'For Better' returns?

This strip appeared in Sunday's Gazette comics section:



Does that mean we'll continue running "For Better or For Worse"?

No, it doesn't look that way. There doesn't seem to be an outpouring of support for the re-runs. There are people who would have liked the story to continue, however.

We'll still have the strip in Sundays for a week or two because they're printed so far ahead -- it's an outsourcing thing.

So far, calls / emails in favor of change

It's early yet, but in the first dozen responses to dropping "For Better or For Worse," the approvals have it.

A couple of folks called to say they were upset, but when they learned the continued comic isn't entirely new, they said they'd rather we continue searching for a replacement than run reworked or even revived old strips.

The Daily Cartoonist is asking people to report it on what's happening at papers around the country. Some are dropping, some continuing, some giving it a trial, some keeping it only online.

Here's the LA Times' plan, which calls for keeping it in limited form, at least for the next month or so, I believe.

Of course, this brings up the question of what to do with other strips that are in reruns or close enough, such as "Peanuts," "Dennis the Menace," "Marmaduke," "Blondie"... The difference, it appears, at least to readers, is the other strips don't have the continuing, involved storyline.

Change sooner than expected

I was told we couldn't change the comics pages this soon, but it appears the paginators were able to make the switch and place "Cul de Sac" in the spot previously held by "For Better or For Worse." It'll still take a few weeks to see any changes in the Sunday comics pages. Apparently they're now done nearly a month ahead...

"Daddy's Home" got a pretty good reception. We'll see what happens with "The Knight Life" and "The Argyle Sweater." Those two strips should begin appearing in the Comics Test Center area Monday the 8th.

Let me know what you think!

End of FBoFW

Word is "For Better or For Worse" will end Aug. 31, to be followed by an appreciation from Lynn Johnston. And then reruns.

Write now to let me know what you think of reruns vs. a new strip!

Comment below or e-mail dena.rosenberry@gazette.com

It's about time

This is what kills me about story strips. It can take for-freaking-ever to move a story along...

Did it really take the other man to get to this point? Haven't followed this storyline? Read the last week or so here.

A double-whammy:

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!

Creative minds think alike

I was commenting yesterday, I think, about how you'll sometimes see strips that carry the same theme or have the same punchline or gag.

Today isn't a prime example, but it still makes you wonder what's in the Kool-Aid!

For Better "re-runs" clarified

I was reading The Daily Cartoonist, a aimed at professional cartoonists, and saw an entry from Monday about Lynn Johnston's plans for the much-loved "For Better or For Worse."

The clarifications ran in an interview in E & P, a journal about the newspaper industry.

Check out the interview to see how Johnston's planning to tweak the "flashback" concept.

She says that by this fall all of her characters will freeze in time. After that, the 1979-launched comic will focus on the younger versions of the characters, some new material and some old, and drawn in her original style.

If you follow the comments, you'll see what others think of the idea.

More and more, I have to agree with some of the comments and a lot of local fans who have written in: Let the strip end on a high note. If you want to dive back into the past and rework the storylines, come out with a book. Fans will buy it.

Check out the links and let me know what you think.

Fans, are you eager to see this?

New phase of 'For Better or For Worse'

Wondering what's going to happen to the most beloved strip in The Gazette?

We announcd many months ago that creator Lynn Johnston was planning a semi-retirement, and would be weaving in old storylines with contemporary characters and filling in some gaps in the Patterson family's tale.

That is set to start next week. And, updated from earlier talk, it appears it won't last all that long.

Here's the latest description of what's to come:

“For Better or For Worse” begins a new phase Monday as character Michael Patterson looks through a family photo album with his 5-year-old daughter, Meredith. With this strip, Michael begins retelling the Patterson family story by recounting the courtship of his parents, John and Elly, the central characters in the 28-year-old comic strip.

In a mixture of new, old and retouched work, readers will begin to see scenes of the past -- Elly reading in the library at college and catching the eye of the young dental student who will one day become her husband.

“This was an opportunity to give my readers new material, as well as my being able to pick and choose through the original art and making it different, making it a new entity, as it were,” says Johnston.

Johnston will keep fans engaged with a mix of special strips from the past and newly drawn panels that will help reintroduce favorite storylines. The strip’s current storyline will be interlaced with Michael's remembrances until it gradually reaches a natural closing stage sometime early next year.

When that happens, time will stop for the extended Patterson family, but not their stories. The stories will be relived by a current generation of fans and introduced for the first time to a new generation.

Right now, Johnston is still exploring the budding romance between oldest daughter Elizabeth and an old high school flame.

"I'm interested and readers are interested to know what is going to happen with Anthony and Elizabeth," she said. "That resolution can't happen too fast. They've only just started to see each other again after a long time apart."

If you're a FBoFW fan, what do you think? What do you like best about the strip?