FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE ends this week... [Archive]

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Sean Walsh

08-28-2008, 07:05 AM

I pretty much gave up following the daily comic strips when CALVIN & HOBBES ended, but lingered a bit until the final PEANUTS strip went away.

But regardless, it's always sad to see an old familiar go away, and this week Lynn Johnston's FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE ends. It's a semi-retirement, though: she's going to redraw and even re-dialogue some older every now and then.

Washington Post interviews her here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/08/26/ST2008082603565.html

Washington Post editorial (yes, an editorial about a comic strip during a major national political convention) here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/26/AR2008082603480.html

And a possibly inappropriate video where a reader lambasts the strip and predicts the future of the FBOFW characters here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxX3exv7rv8

(And yes, I totally got all this from Blog@Newsarama)

Matt Algren

08-28-2008, 07:26 AM

Thank goodness there are no cartoonists who could use the space in the newspaper to do something new.

Oh, and Marmaduke is apparently a(nother) legacy strip as of a week or so ago (http://joshreads.com/?p=1681).

Ontir

08-28-2008, 11:56 AM

I don't see For Better or Worse as often as I'd like to, because I don't get the paper regularly, but I've always loved this strip. Farley was very much like my dog Shadow, and losing Shadow was a bit easier because I had Farley to see and read about. When Farley died it brought everything up again, which was really surprising and more than a little stunning. I had hoped that Johnston would find that one of her kids wanted to apprentice and eventually take over, continuing the story another generation. I guess that's not the case, which is too bad, but I'm eager to see what she does with her re-purposed material.

Batgirl

08-28-2008, 11:58 AM

Hm.......hey, maybe Foxtrot will become a daily again. I love me some Foxtrot!

Matt Algren

08-28-2008, 11:59 AM

Michael P

08-28-2008, 12:01 PM

You missed Johnston going completely around the bend as her real-life family abandons her to her madness, Sean.

Ontir

08-28-2008, 12:46 PM

You're trying to make me get all irrational about FOOB, aren't you?

Uhm... No. I don't even know what "FOOB" is! :confused:

Nightstar1441

08-28-2008, 01:02 PM

This was such a unique strip, the daily lives as the family progressed and got older was something that created a sort of bond with the reader.

It's sad its going to end - not sure about the reboot though it might seem a bit dated for modern readership

Ontir

08-28-2008, 01:06 PM

I think that's why she's re-drawing and re-writing bits here and there. Re-purposing the original material with the benefit of hind-sight.

LtMarvel

08-28-2008, 01:32 PM

For Better or For Worse is one of the best strips right now. I'll miss the new adventures.

MacQuarrie

08-28-2008, 02:11 PM

You missed Johnston going completely around the bend as her real-life family abandons her to her madness, Sean.

I think you got that backwards. The surprise announcement from her husband that he had a chick on the side and was packing up, couldn't have done her any good.

Matt Algren

08-28-2008, 02:21 PM

I think you got that backwards. The surprise announcement from her husband that he had a chick on the side and was packing up, couldn't have done her any good.
How is that backward?

AllisterH

08-28-2008, 02:24 PM

I think you got that backwards. The surprise announcement from her husband that he had a chick on the side and was packing up, couldn't have done her any good.

Ok....

What drama did I miss?

MacQuarrie

08-28-2008, 04:38 PM

How is that backward?

Depends.

Was Michael saying her family abandoned her because she's gone mad, or has she gone mad because her family abandoned her?

I could easily check with friends who know her, but my hunch is that she's finding solace in work now that the life she thought she would have has run off the rails.

Paul McEnery

08-28-2008, 05:01 PM

Deathstroke

08-28-2008, 05:18 PM

Given the crap that happened with my own brother and sister when my father died, as sad as this sounds...I was closer with the Pattersons than my own family.

Matt Algren

08-29-2008, 07:54 AM

I don't know that this has to be either/or.

