'For Better or Worse' lives on

The creator of the popular comic strip "For Better or For Worse" has had a change of heart - literally and figuratively - and won't be retiring after all. Lynn Johnston  announced Wednesday that beginning Sept. 1, “For Better or For Worse” will be retold in a blending of repeat and new comic strips.

Not long ago, Johnston had planned to retire this year and run mostly reruns of her 29-year-old comic strip. But her life changed when her husband fell in love with another woman and the couple divorced.

“At this time in my life I thought I would be on a cruise ship to Panama or the Mediterranean, retired with my Tilley hats, my sneakers. But I'm a single lady now, and I want to keep working,” she says.

Come September, Johnston said, "For Better or For Worse" will be a 50-50 mix of old and new comics, but the new comics will be drawn in what she called a "retro" style.
“I want it to flow into the classic material seamlessly,” she said.

For the last year, "For Better or For Worse" has blended old and new story lines, but, Johnston said “that became very confusing. Some people really enjoyed it and some just wanted us to get on with the story,” she says.

Johnston will select material from her collection of almost 10,000 archival strips to help retell the Patterson family’s story, starting at the beginning.

But, she said she will revert to her earlier drawing style: "Over the years, Elly’s nose grew up to the size of a potato.  Now, I'm drawing it smaller again, the way it was when I first started to draw. There is a huge difference between the earlier and the later styles."

-- Sherry Stern

Comments

[Big Sam]

The only comic strip that has class.

[Miss Amnesia]

Wny go back in time? I'd love to see Elly go through John divorcing her, and the fabulous new self she finds! (And hey, what happens to Weed??)

[Cynthia]

Still kind of upset that we don't get to see April enjoy her final year of high school. I want to see a storyline of her applying to university, visiting campuses, going to the prom, her graduation and of course, the Pattersons sending her off to school!

[Mary Foster]

The Times has asked for comments on continuing Lynn Johnston's "For Better or For Worse." Personally, I'd rather read flashbacks and re-postings of this comic strip than many of the new strips. The story line and the drawings are both memorable: I've clipped special strips and saved them or sent them to friends to share. The only new one that comes close to the delightful qualities of Lynn Johnston's work is "Pearls Before Swine" - a truly funny strip!

[sarah]

This youtube interview with Lynn Johnson leaves me feeling very sad. Unfortunately we cannot recapture the past and undo our mistakes by rehashing our lives, not in real life and not in a comic strip either. I am sorry to hear about Lynn's divorce which seems to have left her stuck emotionally. I will be happy if some day she can do just what Miss Amnesia suggests and deal with her current divorce along with all her ensuing, probably devastating, emotions in her strip. It was this sort of spontaneity which originally led to her devoted readership throughout the years as her strip was fresh and new, mirroring life as she had experienced it with her own family. I no longer read this strip because it no longer has that spark she demonstrated earlier in her life. Life is change and change is sometimes difficult, but it makes for the best material. I hope Lynn will eventually see that it is time to move on. It is hard to live through times of grief and come out on the other side intact. My best wishes to her and all those who love her now and will love her in the future.

[K.Anderson]

It was why I subscribed to the LA Times. I like some of the other papers but, i looked forward to "For Better or Worse". We all could relate to the strip from time to time! We knew how they felt, and could get a good laughfrom it. Or think ya that happened to me too! It was one that our entire family read. If it goes our subscription goes!

[Don & Esther Norbut]

"For Better or for Worse" is still on the top of the list of our favorite comics. If you need to dump something there are others we don't enjoy espically "Cathy".
We would especially not like to lose "Doonesbury", "Lio", "Non Sequitur", "Zits", "Fox Trot", "Baby Blues", "Peanuts" and most others.