Jimmy Johnson (cartoonist)
Jimmy Johnson is an American comic strip cartoonist who writes and draws Arlo and Janis.
Johnson was born and grew up in Lanett, Alabama, graduating from Lanett High School in 1970. He is an alumnus of Auburn University, class of 1974.
"My earliest cartoon work was copying Fred and Barney and Yogi Bear. I became quite proficient and was able to amaze my friends," wrote Johnson.[1] Johnson credits his mother with being especially supportive of his early artwork.
As a young man just out of college, Johnson briefly worked as a reporter and in the public relations department of Auburn University.[2] In the years before Arlo and Janis, from about 1980 to 1985, Johnson drew cartoons professionally for newspapers. He did so on a part-time basis when he was a reporter and editor, and then full-time as an editorial cartoonist in Jackson, Mississippi. While employed in this role, Johnson won the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Award.
From 1985 to the present, Johnson has drawn Arlo and Janis for national syndication by NEA. Johnson said, "At the time I sold Arlo & Janis to the newspaper syndicate United Media in 1985, there were a lot of "talking animal" strips. Newspaper editors reacted to this by demanding more comic strips about human beings, particularly young families. So, it really was a market-driven thing."[3]
Johnson draws the strip in traditional comic strip fashion, "with an old-fashioned pen nib and India ink on 2-ply Bristol paper."[3] But Johnson, nodding to modernity, scans the finished drawings for transmission to the syndicate editors, and syndicate colorists color the daily strips. He uses Photoshop to color the Sunday strips himself.
In his comic strip about a small family, Johnson, the former reporter and editorial cartoonist, presents political and social commentary through his characters. Of course humor is also integral, and Johnson writes "jokes about many different subjects, not unlike stand-up comedians do." Much of the strip's content is grounded in "Arlo and Janis' love and continued desire for each other."[3] Johnson's signature style is notable for undeniable sexual suggestiveness, so much so that "The Arlo Award" is awarded to "Cartoonists Who Slip One by the Syndicate's Censors."[4]
Johnson was at one time married to author Rheta Grimsley Johnson, and the two remain good friends.[5][6]
As of 2006, despite the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, he still owns a home in Pass Christian, Mississippi.[7]
On April 3, 2006, he suffered a mild heart attack.[citation needed]
References
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