Lynn Johnston interview

Pam Becker of the Chicago Tribune recently talked with "For Better or For Worse: creator Lynn Johnston and wrote this story.

Here's the short version:

Johnston says she will end the current plotlines of her 29-year-old strip by September.

Then she will start from the beginning again, rerunning the old strips — but tinkering with some to “augment” or “fix some of the stuff,” she says.

She had hoped to end the current story lines in September 2007, then segue into the old strips in the guise of flashbacks experienced by the present-day characters.

The hybrid strip debuted in September 2007. As of now, readers are seeing present-day strips on some days, and old strips — some from as far back as 28 years ago — on other days.

Some readers have expressed confusion.

Johnston has not been happy either.

So she made the decision to pursue this new course - revisiting the entire strip.

The Ventura County (Calif.) Star in January announced plans to drop the strip in the fall when the reruns begin. Editor Joe Howry was quoted saying that “rehashing old strips” is “unfair to our readers.”

Johnston and her syndicate believe strong demand for the older strip still exists.

The strip, which runs in about 2,000 newspapers, has had about a dozen cancellations since July, but eight new clients signed on in that time, according to Kathie Kerr, a spokeswoman for Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes the strip.

Johnston does plan to say goodbye to her readers when she ends the present-day story. “There will be some printed material the day following the strip’s story line ... ending,” she said.

READERS: Let me know what you think of this idea!