The Future of "For Better or For Worse"

[johnnycleany]

I admire your come back i wish you success and happiness . you,ve earned it.

[dwmitch]

I haven't seen this strip in years. It started paralleling my family to the extent that it reminded me of the things I read the comics to forget.

My grandmother had to put her dog down around the same time their dog died, my brother went to college around the time Michael did, etc.

It was the only comic my grandmother read since Lil' Abner quit running specifically because she wanted to see if it would keep matching up with our family, but it was just too creepy for me.

[iShirkawa]

I always read FBOFW on the toilet! You rock Lynn!

[leafia6]

Wonder what new elements will be included? So far it has been pretty funny.

[gibbonsinthelibrary]

I love Lynn Johnston. I think her idea is a great one. Go along for the ride. We may like where she'll be taking us. :)

[tracesgirl]

This has been my favorite comic since it's beginning. I laughed, cried, especially when the dog died, & lived along with this strip. It is/was amazing and the ending couldn't have been done any better but I expected no less from Lynn Johnston. Thank you Lynn for many years of enjoyment and to many more to come.

[planetiowa]

Please repost after the sound is improved.

[2hotinaz]

I disagree with all the 'nuffers' here. I have always loved this strip, and I loved it from day one until the present. I love how expressive the faces of her characters are, and how they progressed in age, just as in 'real life'. It has always been my ultimate favourite strip. I am buying all of her collections, as I want to be able to relive them, and I remember where I was and what I was doing at that exact time. A perfect 'memory jog' for us 'ICRSers'. Thank you so much, Lynn Johnston.

[PhotographyByJulie]

Because I don't like change, and I was really gunning for Elizabeth and Anthony to find happiness together, I will be sad that we are going backwards. But I would rather that than no strip at all. I grew up with FBoFW and I look forward to reading it every day. I liked how real it was, funny and poignant. Thanks for not retiring completely.

[iheartryanstyles]

I still remember when Teletoon showed the Animated series of for better or for worse

[SCE2AUX]

Of all comic strips, this one has always been my favorite, the way it combines humor with serious subjects. Lynn really is such a unique and talented individual.

[iinvisibleb]

Baby April was "born" about the time my daughter was born...So Ellie and I are in the same time frame in raising a daughter.The loss of a beloved family pet was also within days of our loss.Miss Lynn's strip has has shared tears and laughter with me.Thank you Miss Lynn. I wish your dreams of an enjoyable retirement had been as you imagined...

However, I believe your future is to be filled

with delightful surprises in all respects. See you in the funny papers!

[sodpoo]

Simply Thank You Lynn!! I think we were all a little worried about the end. It was beautiful!

[d0gsurfer]

The flashbacks presented in recent months were fine by me, as was the current story. I may be reluctant to change, but after a moment, I'll adapt, accept, and hopefully embrace. Let's try it, and keep our options open. It's your world Lynn. Renew, resume, revive, or hiatus, but please don't retire. You have my sincere appreciation and gratitude.

[heine71]

Too bad New York City's Daily News newspaper dropped FBOFW for good when 2008 began.

[simsgirlgem]

ever since i could remember my dad read me for better or for worse until i could read and i recently went on the website and reread the Farly comics and it broke my heart because i had forgotten how sad it was i've lost many pets i loved in my life so the comics with Farly and Mr. B going to meet they're maker helped me because here was a family that was mourning they're pets like me thank you for an amazing comic

[wolfman9999999]

I've grown up reading FborFw. Lynn, thank you for making such a wonderful strip, that makes us readers feel like members of an extended family. I remember almost crying when Farley passed away, Fear when Grandpa had his first and second strokes, and Joy as the kids have all grown up to start their own families. How many other comic strip writers can look back to see how much of an impact they've had on other's lives? FborFw is in a class of it's own, and no one will ever be able to match it.

[112787djb]

Thank you so much for continuing. I have loved following along with a couple in my generation. I was married to a densit, as was Ellie, and he decided he needed "somethingi different". He has had 3 wives since. I married a wonderful man 20 yrs. ago. You and I are about the same age. You go girl! Thank you and have fun traveling and doing the things you love.

[lenegal77]

This comic strip is more like a soap opera, a view into the life of the Pattersons for the last thirty years.

I have read this strip since the mid eighties. Not every day before the Internet age, but enough to keep up with the Pattersons.

Today is Liz and Anthony's wedding day. It will be great to see what Lynn has in store for her fans.

[lenegal77]

I will keep reading FBOFW. Probably the best true to life comic strip. Not really a comic strip, but a thirty year look into the life of the Patterson family and friends.

Today is Elizabeth's wedding day. Liz and Anthony.

