This comic is from 1965, but showed up today at GoComics recycling of old B.C. comics. There are a lot of possibilities related to Janus being two faced, but do any of them come together as a gag?
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Isn’t it simply that “Across the Water” they haven’t added the extra month Solarius so, if it appeared on their calendar, they would have a WTF? moment.
This is the latest of a run of strips about regularising the calendar to thirteen months of twenty – eight days with an extra un-monthed day or two to keep the year correct.
Ian has it @1, but reading the arc also reminded me of a couple of instances in Pogo, in which they discussed implementing a “year of solid October”, Christmas falling on October 86th, then (a year later) on October 451st.
P.S. There’s also the old kiddie joke: Q: “What happens when the clock strikes thirteen?” A: “It’s time to buy a new clock.“
I wonder what Peter celebrates on Solarius 18, though, especially since this originally posted on January 2 (if the printed date is to be believed). Is Solarius supposed to be January? 1965 is a bit too early to be observing MLK Jr. Day, and none of the other holidays and feast days observed that day seem particularly major. If Solarius is supposed to be July, I know there’s no holidays then because July 18 is my birthday (1965 is too early for that too).
The month “Solarius” would have been inserted between June and July. I can’t find a reference to the exact calendar (or the author that Hart credited), but the using the rules for the “International Fixed Calendar”, Solarius would start on June 18, which would mean that the 18th of Solarius would have been July 5th. I think it is very probable that Hart had intended his date to be July 4th.
Internally, the Kodak corporation used a 13-month calendar from 1924 until 1989. In many ways, it makes business sense. Each month has the same number of workdays.
Marketing research companies typically work on a quadweek cycle. It makes it much easier to see whether sales are up, down, or flat. Plus, the incoming data often used to come in weekly. Of course, with everything speeding up now finer granularity of time is often useful.
I think Kilby is right. And perhaps the miscount published in January 1965 and drawn somewhat earlier was taken from a (current) 1964 calendar, which would have given July 4th.
@ MJSR – That‘s brilliant! I wish I had thought to consider that the strip had been written during a leap year.
@ Kilby:
} Q: “What happens when the clock strikes thirteen?”
} A: “It’s time to buy a new clock.“
“What happens when the clock strikes thirteen?”
A sergeant comes around to bug you.
dvandom – If you would like to trade birthdays for one on a holiday – I would be glad to do so and Robert would appreciate the change.
Having been born on Halloween I have always hated my birthday. Other children had birthday parties – I had Halloween parties with the major activity at the party often being going Trick or Treating with a bunch of children dressed as bums, witches, etc.
One year when I was in graduate school I did not have classes on a Halloween night and I came home to study (I lived at home when I was in college and grad school). My mom was upset I had not let her know I would be home – “I saw the cutest cake I would have bought if I knew you would be home.” Me – “Let me guess – chocolate with orange frosting, plastic fence, fuzzy cat, cardboard witch.” Mom – “How did you know.” Me – “That’s the same cake you buy every year.”
Hence Robert normally takes me to Lancaster, PAfor my birthday where we can go out for dinner and not have it served by a female football player covered in dirt and the table bussed by a science experiment gone wrong and covered in blood! And that was a fancy restaurant that had a dance band playing.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Isn’t it simply that “Across the Water” they haven’t added the extra month Solarius so, if it appeared on their calendar, they would have a WTF? moment.
This is the latest of a run of strips about regularising the calendar to thirteen months of twenty – eight days with an extra un-monthed day or two to keep the year correct.
Ian has it @1, but reading the arc also reminded me of a couple of instances in Pogo, in which they discussed implementing a “year of solid October”, Christmas falling on October 86th, then (a year later) on October 451st.
P.S. There’s also the old kiddie joke:
Q: “What happens when the clock strikes thirteen?”
A: “It’s time to buy a new clock.“
I wonder what Peter celebrates on Solarius 18, though, especially since this originally posted on January 2 (if the printed date is to be believed). Is Solarius supposed to be January? 1965 is a bit too early to be observing MLK Jr. Day, and none of the other holidays and feast days observed that day seem particularly major. If Solarius is supposed to be July, I know there’s no holidays then because July 18 is my birthday (1965 is too early for that too).
The month “Solarius” would have been inserted between June and July. I can’t find a reference to the exact calendar (or the author that Hart credited), but the using the rules for the “International Fixed Calendar”, Solarius would start on June 18, which would mean that the 18th of Solarius would have been July 5th. I think it is very probable that Hart had intended his date to be July 4th.
Internally, the Kodak corporation used a 13-month calendar from 1924 until 1989. In many ways, it makes business sense. Each month has the same number of workdays.
Marketing research companies typically work on a quadweek cycle. It makes it much easier to see whether sales are up, down, or flat. Plus, the incoming data often used to come in weekly. Of course, with everything speeding up now finer granularity of time is often useful.
I think Kilby is right. And perhaps the miscount published in January 1965 and drawn somewhat earlier was taken from a (current) 1964 calendar, which would have given July 4th.
@ MJSR – That‘s brilliant! I wish I had thought to consider that the strip had been written during a leap year.
@ Kilby:
} Q: “What happens when the clock strikes thirteen?”
} A: “It’s time to buy a new clock.“
“What happens when the clock strikes thirteen?”
A sergeant comes around to bug you.
dvandom – If you would like to trade birthdays for one on a holiday – I would be glad to do so and Robert would appreciate the change.
Having been born on Halloween I have always hated my birthday. Other children had birthday parties – I had Halloween parties with the major activity at the party often being going Trick or Treating with a bunch of children dressed as bums, witches, etc.
One year when I was in graduate school I did not have classes on a Halloween night and I came home to study (I lived at home when I was in college and grad school). My mom was upset I had not let her know I would be home – “I saw the cutest cake I would have bought if I knew you would be home.” Me – “Let me guess – chocolate with orange frosting, plastic fence, fuzzy cat, cardboard witch.” Mom – “How did you know.” Me – “That’s the same cake you buy every year.”
Hence Robert normally takes me to Lancaster, PAfor my birthday where we can go out for dinner and not have it served by a female football player covered in dirt and the table bussed by a science experiment gone wrong and covered in blood! And that was a fancy restaurant that had a dance band playing.