Lynn Johnston Decides Not to Completely Retire 'For Better or for Worse'
Cartoonist Lynn Johnston thought she would be retired by now. Her 29-year-old award-winning syndicated comic strip, For Better or for Worse, now appears in more than 2,000 papers around the world and has produced 46 books.
But the dissolution of a 32-year marriage recently caused Johnston, 60, to change her mind about retiring completely. "At this time in my life I thought I would be on a cruise ship to Panama or the Mediterranean, retired with my Tilley hats, my sneakers. But I'm a single lady now, and I want to keep working," she says. "Because I don't have to work 365 days of new material into a year, I can still take some time off to paint and travel." Johnston explains her reversal of earlier plans to retire on YouTube.com.
Instead, Johnston, the first woman to be named cartoonist of the year by the National Cartoonists Society, will peruse the archive of the Patterson family's 10,000 comic strips and retell their story from the beginning with updated drawings and story lines, which she calls "new-runs." "I'm a better storyteller now, and I want to improve the story line or take a piece of art and make it better. What a luxury to change, fix, and to augment. I'm such a perfectionist. I want to put my hands on it and have it tweaked here and there," she says about her new project. "I'm considering this a renewal, not a retirement."
Prequels aside, the story line of For Better or for Worse reaches its conclusion on Sunday. And Johnston gets to choose her own ending. Spoiler alert: The Washington Post, which is dropping the "new-runs" strip in the paper but will continue to carry it online, reports that in the final chapter the original Patterson kids, Michael and Elizabeth, will forever remain grown and married.
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Reader Comments
"For Better or Worse" Reruns
Just seems like so many storyline opportunities with the new family that Elizabeth and Anthony bring to the cartoon, and Michael's family, and the futures of newly retired Mom and Dad and little sister to go back in time rather than allow their lives to continue to unfold for all of us who look forward to this syndication...it's really kind of sad. But then at my age, I probably won't remember back that far and it will all seem new!
For better or worse
This comic strip is the first I read every day I have followed it for years. I want it to continue with Elizabeth and Anthony having their children, Michael's kids growing up and I want to know what happens to Elizabeth's sister and what she will do with her life. In other words I do not want flashbacks but a continuation of the entire family If you were going to retire I could understand it, but if not why not continue the story line. Who wants reruns? Not i
For Better or for Worse
I have followed this 'strip' closely for several decades. Laughed and cried with the characters, (The loss of Farley still hurts the most). I took it for granted that this 'story line' would always be available. One just simply forgets that this is a comic strip and the Patterson's are not part of my family. I want to see the youngest grow to womanhood and see what sucess she has in the world. I want to 'be there' when Grandpa passes away...there is still so much LIFE left in the strip.
Kudos Always to Ms Johnston!
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