But it's saddening both ways.
That's kind of where I was headed.

Gingold

08-29-2008, 08:58 AM

Foob was my favorite strip for years, but the comics curmudgeon has pretty much killed my love for it.

Matt Algren

08-29-2008, 09:00 AM

Foob was my favorite strip for years, but the comics curmudgeon has pretty much killed my love for it.
Did you see that the Curmudgeon did the Spider-Man 2 rifftrax with Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy? Releasing next week.

Gingold

08-29-2008, 09:08 AM

Did you see that the Curmudgeon did the Spider-Man 2 rifftrax with Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy? Releasing next week.

Yeah. I wonder if he watches a lot of TV in it.

Matt Algren

08-29-2008, 09:10 AM

Yeah. I wonder if he watches a lot of TV in it.
Probably just has the flu.

(These are killer jokes, folks. Absolutely killer.)

Agent Helix

08-29-2008, 09:43 AM

Now where am I going to get my daily fix of horrible parenting and resigning oneself to the death of any and all dreams in a passive aggressive vortex of nostalgia?

Typo Lad

08-29-2008, 10:32 AM

Now where am I going to get my daily fix of horrible parenting and resigning oneself to the death of any and all dreams in a passive aggressive vortex of nostalgia?
There's always "One Big Happy".

Jared H.

08-29-2008, 10:49 AM

Now where am I going to get my daily fix of horrible parenting and resigning oneself to the death of any and all dreams in a passive aggressive vortex of nostalgia?

Funky Winkerbean?

http://joshreads.com/images/08/08/i080803fw.jpg

fly on the wall

08-29-2008, 03:31 PM

Depends.

Was Michael saying her family abandoned her because she's gone mad, or has she gone mad because her family abandoned her?

I could easily check with friends who know her, but my hunch is that she's finding solace in work now that the life she thought she would have has run off the rails.

Her kids have dumped her too?

And if she was finding solace in work why is she stopping the strip.

And the Washington Post is jettisoning her new-old strip, which I think is lousy as I would like to read it. I didn't follow the strip until lately and I'd like to see the old strips. Especially the ones that she is doctoring up.

MacQuarrie

08-29-2008, 03:42 PM

Her kids have dumped her too?

And if she was finding solace in work why is she stopping the strip.

And the Washington Post is jettisoning her new-old strip, which I think is lousy as I would like to read it. I didn't follow the strip until lately and I'd like to see the old strips. Especially the ones that she is doctoring up.

Her kids have grown up and moved on, I suppose.

The Post is dumping it just to spite you.

K'Nort

08-29-2008, 03:59 PM

The thing is, she's been running re-runs for months now. How many people are going to notice the difference?

Deathstroke

08-29-2008, 05:53 PM

Funky Winkerbean?

http://joshreads.com/images/08/08/i080803fw.jpg

Another strip I read every day...though online since none of the papers here in MA carry it.

Deathstroke

08-30-2008, 05:58 AM

A Letter from Lynn about FBorFW
Posted: August 29, 2008

To all my wonderful readers,

A couple of weeks ago I drew and sent the last two weeks of dailies, bringing to a close the main storyline of FBorFW. It sure wasn't easy! I think the drawings were harder to do than the writing, because I'd been thinking about what to say and how to say it for a long time. I had that "running in a dream" feeling, as though I'd never get there, but once the deed was done, I felt strangely comforted; a feeling that I'd done the right thing at the right time.

For the past 7 years or so I was aware that the stories were becoming more complicated, the drawings more controlled and the characters more realistic. Gone was the loose, funny, free-hand line I had started with. As the adventures of the characters became more defined, so did the drawing, until I researched everything, from forklifts to faces, from aircraft to arcades. I was out for accuracy. Every house, every apartment had a floorplan. The furniture and the color schemes had to be consistent- as did the information I gave about the "players", and if I made an error, you would let me know!

