The Engagement
The Art
“Ha!” I thought as I saw Elizabeth Patterson’s face in the final panel of today’s For Better or For Worse. That is a Laura Piché face if there ever was one. In the fourth panel, the face appears to be Lynn Johnston’s work, but the neck and body appear to be Piché, especially with the awkward ostrich neck body-to-face connection. In the first panel, Anthony’s head does not fit evenly between his shoulders, and the overly, cross-hatched line work, which makes the shadow under his arm look more like a spiderweb than a shadow has the Piché markings. I don’t really blame Laura Piché. She has no training in this area and the agreement she had with Lynn Johnston (and mentioned on the FBorFW website) was that Lynn was drawing the characters and she was drawing the backgrounds.
The Storyline
Obviously Anthony has not thought about asking Liz to marry him in advance. We see no ring. No kiss. No “I love you”. No romantic moment. In fact, Liz’s Yeeaaaaahh! makes it look like they just saw the Toronto Maple Leafs score a goal.
More importantly, we see no planning whatsoever. If anything, what we have is the idea that Warren Blackwood’s appearance truly is the motivating factor to force Anthony to talk about marriage, and the only thing he has to say about it is: We’ve been friends for a long time, so I think we should get married.
I had have had some friends like that. When they were in their high school years, they actually said something to each other like, “If we’re not married by 25 (or some age), then we promise to marry each other.” The guy got married a few years before I did, so that didn’t happen. Nevertheless, when Anthony tells Liz about how they have been friends for so long, I am reminded of those two. The difference is that my friends who made that agreement never intended to keep it. It was one of those things you say when you are young and foolish.
In the mind of Lynn Johnston, I suspect this whole lack of preparation is supposed to be another indication of how plain and simple Anthony is. How did you get engaged, Anthony? “Well, it just happened”, he replies. As Mike and Deanna’s wedding was sophisticated, Lynn is showing us that Liz’s is going to be more homespun and more domestic and that includes the engagement itself. Thérèse might have demanded a ring before the engagement was official. Warren may have planned the engagement moment in advance. However, this is not Anthony and Liz. They are meant for each other, because they are both so unsophisticated that the appearance of an ex-boyfriend is what pushes them finally together.
The Next Step
Wedding preparation, telling the rest of the family, and perhaps even meeting Anthony’s parents.
“Ha!” I thought as I saw Elizabeth Patterson’s face in the final panel of today’s For Better or For Worse. That is a Laura Piché face if there ever was one. In the fourth panel, the face appears to be Lynn Johnston’s work, but the neck and body appear to be Piché, especially with the awkward ostrich neck body-to-face connection. In the first panel, Anthony’s head does not fit evenly between his shoulders, and the overly, cross-hatched line work, which makes the shadow under his arm look more like a spiderweb than a shadow has the Piché markings. I don’t really blame Laura Piché. She has no training in this area and the agreement she had with Lynn Johnston (and mentioned on the FBorFW website) was that Lynn was drawing the characters and she was drawing the backgrounds.
The Storyline
Obviously Anthony has not thought about asking Liz to marry him in advance. We see no ring. No kiss. No “I love you”. No romantic moment. In fact, Liz’s Yeeaaaaahh! makes it look like they just saw the Toronto Maple Leafs score a goal.
More importantly, we see no planning whatsoever. If anything, what we have is the idea that Warren Blackwood’s appearance truly is the motivating factor to force Anthony to talk about marriage, and the only thing he has to say about it is: We’ve been friends for a long time, so I think we should get married.
I had have had some friends like that. When they were in their high school years, they actually said something to each other like, “If we’re not married by 25 (or some age), then we promise to marry each other.” The guy got married a few years before I did, so that didn’t happen. Nevertheless, when Anthony tells Liz about how they have been friends for so long, I am reminded of those two. The difference is that my friends who made that agreement never intended to keep it. It was one of those things you say when you are young and foolish.
