For Better or For Worse - 2007...and Beyond?

Fans of For Better or For Worse, Lynn Johnston's semi-autobiographical family strip, have been waiting with bated breath to find out if the rumors that the strip would end in 2007 were true. Well, we've received word from Lynn Johnston, and the news is good!

Although Johnston will begin to lighten her workload in September (around the time the strip turns 28), she will continue to produce FBOFW on a daily basis as an old/new hybrid. The focus of the strip will shift from Elly and John Patterson, the stars of the comic strip since it began in 1979, to their son, Mike, and his family. After the transition, FBOFW will be a unique mix: new strips featuring Mike and family, with guest appearances by the rest of the FBOFW cast, plus previously published strips/scenes with new lead-in panels, and in some cases, retouched art.

The hybrid strip offers the best of both worlds; it will enable Johnston to cut back on the daily grind (who wouldn't need some rest after producing nearly three decades-worth of daily comics?), but will still give fans their Patterson family fix.

There will be one more difference, and it's a big one if you're a fan of FBOFW's realistic treatment of time: The characters will no longer age. Johnston says the gradual aging of the characters was not planned when the strip began, and after 30 years, she's ready to freeze the Pattersons at their current ages.

With all of these changes on the horizon, it will be a different FBOFW that ends 2007. But knowing that Lynn Johnston will still be treating us to daily doses of FBOFW in 2008 and beyond is cause for celebration.

Click here to read the full FBOFW press release.

Comments

[veronica]

Hello, so sorry to here that the characters are not going to age anymore :-( that is one of the reasons i never missed reading for better or for worse. It is a wonderful comic and it has brought me much enjoyment.
thank you,
veronica

[Mike E.]

Well, OK, if it has to be that way. But PLEASE bring some kind of resolution to ALL of the main characters before moving to concentrate on Mike and family...I mean, I've been watching Elizabeth and Anthony NOT get together for so long, here's hoping that now things are moving in their direction. Finally. I haven't been disappointed with their story, but I always hoped there'd be a way -- and when he married that shrew, well, my hopes were raised. Anyway...my two cents.

[Jess]

I'm glad the strip will continue, though my family and I had speculated she might continue the chronological story through books rather than under the pressures of syndication. One thing which does bother me about the aging process ending, is that we won't find out what becomes of April.

I always figured ending the strip when April finished high school and was ready to go out into the world and do... whatever, would be a logical place to wind up. The timing would give time for closure to basically all the characters.

Of all the characters, April is the one I want to see age... at least a few more years.

[Becky]

Kind of sad to hear the comic is going to be based on Mike and his family. Never really found him very interesting. I've been more interested in Elizabeth, even though Mike is my age bracket. I would actually like to see Elizabeth with the pilot, of course, noone asked my opinion either. Guess I would like to see the characters age as well. To be able to see the changes and new challenges of an ever changing family, getting older, having children, having children start to date, that sort of thing. I am thrilled that the strip is still going to be run. And am going to look forward to my Better or Worse daily fix.

[Jason]

Sigh....

First Foxtrot and now For Better or Worse.... I have almost all of the books and have followed the story since I was a young lad. But 28 yrs as a completely successful comic is nothing to be sneezed at.

A big thanks to Lynn for entertaining us over the years and a hope that this will continue.

[Roberta]

I'm old enough to remember when April was introduced into the strip ... essentially, Elly and John had another baby because the publisher was worried that with Elizabeth outgrowing toddler baby-talk, the strip might lose its "cute" appeal. I'm glad Lynn Johnston has achieved that coveted artists' prize, the right to slow down and still get to continue her creative endeavor. I'm suspicious, though, that the "decision" not to focus on John and Elly, or age the characters is a result of that more insidious form of ageism -- ignoring the ageing process, as if people go from being vivacious but vulnerable young adults to venerated wise elders magically over night. As a middle-aged woman whose parents are in their 80s, I greatly admire the depiction of Elly's father and stepmother struggling to maintain independence in the face of his stroke. I am saddened that this wonderful depiction of life as it really happens is going to take on the Dagwood and Blondie 50s-quality that has turned me off of other comic strips. I am not worried about what will become of April; I am curious to see how Johnston depicts who own contemporaries, Elly and John, as they enter the final stage of life with the experience that only comes with age.

[Leesa]

I'm sad to hear that the characters aren't going to age anymore...
That was part of the appeal of FBOFW for me, watching the characters mature and change with age...
Watching their lives and stories move forward.

While I'm glad that the comic isn't going anywhere - I'm not happy with this change.
I also hope that Elizabeth will continue to be in the comic - because I've also enjoyed the story line that comes with her.

I have very mixed feelings about this :(

[Betty]

Big sigh,,,,,,
The Pattersons are the perfect everyday family. Problems and all. I shall miss the trials & tribulations of the ever growing families there in. But as much as we'd like them to stay as they are,, we all know nothing stays the same or lasts forever. I am sure glad Elizabeth has found out the truth about "Paul" & Susan. She was much more mature about it than I would have been in her shoes at that age.