I have always been impressed by the fast response that comes when an error has been made, or if the story has a twist to it that doesn't go down well!

Readers catch the minutest of details and I'm always grateful for a correction or a reminder!! One thing I was often asked was to tell more about folks such as Anthony's parents, but there were so many characters...and only one statement a day (less than 30 seconds) to try and tell a story, I just hoped you would make up your own minds as to how these distant players fit in!! With that said, I have now let all of this pass into the mist as the story ends and I return to the beginning.

For Better or For Worse begins again on September the 1st with new material, new art and new enthusiasm! Without the need to visit all of the auxiliary characters, I can concentrate once again on the insular little Patterson household. I have the children all to myself again. I can do spot gags and silly stuff. I can fix what I don't like about my early work as I add and subtract...redraw and just improve everything.

The crazy part is drawing the way I used to draw!! I practised, using the first two books, copying as if I was trying to draw someone else's work, not my own! It's taken some time to simulate the earlier work, but it's coming and because it's a simpler style with less detail in the background, I can comfortably do all the art myself without the need for another illustrator.

This makes the process faster and because I'll be including some of the classics, I'll be able to take some much needed time off!

I expected to find a return to my old style of drawing a bit stressful, but it's been easy! I also expected to find it hard to rip into the belief that I was a young mom again with two small kids...but this is really fun!!! I'm so enjoying the loose style, the freedom to play with the younger Pattersons again and the less complicated cast of characters. Mixing the classic and new strips, is both challenging and rewarding as I improve the work I started with. Who gets to do this??? I consider it a real privilege to be able to work on the beginning again and I hope you'll enjoy what I do. One way or another you'll let me know - and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Lynn Johnston

http://www.fborfw.com/shop/images/new/lynn_sig.gif

http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/strips/2008/august/a4w/080830fre.gif

This is a very sad day for fans of the strip.

Gingold

08-30-2008, 07:44 AM

This is a very sad day for fans of the strip.

There's a little more in the stuff in tomorrow's strip (we get our sunday comics and coupons with our saturday paper) that tells the futures of the characters.

Today's strip seems a bit of a jab at her ex.

Sir Tim Drake

08-30-2008, 09:06 AM

Even though I'm very unhappy with the direction the strip has been taking lately, I thought that last strip was very touching. That's a textbook example of how to conclude a long-running story.

Paradox

08-30-2008, 09:13 AM

How the hell is "Foob" an abbreviation for "For Better or For Worse"???

Deathstroke

08-30-2008, 10:48 AM

Even though I'm very unhappy with the direction the strip has been taking lately, I thought that last strip was very touching. That's a textbook example of how to conclude a long-running story.

What were you unhappy about?

Sir Tim Drake

08-30-2008, 11:10 AM

What were you unhappy about?

Liz marrying Anthony.

SUPERECWFAN1

08-30-2008, 04:11 PM

Puma

08-30-2008, 05:27 PM

Liz marrying Anthony.

Agreed. Michael married his high school sweetheart; Elizabeth should have married the Native policeman and stayed teaching in the Territories. With her marrying Anthony and staying in town it just seemed to fairytale-ish.

K'Nort

08-30-2008, 05:33 PM

Agreed. Michael married his high school sweetheart; Elizabeth should have married the Native policeman and stayed teaching in the Territories. With her marrying Anthony and staying in town it just seemed to fairytale-ish.

And it made her look like such a.... I'm not sure what the word is. But she goes out to try something new and meaningful, has a couple minor relationship setbacks, and thus chucks it all to give up and move back home. Very disappointing. It was like regressing back to high school. And she gave up on her career so easily.

MacQuarrie

08-30-2008, 05:52 PM

Gingold

08-30-2008, 06:09 PM

But the policeman was a two-timing slimeball.

But Anthony is such a loser. And he was still married when he made a move on Liz. And that moustache...

Puma

08-30-2008, 07:28 PM

But the policeman was a two-timing slimeball.

