from May 08, 2005.
And this one comes from March 28, 2008.
And now for something completely weird: “Arlo” was first used in the English language by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene.
According to Nameberry, it’s believed to have been derived from the Celtic word aherlow, meaning “between two highlands.”
The strips are obviously copyrighted, so please, please, please head on over to Go Comics, and read Arlo and Janis every day.
RELATED LINKS
- Arlo & Janis
The journal of Jimmy Johnson. - Spenser
This site’s entry on the man himself. - Robert B. Parker
The man behind the man himself. - The Beers of Spenser
My own geeky effort to trace the Spenser series through his brews of choice.