[Jason]

Maybe it's more of a 'passing of the torch' in that, when the strip started, it concentrated on Elly and John, with a very young Michael and Elizabeth. Now, it's almost a parallel: Michael and Deanna have two young children, and are at nearly the same point in life that J and E were. I'm just glad that the strip is continuing, as much as the loss of 'the aging process' will be, but things may change in the future. As for the concentration on Michael's family: there can be cameos by other characters, and some story arcs (since I'm sure that everyone wants to know who Elizabeth will end up with). Remember in the beginning when Phil (Elly's brother) was a large part of the strip as were her neighbours. Now, they are just periphery characters. I hope the new twist will work out.
For Better or For Worse has given us 28 yrs of excellence, and for that I'm thankful and I trust that she will continue to do so.

[Allan G]

I really don't care for this change, not at all. First, the ageing of the characters was what made the strip special. I wonder if freezing the ages of the characters would inevitably lead to other things, like ignoring death? The strip wouldn't have the same appeal if Farley was still around (the death of Farley was sad, but memorable, and well handled). I wonder if this is Lynn's way of avoiding dealing with the death of the grandfather...

Second, I'm not crazy about Mike and his family. Oh, they're nice enough, but kind of dull. A little too perfect (I have writer friends, and no one gets the kind of breaks he's managed in such a short span of time). With the lack of ageing, I'm not sure I'll bother reading it after the change over.

Third, I can't stand Anthony! Something about him just bugs me. He came over as too wimpy when he got married, and the moustache does nothing for him. I'd rather she Elizabeth hook up with Warren. Or leave it open.

To be entirely honest, I wish she had just ended the strip with some finality rather than compromise its integrity.

[Bill Wands]

For Better or Worse has been the highlight every day of every week, for years and years now, when I read the newspaper or get on Yahoo comics. It may not be the most popular out there, but I am sure it is probably one of the most well known. Having read Lynn Johnston's creation for so long, her characters feel almost like family to me. From long before Farley died at that river, (if memory serves me correctly), long before April was born and Elizabeth was a little girl aggravating her big bro Michael, FBOFW has been an entertaining, heartfelt, very realistic comic strip, mirroring everyday real life and experiences. Too bad we in real life have to age, but at least these characters have aged with us.

Will it be the same after this coming year? We can only hope so. Lynn, it will be hard seeing life in ink, so much like our own, changing, but please, keep it going for us, your fans...

And thank you for almost 28 years of a wonderful comic.

[Danial]

I've enjoyed this strip for years. I don't see it being nearly as interesting however, once the characters stop aging.

[Lisa]

I've been following the strip since 1990 and I was really hoping we'd find out what April would grow up to be and who Elizabeth would choose (I'm hoping for Warren...Anthony seems dorky). I guess I find them more interesting than Mike and his family, and would have liked solid closure a la Calvin and Hobbes. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Regardless, I want to find out what happens to Liz, because we're the same age.

[Lisa]

I've been following the strip since 1990 and I was really hoping we'd find out what April would grow up to be and who Elizabeth would choose (I'm hoping for Warren...Anthony seems dorky). I guess I find them more interesting than Mike and his family, and would have liked solid closure a la Calvin and Hobbes. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Regardless, I want to find out what happens to Liz, because we're the same age.

[John Pattison]

This is a most beloved comic strip and, indeed, a profound work of evolving art beloved of our society. In many ways, it fills the classical function of great literature. I eagerly await each new strip, and I will be very sorry to see it change. Much of its great value is the way it has always dealt with the real and private things that happen in every functional family and in daily domestic life and, at the same time, explores important social, economic and philosophic issues as well. As with all great art, it holds up a mirror of ourselves and our society and assits us better to understand both.

Indeed, I think it may be a mistake to have it carry forward as a kind of "spin-off" of the original, with no real-time ageing of the characters and with the primary focus moved to a new family.

Hard as it is, it might have been better to have a true, "last strip" and end it - completely. Appropriate closure is initially more of an emotional challenge, both for the readers and the creator, but a subsequent "half-life", with fundamental features changed or gone may, in the long run, diminish the power and memory of the original. Closure comes to us all in real life, and so it should with For Better or For Worse as well.

[Wai]

I hate the idea of the characters no longer aging. People only stop aging when they die. And it will feel to me that the entire Patterson family will have died when the new story line goes into effect. The fact that the characters aged, grew and developed was the reason I fell in love with the comic strip in the first place. This is how much I love the comic strip: not only do I look forward to the next day's installment, but I stay up till 1:00 AM so I can read it as soon as it posts in one of the online newspaper's comics section, before I go to bed. If the aging aspect of the storyline is gone, then the spin-off strip won't amount to a hill of "Peanuts."

[Anne]

I've been reading this comic daily from a few years prior to April's birth, whatever year that was. It's a fantastic strip - now that Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbs, and Foxtrot are gone, it's the only one left that I adore.