Only after she moved back home and hedged on going back to the territories. IIRC

Royal

08-30-2008, 10:25 PM

And it made her look like such a.... I'm not sure what the word is. But she goes out to try something new and meaningful, has a couple minor relationship setbacks, and thus chucks it all to give up and move back home. Very disappointing. It was like regressing back to high school. And she gave up on her career so easily.

A pussy maybe?

Puma

08-31-2008, 08:14 AM

Ballroom dancing?

At least April got out and is independent.

MacQuarrie

08-31-2008, 09:17 AM

... and they all lived happily ever after.

Puma

08-31-2008, 09:22 AM

... and they all lived happily ever after.

Didn't they though.

K'Nort

08-31-2008, 09:22 AM

At least April got out and is independent.

April moved out already? Was she old enough? The local paper dropped the strip a couple months ago. They replaced it with a really poorly drawn one about a stay-at-home dad.

I liked the slam against her husband in the final strip. It was more subtle than killing off John.

Puma

08-31-2008, 09:24 AM

April moved out already? Was she old enough? The local paper dropped the strip a couple months ago. They replaced it with a really poorly drawn one about a stay-at-home dad.

I liked the slam against her husband in the final strip. It was more subtle than killing off John.

Today's edition has a "what they become" montage.

K'Nort

08-31-2008, 09:30 AM

Today's edition has a "what they become" montage.

Ah. I was told that Iris preaching on marriage was the final thing. I'll go look.

Valmore

08-31-2008, 09:53 AM

This and Funky Winkerbean made me hate Sunday Comics . If it wasn't for Curtis and Peanuts I'd have stopped reading years ago . Funky became depressing and sad too much and FOOB became more or less the Liz and Anthony strip. (I cared for Michael and his family...more than this quick pairing)

In the end goodbye.

I haven't read the Sunday comics since Bill Watterson retired from penning "Calvin and Hobbes."

I'll give Johnston credit in that FBOFW wasn't the typical comic strip that replays the same damned joke over and over and over like: Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, The Family Circus, Beetle Bailey, Hi and Lois, etc. BUT, I never really enjoyed the strip much. I suppose it's a shame for her fans who like the strip, but I won't pretend I was a huge fan or anything or that I'll miss it.

Zero Hunter

08-31-2008, 10:01 AM

At least they ended it. There is ntohing worse than strips that just keep going and going longggggg after they should have ended (Alley Oop, Hagar, Blondie, Garfield, Beetle Baily, Frank and Ernest, ect, ect)

If it wasn't for Pearls Before Swine and Get Fuzzy I don't even think I would read the comics anymore.

SUPERECWFAN1

08-31-2008, 10:10 AM

I haven't read the Sunday comics since Bill Watterson retired from penning "Calvin and Hobbes."

I'll give Johnston credit in that FBOFW wasn't the typical comic strip that replays the same damned joke over and over and over like: Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, The Family Circus, Beetle Bailey, Hi and Lois, etc. BUT, I never really enjoyed the strip much. I suppose it's a shame for her fans who like the strip, but I won't pretend I was a huge fan or anything or that I'll miss it.

God I miss Calvin and Hobbes so much man. I have all the editions and I even browse thru them today. It brings me back to Elementry School where we kids would all get them and the ones we didn't have ...we'd let others borrow them.

I do think Watterson missed the bus though on making Calvin a cartoon. Yeah I know... he had his personal ethics and felt no one could capture the voices in his head. But I'd love to have seen a C & H cartoon . Or maybe a movie direct ti DVD.

Valmore

08-31-2008, 10:21 AM

God I miss Calvin and Hobbes so much man. I have all the editions and I even browse thru them today. It brings me back to Elementry School where we kids would all get them and the ones we didn't have ...we'd let others borrow them.

