Jean AKA Jeannie AKA Jeanie is a film, book, and magazine reviewer for a national magazine. Most of Jean’s work is done through email, which means he doesn't have to go into the office.
On a trip to find a gift for his girlfriend, Jean found an empty Genie Bottle. Upon picking up this bottle, Jean became the bottle’s new genie-powered occupant. Not only was Jean turned into a genie, but the bottle turned him into what he believed a genie of the bottle should look like. Which, due to his fascination with a classic 60s TV show, turned him into a busty blonde woman.
A junior engineer working for a small engineering firm in Cocoa Beach. The firm focuses mostly on NASA projects.
Neil is Jean’s best friend. When Jean was turned into a genie, Neil became Jeanie’s master.
You learn something new about your favorite webcomic this year. So does Neil celebrate only Hannukkah or both Hannukkah and Christmas like some family?
Hard to say. Though Jean doesn’t mention it, so most likely it’s just Hanukkah.
I celebrate both, though! My family has a really weird mix: Mormon on my dad’s side, Jewish on my mom’s. Neither have been active members of their family’s faiths for many decades, though. My sister and I grew up 100% secular, and just got to enjoy having double holidays. 🙂
@Kattgirl – it’s not funny when you actually do some of that stuff, though. Pretty sure I’m gonna be drunk until 2019 after my Airing of Grievances earlier today.
Ok! I was already pleasantly surprised with the first page of this story, even being a special in the middle of an hiatus in the middle of the most serious plotline so far, it still feel like an actual main plot in the story, and know we are learning more of the main characters! Not only that, but Jean and Neil are actually talking like normal friends for once. I am really digging this special so far, and we are only in page two and have cno idea as to where we are going with this!
I liked the movie when I saw it—but I was, oh, six or seven when I last saw it. It could be as bad as they say, but, then, several other movies I really like wind up on several “all time worst” lists.
Hmm. Anton is a Latin-descended surname, (from Antonius) so there are numerous European nationalities that could be involved; any one could have Jewish admixtures. So, no telling where Neil’s family is from.
And – I guessed right about why Neil is staying put!
Not quite. He’s on-call, which means he can be away from the office, but has to come back if he gets a call about a problem that requires his engineering expertise to solve.
Which means, he can go to the mall which is close by, but, he can’t leave town. Like leave Cocoa Beach, Florida and fly to Cincinnati, Ohio, which is almost a 1,000 miles away. He can’t drive there either, because, that about one and half day drive time one way.
We won’t know for sure how they are called until we find some Martian, but … there was winter solstice on Mars on Oct 16 2018 and I would bet Martians put some holiday at or around it.
The Jewish calendar is a lunar one; instead of a leap day, we have a leap month about every three years–pretty much the same arrangement that the Chinese use, which is why Chinese New Year wanders around the regular calendar. The fact that Jean doesn’t have a clue about this by now, growing up in Cincinnati which has a large Jewish presence in addition to have been around Neil for so long makes her even more oblivious.
This year Hanukkah started on December 2 and ended the evening of December 10.
December. The only time when characters in stories are ever identified as jew or gentile.
I’ve honestly got mixed feelings toward that. On one hand, if you’re going to make that part of a character, then make it part of their character. If they have a religious belief, then show that belief impacting their lives. Give the character more dimension, otherwise you devalue that quality by making it appear meaningless.
On the other hand, if a story isn’t going to really do an honest job depicting someone’s real-world sub-culture, then maybe its better to not try to. Let’s avoid pushing stereotypes and cheap cliches, and just keep the story focused on the things that matter to the story, otherwise you devalue those qualities by making them unrealistic.
I really would love to see more stories use character’s religions and beliefs as valid qualities of their character that helps shape who they are. But I also would hate for such beliefs to not be represented properly.
So I both love and hate this new information about Neil.
Religion is honestly a hard subject to represent in any kind of media, if you are not careful you can end making a unfortunate stereotype or just a very obnoxious character. Jewish is particularly hard because for the most part you can’t associate most Jews with a race (Again, I don’t want to fall into stereotypes, but it’s easy to assume that an Indian character may practice Hinduism, an Arabic one may be Muslim, and most Latin ones may be Catholic).
Both in reality and fiction, most people doesn’t go around talking about their religion, so it’s a subject hard to bring up in casual way in a story that doesn’t involve religion to begin with, without being forced.
Still, sometimes a casual line of dialogue or a reference is enough for this kind of stories, some readers may be happy to find they share something in common with one of their favorite character without feeling is a token or a stereotype. It all depends of the kind of story you want to tell, and how relevant it is to the plot.
While I largely agree with what you’re saying, I still feel that it brings a missed opportunity in most cases. Especially since most stories we read/view tend to revolve around situations that far exceed “normal.” When characters are put in situations that test their moral limits or challenge their understanding of the world, I find their religious beliefs are VERY pertinent. If I was in an extreme situation like I see in most of the media I watch/read, I know I would act differently than the characters because of my religious beliefs. And I find such beliefs are very relevant to use to guide character motivation and decision making. They don’t necessarily have to be preachy about it, but a well-written story would consider such things in the character’s behavior.