Stopping the aging is TERRIBLE. It would amount to the evisceration of the strip.

Dear Lynn:
Please reconsider - you were right the first time when you decided to end the strip. All those people who cried and wailed and begged you to keep the strip going didn't want this - their pleas were just their way of praising your work and being sad that all wonderful things eventually end. "Something is better than nothing" is not true. Don't turn your strip into a Frankenstein that anybody can draw. Like the loss of Farley, stop while the strip is still great. Get out in Sept instead of having your fantastic story die this weird hybrid death. If we want to read old strips, we'll buy more of your books.

Nobody wants to see an ageless Michael and family strip. Please don't do it. Boxers, actors, politicians.. the most successful have a horrible time getting out while they are still on top, still fully capable, but it's always the very best decision, most highly praised, always looked back on with admiration. Always the wise and happiest choice.

Charles Shultz wanted his strip ended with his death and made this very clear, but sadly failed to put it in legalese, so now the greedy keep his strip running just to collect. And, it's sad. Very sad.

Anne Hills
Windham, Maine

[Kristen]

FBOFW has been my favorite comic for years. I still remember the real fear I felt when April fell into the creek, the anxiety of waiting for the newspaper the next day, and the tears I shed at the conclusion of that segment. I guess freezing the characters is better than no new episodes at all, but I hope she changes her mind ...

On to why I came to this website on this day. I have studied and studied the PreTeena strip for Jan 20, 2007, and for the life of me, cannot figure out what angle her face has been drawn from.

If the nub at the top is a nose, with an eye on either side, mouth under, and chin at the bottom, then we should be treated to large nostril holes just above the mouth.

Since they are not there, the next choice is that the nub at the top is the chin (or the nose as seen from the top of the head). But wait! That would put the eyes in the cheeks and/or the mouth in the eyebrow location.

The only conclusion I can come to is that Barrows was trying to multitask as she drew the comic, and was paying no attention to where the facial features should be!

[Wai]

Uhh...Kristen, the "nub" you refer to as Teena's nose is her chin. She's lying in bed, head tilted backwards, off the side of the bed, with the eyes hand-drawn on either side of the "nub." The camera phone Gordon is using is obviously "filming" Teena's "face" upside-down. This technique has been used in real life, only the performers wear some kind of "skirt" to cover up the real nose and eyes that would be below the mouth in this orientation.

[Kristen]

Ah Ha! Then there IS something missing. Because we can see her on the bed in that position, but there is no way that facial features would translate to what is drawn. The "skirt" is missing from her face in bed-drawing!

[Michelle]

I have mixed emotions at the thought of no more aging - but I'd rather have FBOFW than none at all....there will be story lines, and, it may be that there will be some slight aging - old habits die hard!

[nicole]

I have been reading FBOFW for years, I have always loved that the characters aged, it was different from other comic strips.
I think is a mistake to have the main focus on BORING Mike and his family. It will be better to end the strip than just being another family focus strip.

[Natasha]

Mixed feelings about the new change with For Better or Worse. I have been reading this cartoon since I was just a child. I have grown up with Micheal and Elizabeth and enjoyed seeing them grow just as I have. It will be sad to see that they will not age as that was the highlight of this cartoon. April going to highschool, Elizabeth graduating from university and so on. I understand why things have to change, its just going to be a sad chapter when all the things change. Shfiting it to Micheal is not bad but I would prefer that the cartoons shifted to not only Micheal but Elizabeth as well. When Micheal got married I waited on baited breathe for the day Elizabeth got married, or she had a child. I truly hope that Elizabeth's story line will show all this. Also with April maturing it would be nice to hear about her too. Of all the changes that is being done, I truly had hope the aging cartoons was the one that would stay, sadly it is not. I hope that the freshness of them not aging will remain. I will still hope that things might change and she keeps the aging of the cartoons going.

[Marlane]

This is crushing news! I had no idea any of this was in the works. Turning to FBOFW first (and exclusively save an occassional Cathy strip), and before reading any of the day's (usually horrible) other news is like o.j...the sunshine part of my day! I'm probably Elly's age and I adore watching her and her family navigate the different stages of life. And as in real life, I agree that the spotlight should move from them to their children, but not completely! They all have so many valuable lessons to impart to us! I can only hope that Lynn will find retirement boring and continue. At least give us some resolution to the story lines we've followed for years! Who will Elizabeth marry??? Will her attacker go to jail?? Will Grandpa recover his ability to speak? Oh, this is complete saddness...

[JustMe]

Ok, I'll have to admit, I can't wait to see Elizabeth with Anthony, John and Elly move into the little house down the street, Michael and family take over what is now John and Elly's house, and so forth. And I also call for resolution with the main cast before this all goes to pot.

But I can't see not aging the characters. Are we forever stuck with Mike's kids being a toddler and a baby? I hope she at least bumps them a year or two. Otherwise I know it'll just be a bundle of over cutesy crap.