There’s been a bit of confusion lately regarding Lynn Johnston’s comic strip For Better or For Worse. First, she said she was going to combine old and new strips in an effort to get more vacation time. Then, it was announced that the hybrid format was over, done and it would just be reruns from here on out. According to the latest story in Editor and Publisher, that ain’t necessarily so:
The current plan: Continue tying up loose ends with various “FBorFW” characters (a process that’s taking longer than Johnston expected). Then, no later than this September, freeze all these cast members in time. After that, the 1979-launched comic will focus on the younger versions of the characters.
But that doesn’t mean the post-September strips will consist entirely of rerun material. Johnston plans to change various elements of the comics, create new story lines, etc. — but do all that in the drawing style she used to have.
“I’ve become more of an illustrator,” said the Canadian cartoonist. “My old drawing style is a lot less complicated, but it’s more lively and free and joyful.” Johnston might even make the younger Elly Patterson’s nose bigger. “Large ‘honkers’ are funny,” she laughed.
Johnston also says she plans on using part of the newly acquired free time to work on a children’s book starring the late, beloved dog Farley.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
You know, it’s funny. FBoFW was one of the few comics that aged their cast along the years (Gasoline Alley, Funky Winkerbean, Doonesbury, and now apparently Jump Start also does it), and it seems that, out of the blue, she remembers and loves the earlier incarnations of the characters and wants to revert the series back to that era. The hybrid version was a bit jarring on first look, but now it seems as if the series is starting over again.
Kind of a Brand New Day, but mixing older strips with revised and entirely new storylines using a younger version of the cast.
So, how will the “real time” version end? John dies? Elly calls upon a devil to save his life but only for a small part of their soul and a chance to live life again?
Ah, comics, where common sense died a long time ago and hasn’t been ressurrected yet.
January 24th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Christ, now I’m more confused than ever, but still hate Anthony.