I do think Watterson missed the bus though on making Calvin a cartoon. Yeah I know... he had his personal ethics and felt no one could capture the voices in his head. But I'd love to have seen a C & H cartoon . Or maybe a movie direct ti DVD.

Probably not just that, but Watterson also wasn't a fan of the workshop method of cartooing, in which many artists are used to draw one strip (like Garfield has been for a long time now). Drawing an entire cartoon would have taken that exact sort of thing, because there's no way Watterson could have done it all himself.

Paul McEnery

08-31-2008, 02:36 PM

Ah. I was told that Iris preaching on marriage was the final thing. I'll go look.

I can see why she'd want to end the strip on the title phrase, but still: a bit pointed, no?

Nick Soapdish

08-31-2008, 03:12 PM

Today's edition has a "what they become" montage.

Aren't the Calgary Stampede the CFL franchise? How's April's love of horses get her a job with them? As the mascot trainer?

StoneGold

08-31-2008, 03:24 PM

Aren't the Calgary Stampede the CFL franchise? How's April's love of horses get her a job with them? As the mascot trainer?

http://cs.calgarystampede.com/

Matt Algren

08-31-2008, 04:43 PM

I haven't read the Sunday comics since Bill Watterson retired from penning "Calvin and Hobbes."

I'll give Johnston credit in that FBOFW wasn't the typical comic strip that replays the same damned joke over and over and over...Apparently the pun in the fourth panel of 75% of the strips went over your head.

Time to start a pool. Now that she's started again, how long until John dies in some horrible dentistry-related accident? I say it'll be less than a year.

Deathstroke

08-31-2008, 07:58 PM

I liked the ending montage of what happened in the future.

But honestly, it still would've been great to see it play out strip by strip...

My interest in the comics page has gone down considerably after today.

Gingold

08-31-2008, 08:09 PM

My interest in the comics page has gone down considerably after today.

You are in luck. Mary Worth is currently in the middle of an exciting storyline involving online identity theft.

Matt Algren

08-31-2008, 08:20 PM

You are in luck. Mary Worth is currently in the middle of an exciting storyline involving online identity theft.
Silly Dan. We're nowhere near the middle yet.

howyadoin

08-31-2008, 08:23 PM

How the hell is "Foob" an abbreviation for "For Better or For Worse"???Maybe you need to be dyslexic.

Royal

08-31-2008, 08:34 PM

You are in luck. Mary Worth is currently in the middle of an exciting storyline involving online identity theft.

But she shopped at reputable stores goddammit!!!

Demon wizard

08-31-2008, 09:09 PM

I actually always thought FBOFW kind of sucked. Almost as bad a family circus.

http://leasticoulddo.com/comics/strips/20070713.gif

Michael P

09-01-2008, 03:59 AM

How the hell is "Foob" an abbreviation for "For Better or For Worse"???

I went ahead and looked this up, and it's not. Rather, it's one of Johnston's dumbass made-up teen slang words that folks have appropriated into a nickname for the strip.

Valmore

09-01-2008, 04:03 AM

Apparently the pun in the fourth panel of 75% of the strips went over your head.

To be fair, I stopped reading it on anything that could even be considered a regular basis many, many years ago. I think the last time I even picked up a Sunday Comics page was when I was in the laundromat a couple weeks ago. I can't even recall if it was in there.

But Garfield certainly was. I think Odie got kicked off the table.

jade_nova

09-01-2008, 05:37 AM

I'm glad that it's over. The series has been going downhill for the past several years.

Paradox

09-01-2008, 08:16 AM

Michael P Red Foremans:

I went ahead and looked this up, and it's not. Rather, it's one of Johnston's dumbass made-up teen slang words that folks have appropriated into a nickname for the strip.

So...dumbasses following something dumbass.

Color me unsurprised.

Kid Omega

09-01-2008, 08:19 AM

So...dumbasses following something dumbass.

Color me unsurprised.

thanks for the insight!

I was waiting to hear your thoughts on the matter!

