Monday, November 06, 2006

Farewell to Phil

In today’s For Better or For Worse, Phil says goodbye to his dad, gives him a hug, and then we get to see that Grandpa Jim can still cry. He didn’t get get crying aphasia. It is what I call, “Going for the payoff, without the buildup to make it work.” We saw Phil upset while talking to Elly because Grandpa Jim didn’t recognize him. We saw Phil getting ready to feed Grandpa Jim pudding in the hospital while Iris went to talk to the doctor. We saw Phil with Elly, Iris and Grandpa Jim just after coming back from the hospital. Our first scene with Phil and Grandpa Jim by themselves and it’s the strip where Phil leaves. We don’t know why Grandpa Jim is crying. Did Phil hurt him when he hugged him? Did Grandpa Jim suddenly realize who Phil was? Is Grandpa Jim crying because he almost never sees Phil? We don’t get the answers to those questions, and moreover, we don’t care because we have not seen any Uncle Phil / Grandpa Jim interactions until today.

I decided to make the theme today about how the Pattersons don’t visit people, little suspecting that in tomorrow’s strip, Elizabeth would make her first ever appearance at Grandpa Jim’s apartment. It looks like we are headed off to the Howard Bunt trial at long last. I hope Howard will make an appearance. (I was extremely disappointed Jeremy Jones did not make an appearance in the Gym Jam storyline.) In real life, I think Howard would wear a suit and a tie, and try to look as respectable as he possibly could. I can’t wait to see how awful Lynn Johnston is going to paint him. You thought Becky was made to look bad. It won’t be anything next to Howard. He will probably have fangs or be wearing a devil suit or frothing at the mouth. It will be great in its awfulness. I am looking forward to it.

2 Comments:

Blogger April Patterson said...

Following up on QN's comment about the monthly letters--I agree, if Lynn doesn't take responibility for them, they shouldn't do them. I'm also reminded of when Stephanie made Iris and Jim Dr. Who fans--and I'd inferred from one of her e-mails that this is one of her fandoms. Can you really imagine strip Iris and strip Jim being Dr. Who fans?

3:37 PM  
Blogger howard said...

Iris and Jim liking Dr. Who is doubtful. Iris liking bodice rippers, that I can believe. I can also believe Jim being obsessed with National Geographic.

The monthly letters are a strange bag. They run the gamut from the bizarrely hilarious, like John Patterson's obsession with tool kits last Christmas to outright lies, like Mike is writing a play about his life, no wait, it's a novel. It's as if Stephanie has access to plotlines coming up, but oftentimes doesn't know when they are coming up. The band competition with Becky, for example, was predicted to occur 3 different times before it actually happened. On the other hand, John Patterson's letter was dead nuts on the theme being expressed by the band story, when he said it would be fun vs. professionalism. There are other parts of it which are strangely incorrect, going back to the band example again, where Stephanie describes the appearance of Becky's band, and it is wrong, when, due to the advance nature of strip production, she should have had access to the finished strip.

I don't know if I would get rid of them, because I like Stephanie's sense of humour. On the other hand, when I snark the letters, I know I am not snarking Lynn Johnston.

8:22 PM  

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