[RecyclerMom]

I am so glad to hear you are continuing! Husbands be damned! I started a new career at 43 because my husband didn't think I was smart enough to do it! I think Ellie having the bookstore encouraged me to try. Now he's sweating and feeling a little threatened! And even though I cannot fathom how difficult this time is for you, you know what they say, "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!". Keep up the great work with sharing difficult topics that relate to all of us on some level.

[nekanrocker]

I've been reading this comic since the week Farley died, but had known OF it for several years before that. I like that it is in real time. I'm really thinking that Grandpa Jim may die during the wedding and make an appearance that only we see, or that only Elizabeth feels.

[StudioVigiem]

Interesting! Looking forward to what happens to my favorite (still-in-production) syndicated strip. I just hope we don't get a "Special Edition" of much beloved material that was already close to perfection in its initial run. Many of the strip's events were more pertinent to their time and the many controversies which angered certain communities would probably play differently to today's readers. Though I have the complete run in book form, I look forward to this new/old chapter!

[queenmumsie]

This is a great idea!I know I missed many strips over the years and am very happy to start over with the Pattersons.My kids are older now so I will not identify so much with the younger Ellie, but I've "been there, done that." I am the sort who likes to read the beginning of books,skip to the end, & then go back to the middle to see clues about characters I might have missed, so this renew is right up my alley!I hope you enjoy this stage of your life, Lynn, even if it is not what you imagined.

[binkle1]

No, she's not, exactly. She's going to go back and rework the old strips. Perhaps she'll update them with modern contrivances like cell phones and internets so a new generation can "relate." I missed the first five years in real time, so would really like to see them again.

[Marbles471]

I don't know...it kind of bugs me out, what she's doing. I loved the strip, but it's gotten downright strange in recent years. I can't help but wonder if events in her personal life have so shaken her that she's clinging to a happier past. The strip's realism factor has plunged--this wedding has such a forced, phony feeling to it. It's as if she's trying to create a happy ending in her work where it turned out not to happen in her life. I know people do that all the time, but still.

[Marbles471]

On another note, I do like her older style much better---it was so loose and flowy. Even up until around the late 90s, it had a certain organic fluidity to it. But in the last decade or so it got very tight and overly clean. Earthbound, really. The energy just seemed to drain out of it, and the expressions became bland and vague. I'm curious to see how well she'll be able to mimick her older style---as an artist myself I can tell you it's not the easiest thing to pull off.

[binkle1]

I'm a late-comer to this wonderful strip. To me, the Patterson family and friends are almost real, and I cry and rejoice along with them. Farley died the day I discovered I was pregnant with my only child, a beautiful daughter. I was nearly 40. Lynne, I won't say what I think of your husband, but I suspect his future is not as bright as yours. If Grandpa Jim passes, I will cry. I hope Iris stays in the family. I would love to see Elizabeth have a baby.

[ltux]

This is a good thing. I'd be willing to guess that after a number of years, any artist would feel a need to change things up and keep things fresh, even if keeping things fresh means returning to an earlier style. I look forward to September 1st. My favorite strip.

[missmelmelarama]

I hope we get to see the Patterson's continue to grow. This is the only strip I read any more - strangely they feel like extended family. I'm sad that it seems like Grandpa Jim is passing but happy that Elizabeth & Anthony wound up together. THAT was a long time coming!!

[cpdavngr]

This will be an interesting take on the strip. If I was her, I'd probably love my work as well and not want to stop. She's sort of doing the same thing as the guy from FoxTrot did by going into semi-retirement. Although I'd like to see the strip continue from where it is today, I think it will also be very interesting to see how this goes. :)

[inlandcldy]

I have been a faithful For Better or Worse fan for a number of years. I love this strip-it's a soap opera in print!. I am disappointed that time will not progress past Elizabeth's wedding but will hold an open mind as the strip starts over. I too believe something bad is going to happen to Grandpa Jim during of after Elizabeth's wedding which also makes me sad. Yeah, I know bad things happen in real life but this comic strip was my escape from real life.

[vlryan2007]

I love your work and I for one and happy that your strip is continuing. I am so very sorry about your divorce. I always thought that the strip was based on your life, and it makes me sad, but I look forward to seeing Elizabeth happy, April grow up, and Ellie and Connie getting into some fun, as well as going back and seeing Michael grow up and his perspective. Thanks for brightening my mornings.

[BerkmanFan08]

My prediction that after Elizabeth's wedding Grandpa Jim dies

[Graehaus]

Well, Lynn you are a personal hero, I'll follow ya into heck. been reading since 1980.. I think.

[lenegal77]

I am going to miss the strip as it is now. But I am so happy that it will still have new material.

Thanks to Lynn for the best real life comic strip I have ever read.

[PaulJones202718]

Interesting. I've followed the strip for years and am sort of looking forward to the reload.