I can't wait to hear your biting commentary on every thread on the board!

Paradox

09-01-2008, 08:27 AM

Glad to oblige.

**hands Alex a "burr under the saddle" remover**

SUPERECWFAN1

09-01-2008, 12:53 PM

I actually always thought FBOFW kind of sucked. Almost as bad a family circus.

http://leasticoulddo.com/comics/strips/20070713.gif

Ha ha ha...laughed hard at this. Is this the same guys who did that funny Funkywinkerbean strip where every character is going "Cancer , cancer...sad..cancer , cancer" as words ?

fly on the wall

09-01-2008, 12:56 PM

So Lynn Johnston's husband has girlfriend on the side and has dumped her. She should have used that in the strip. That was the one thing wrong with the strip, it had too many happy endings. Like the kid becoming a best selling novelist overnight and the rock band being somewhat successful. How many 20 something best selling novelists do you know? Even when Farley died he died an amazing hero and the dog valkyries flew down to take him to Valhala for dogs.

Even the grandpa in the nursing home slowly dying has had it's redeeming moments where having been through this lately with a few older relatives I can report that there appears to be nothing redeeming about slowly dying in a nursing home. The people stuck there are hurt and confused and want to get out but those with enough wits about them know that they can't get out and that makes it even worse.

Expletive Deleted

09-01-2008, 01:06 PM

Ha ha ha...laughed hard at this. Is this the same guys who did that funny Funkywinkerbean strip where every character is going "Cancer , cancer...sad..cancer , cancer" as words ?No, this is Least I Could Do (http://www.leasticoulddo.com/) and the Winkerbean strip was Shortpacked (http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20070416.html). The same guy did a Foob (http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20070711.html) parody too, though.

fly on the wall

09-01-2008, 01:46 PM

No, this is Least I Could Do (http://www.leasticoulddo.com/) and the Winkerbean strip was Shortpacked (http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20070416.html). The same guy did a Foob (http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20070711.html) parody too, though.

Are these internet strips? I've never seen them in any paper before.

We had Funky Winkerbean in our local paper back in the early 70s but it quickly disappeared. It consisted of teen-age gags almost as light-hearted as Archie and the gang. I was surprised to hear that it still existed and that is it now a semi-serious soap opera comic strip. I was also surprised it was still called 'Funky Winkerbean' which seemed dated even in the seventies.

SUPERECWFAN1

09-01-2008, 01:52 PM

Are these internet strips? I've never seen them in any paper before.

We had Funky Winkerbean in our local paper back in the early 70s but it quickly disappeared. It consisted of teen-age gags almost as light-hearted as Archie and the gang. I was surprised to hear that it still existed and that is it now a semi-serious soap opera comic strip. I was also surprised it was still called 'Funky Winkerbean' which seemed dated even in the seventies.

It dropped the cartoonish type elements in the 1992 revamp from what I remember reading. Heres wiki as a guide to the serious changes the strip took and "Time Leaps".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funky_Winkerbean

Expletive Deleted

09-01-2008, 02:34 PM

Are these internet strips? I've never seen them in any paper before.Yep. Webcomics.

Buried Alien

09-06-2008, 12:08 PM

Hmmm. Apparently, trippy time-rebooting retcons aren't the exclusive domain of superhero comics anymore (http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/09/05/better.or.worse.ap/index.html).

And like fans of superhero comics, many fans of this venerated comic strip aren't happy about it.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

fly on the wall

09-06-2008, 06:26 PM

It's funny, no one cared when Peanuts started rerunning, of course you couldn't blame Charles Schulz for rerunning his strips since he was deceased.

But the thing about For Better or Worse was that it was a soap opera as well as a humorous gag strip. Soap Operas do not rerun well. TV nighttime soap operas like Desperate Housewives don't usually rerun in the summer, if they do they get a fraction of the viewage. Meanwhile sitcoms rerun much more successfully.