Granted, not every story needs to be so well thought-out. This comic for example is focused more on comedy than character building, but there is still enough character building in this comic that it would be good to see it as at least a subtle nod in how people react.
nice to have Jean back. Don’t suppose Jean has tried to buy herself a new bottle and going to end up with a new genie inside. Is there a link between this strip and the bottle with the new genie that just go sold in the online auction?
That other “Another Jeanie in a Bottle” is a non cannon. CD Rudd, did do some Jeanie in a Bottle for Christmas, before he left. Will Another Jeanie in a bottle develop into a spin off like Melvin Chronicle, probably not. Will Another Jeanie in a Bottle develop it own cannon, unknown.
I like this guy’s art style. Robert, you need to see if he’ll do more comics for the site 😉
On a serious note, how devout is Neil/the Anton family? I think there’ve been times where he’s eaten less than kosher in the comic, so I’m kind of curious now that his faith has been mentioned.
According to a survey by Pew Research in 2013, about 65% of jews in America are either secular or Reform, of whom most do not keep kosher. About 18% are Conservative, who vary in degrees regarding diet, and only 10% are Orthodox. I believe that you find most of the Orthodox ones in big cities. (Correct me if I’m wrong, Robert.)
So chances are good that Neil doesn’t worry about it. I had a roommate in college who was Conservative Jewish, and claimed to keep kosher – except that every time I’d cook bacon, she’d sneak a few pieces.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned yet that Martian holidays (whether celebrated by natives or colonists) would most likely be aligned to the Darian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar.
I was glad to read that Jews don’t follow the kosher so much. I would hate to think they could not enjoy country ham, crispy bacon and catfish. I will have to dig out my dvd copy of “Santa Claus conquers the Martians” tomorrow while I wait up for him. That movie is almost as good as “Plan nine from outer space.” Now, in panel three is Jean holding Neal’s hand???
No, Tom. Jeanie (in the header) is holding holly. Dark green with spiky leaves and red berries. Mistletoe is light green with oval leaves, and white berries.
Now i feel bad for both of them and wish they both could visit their families.
You learn something new about your favorite webcomic this year. So does Neil celebrate only Hannukkah or both Hannukkah and Christmas like some family?
Hard to say. Though Jean doesn’t mention it, so most likely it’s just Hanukkah.
I celebrate both, though! My family has a really weird mix: Mormon on my dad’s side, Jewish on my mom’s. Neither have been active members of their family’s faiths for many decades, though. My sister and I grew up 100% secular, and just got to enjoy having double holidays. 🙂
Ah, but the real question is, do you celebrate Festivus, with the restivus?
@Kattgirl – it’s not funny when you actually do some of that stuff, though. Pretty sure I’m gonna be drunk until 2019 after my Airing of Grievances earlier today.
Unfortunately, I do not celebrate Festivus. I am not with the restivus.
Ok! I was already pleasantly surprised with the first page of this story, even being a special in the middle of an hiatus in the middle of the most serious plotline so far, it still feel like an actual main plot in the story, and know we are learning more of the main characters! Not only that, but Jean and Neil are actually talking like normal friends for once. I am really digging this special so far, and we are only in page two and have cno idea as to where we are going with this!
Then it’s past time to borrow one—didn’t they borrow Christmas in “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians?”
I thought of that same movie when copy editing this page! 🙂
I liked the movie when I saw it—but I was, oh, six or seven when I last saw it. It could be as bad as they say, but, then, several other movies I really like wind up on several “all time worst” lists.
Hmm. Anton is a Latin-descended surname, (from Antonius) so there are numerous European nationalities that could be involved; any one could have Jewish admixtures. So, no telling where Neil’s family is from.
And – I guessed right about why Neil is staying put!
He was obviously selected to watch the monitors that keeping track of the rover on Mars. So he the one that following what going on at Mars.
Not quite. He’s on-call, which means he can be away from the office, but has to come back if he gets a call about a problem that requires his engineering expertise to solve.
Which means, he can go to the mall which is close by, but, he can’t leave town. Like leave Cocoa Beach, Florida and fly to Cincinnati, Ohio, which is almost a 1,000 miles away. He can’t drive there either, because, that about one and half day drive time one way.
Now I want to know.
What dates are the Martian holidays on and what are they called?
We won’t know for sure how they are called until we find some Martian, but … there was winter solstice on Mars on Oct 16 2018 and I would bet Martians put some holiday at or around it.
The Jewish calendar is a lunar one; instead of a leap day, we have a leap month about every three years–pretty much the same arrangement that the Chinese use, which is why Chinese New Year wanders around the regular calendar. The fact that Jean doesn’t have a clue about this by now, growing up in Cincinnati which has a large Jewish presence in addition to have been around Neil for so long makes her even more oblivious.
This year Hanukkah started on December 2 and ended the evening of December 10.
Well, to be fair, some days of Hanukkah can sometimes land on Christmas, so Jean’s question isn’t totally out of left field.
December. The only time when characters in stories are ever identified as jew or gentile.