I guess you can hear a joke more than once but you don't want to hear yesterday's news.

Still I don't see what the fuss is, who can remember what happened in For Better or Worse 30 years ago? I wish my paper hadn't cancelled the strip.

Matt Algren

09-06-2008, 06:42 PM

It's funny, no one cared when Peanuts started rerunning, of course you couldn't blame Charles Schulz for rerunning his strips since he was deceased.I cared. I thought (and still think) that it's stupid to rerun them. On the other hand, I haven't read the comics in an actual newspaper for at least five years, so practically speaking it doesn't really matter to me.

Michael P

09-06-2008, 06:45 PM

She's not re-running the strip; she's doing all-new strips starting back at the beginning, drawing in the old style.

Of course, she's changing the characterization of Michael and John around a bit to reflect later actions of their real-life counterparts.

fly on the wall

09-06-2008, 07:19 PM

I cared. I thought (and still think) that it's stupid to rerun them. On the other hand, I haven't read the comics in an actual newspaper for at least five years, so practically speaking it doesn't really matter to me.

If they had run Peanuts from the beginning in 1950 I'd have lauded that decision. Peanuts was a great strip for it's first 20 years. But they started the reruns from some time in the seventies after the strip had gotten mediocre.

Notice the Sunday Peanuts reruns which are older are also much better than the daily newer strips.

Reptisaurus!

09-06-2008, 07:41 PM

The same guy did a Foob (http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20070711.html) parody too, though.

Wow. Is there more context there, like a running in-joke, or did that suck as much as I think it did? That certainly wasn't as good as, say, Marmaduke or Cathy on a bad day.

(Which pretty much puts it on the bottom .06% of worst things in the Universe, anywhere, ever.)

Matt Algren

09-06-2008, 08:13 PM

Wow. Is there more context there, like a running in-joke, or did that suck as much as I think it did? That certainly wasn't as good as, say, Marmaduke or Cathy on a bad day.

(Which pretty much puts it on the bottom .06% of worst things in the Universe, anywhere, ever.)
It's pretty accurate. Everybody in the family marries someone from their childhood and lives happily ever after, no matter what.

Valmore

09-06-2008, 08:48 PM

It's pretty accurate. Everybody in the family marries someone from their childhood and lives happily ever after, no matter what.

Probably not the way I'd have ended a long-going strip, but then I'm a sucker for realistic sorts of endings - like in The Wonder Years at the end of the last episode they tell you Kevin Arnold's dad dies, like, two years from the end of that episode.

Tom

09-06-2008, 09:02 PM

It's pretty accurate. Everybody in the family marries someone from their childhood and lives happily ever after, no matter what.

I think Johnston gets too much shit for creating something that people apparently can't stop talking about or having an emotional investment in, but there's something kind of hauntingly sad about using your family for creative fodder and attempting to make them into the people you wish they were instead of the people they are.

Valmore

09-06-2008, 09:09 PM

fly on the wall

09-07-2008, 10:15 AM

I think Johnston gets too much shit for creating something that people apparently can't stop talking about or having an emotional investment in, but there's something kind of hauntingly sad about using your family for creative fodder and attempting to make them into the people you wish they were instead of the people they are.

Authors are supposed to write about what they know so it makes sense she'd use her family for fodder. Much as the guy that invented Archie used his happy memories from teen-age years to make Archie and his gang. (So that means Jughead once really existed and didn't like girls.)

I guess it is pathetic that Johnston would start with her family and then turn their real lives into 'happily ever after' fantasies but that's what the audience wanted. Maybe Johnston 'improved' her family and friends but it's not like the characters in FOOB were perfect.

And Grampa's final fate in a nursing home is not happily ever after. Let's face it, nobody gets happily ever after in this finite life or in the finite lives of comic strip characters that actually age. (Except in Gasoline Alley if any one is old enough to remember Skeezix and the first comic strip that aged it's characters.)