I’ve honestly got mixed feelings toward that. On one hand, if you’re going to make that part of a character, then make it part of their character. If they have a religious belief, then show that belief impacting their lives. Give the character more dimension, otherwise you devalue that quality by making it appear meaningless.
On the other hand, if a story isn’t going to really do an honest job depicting someone’s real-world sub-culture, then maybe its better to not try to. Let’s avoid pushing stereotypes and cheap cliches, and just keep the story focused on the things that matter to the story, otherwise you devalue those qualities by making them unrealistic.
I really would love to see more stories use character’s religions and beliefs as valid qualities of their character that helps shape who they are. But I also would hate for such beliefs to not be represented properly.
So I both love and hate this new information about Neil.
Religion is honestly a hard subject to represent in any kind of media, if you are not careful you can end making a unfortunate stereotype or just a very obnoxious character. Jewish is particularly hard because for the most part you can’t associate most Jews with a race (Again, I don’t want to fall into stereotypes, but it’s easy to assume that an Indian character may practice Hinduism, an Arabic one may be Muslim, and most Latin ones may be Catholic).
Both in reality and fiction, most people doesn’t go around talking about their religion, so it’s a subject hard to bring up in casual way in a story that doesn’t involve religion to begin with, without being forced.
Still, sometimes a casual line of dialogue or a reference is enough for this kind of stories, some readers may be happy to find they share something in common with one of their favorite character without feeling is a token or a stereotype. It all depends of the kind of story you want to tell, and how relevant it is to the plot.
While I largely agree with what you’re saying, I still feel that it brings a missed opportunity in most cases. Especially since most stories we read/view tend to revolve around situations that far exceed “normal.” When characters are put in situations that test their moral limits or challenge their understanding of the world, I find their religious beliefs are VERY pertinent. If I was in an extreme situation like I see in most of the media I watch/read, I know I would act differently than the characters because of my religious beliefs. And I find such beliefs are very relevant to use to guide character motivation and decision making. They don’t necessarily have to be preachy about it, but a well-written story would consider such things in the character’s behavior.
Granted, not every story needs to be so well thought-out. This comic for example is focused more on comedy than character building, but there is still enough character building in this comic that it would be good to see it as at least a subtle nod in how people react.
nice to have Jean back. Don’t suppose Jean has tried to buy herself a new bottle and going to end up with a new genie inside. Is there a link between this strip and the bottle with the new genie that just go sold in the online auction?
That other “Another Jeanie in a Bottle” is a non cannon. CD Rudd, did do some Jeanie in a Bottle for Christmas, before he left. Will Another Jeanie in a bottle develop into a spin off like Melvin Chronicle, probably not. Will Another Jeanie in a Bottle develop it own cannon, unknown.
Hachimitsu Ink has done other much longer series, so I have some hope the spinoff might continue.
I like this guy’s art style. Robert, you need to see if he’ll do more comics for the site 😉
On a serious note, how devout is Neil/the Anton family? I think there’ve been times where he’s eaten less than kosher in the comic, so I’m kind of curious now that his faith has been mentioned.
Barely any Jews eat kosher. It’s really only a subset, or certain specific, more religiously oriented sects, who bother with those rules.
Oh. Thanks, I did not know that. Learn something new every day, I suppose.
According to a survey by Pew Research in 2013, about 65% of jews in America are either secular or Reform, of whom most do not keep kosher. About 18% are Conservative, who vary in degrees regarding diet, and only 10% are Orthodox. I believe that you find most of the Orthodox ones in big cities. (Correct me if I’m wrong, Robert.)
So chances are good that Neil doesn’t worry about it. I had a roommate in college who was Conservative Jewish, and claimed to keep kosher – except that every time I’d cook bacon, she’d sneak a few pieces.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned yet that Martian holidays (whether celebrated by natives or colonists) would most likely be aligned to the Darian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar.
Don’t forget Era Sputnik Remember, Alita is a Martian.
Bah, humbug! Skip all that planetary-specific stuff, and just use Stardates.
I was glad to read that Jews don’t follow the kosher so much. I would hate to think they could not enjoy country ham, crispy bacon and catfish. I will have to dig out my dvd copy of “Santa Claus conquers the Martians” tomorrow while I wait up for him. That movie is almost as good as “Plan nine from outer space.” Now, in panel three is Jean holding Neal’s hand???
Based on panel 4, I would say that it’s quite unlikely that Jeanie was holding Neil’s hand in panel3. Its probably just her fingers in a fist.
You are probably right but a little Christmas romance under the missletoe never hurts.
I dunno, man. Attempting to romance Jeanie under the mistletoe seems like it very well could hurt. 🙂
Unless your name is Anne Anderson… I think Jeanie had some ideas along those lines.
Actually Jeanie is holding mistletoe. Missile Toe lives in Xanth and he’s a professional Monster Under the Bed.
No, Tom. Jeanie (in the header) is holding holly. Dark green with spiky leaves and red berries. Mistletoe is light green with oval leaves, and white berries.
But you’re right about Missile Toe.