In the mind of Lynn Johnston, I suspect this whole lack of preparation is supposed to be another indication of how plain and simple Anthony is. How did you get engaged, Anthony? “Well, it just happened”, he replies. As Mike and Deanna’s wedding was sophisticated, Lynn is showing us that Liz’s is going to be more homespun and more domestic and that includes the engagement itself. Thérèse might have demanded a ring before the engagement was official. Warren may have planned the engagement moment in advance. However, this is not Anthony and Liz. They are meant for each other, because they are both so unsophisticated that the appearance of an ex-boyfriend is what pushes them finally together.
The Next Step
Wedding preparation, telling the rest of the family, and perhaps even meeting Anthony’s parents.
posted by howard at 11:26 PM
24 Comments:
Yes. A plain, simple proposal for a plain simple wedding for two plain, simple people who'll have a plain, simple life with plain simple children. What makes it all so perfect in Lynn's eyes is that Elizabeth can never hope to outshine Michael; she'll always have the son in her eyes.
Oh. My. God. I LOVE this strip and I LOVE Lynn and I LOVE Laura Piché!
Even a blind person can see that Liz’s dream has finally come true and that she is sooooo happy and so in LOVE. And I LOVE the fact that this engagement was so spontaneous. Yesterday they weren’t even making eye contact and today they have decided to spend the rest of their lives together.
You snarkers out there were hoping that Liz would fall for an alpha male instead of Anthony. So what if he’s not a good-looking, thrill-seeking jock. Can’t you see that Anthony is wonderful and that they are madly in LOVE? In fact, like good wine, his looks will continue to improve with age. Mark my words-- Anthony at 40 will be movie star good looking!
I just ran out to buy a beautiful card in the 99-cent store. I can’t wait to congratulate the young couple. I’m sure all my students will want to sign the card -- even without two extra-credit-points on the next exam.
I’m absolutely thrilled for Elly and John (is that his name?).
Anon NYC
Anon NYC,
You could be a coffee talk writer if it weren’t for 2 mistakes: (1) You know who Laura Piché is, and (2) You spelled the character names correctly.
As for Laura Piché, her Liz face in the final panel is growing on me. I think because it actually shows Liz happy for a change. I have in my mind this idea that Lynn tried to draw a Liz face where she was happy about getting married and simply could not do it. I can see Lynn saying, “Oh fudge. I just can’t draw any woman happy about getting married. You draw this one, Laura.”
Even as cynical and snarky as I am, even as low as my opinion of this strip has sunk, even as much as I believed that Lynn doesn't understand romance or young people or storytelling any more ...
... I never expected this to be such a wet fart of a proposal. "I guess you could say we're engaged?" Man, that'll make for some great stories to tell one day. "You see, we were sitting on the couch, not really looking at each other, and one of us mentioned marriage, I don't remember who, and we shrugged and said we were engaged, and then Elizabeth's face turned all weird and she started screaming and beating the living crap out of me."
Every time I think Lynn can't screw the pooch any more, she finds a new position.
DreadedCandiru2,
What makes it all so perfect in Lynn's eyes is that Elizabeth can never hope to outshine Michael; she'll always have the son in her eyes.
I am not so sure about this one. Lynn Johnston has mentioned in interviews that she specifically lifted aspects of her own courtship with Rod to use in portraying the Anthony / Liz romance. Given that, I would not be surprised to find out that Rod proposed to her in a similar fashion with no ring no “I love you.” As stilted and clunky and unromantic as it may appear to us, to Lynn Johnston it would resonate as much more romantic than Mike’s.
Not only that, but given the way the Patterson characters have put down large weddings (Michael’s second fake one and Shawna-Marie Verano’s weddding), it appears to me that Lynn prefers the plain, simple wedding and considers it to be the more romantic way.
I know from my own personal experience, the mother / daughter dynamic during a wedding is much more powerful than that of a mother / son dynamic.
dlauthor,
Every time I think Lynn can't screw the pooch any more, she finds a new position.
I, too, had high hopes for this one. Lynn Johnston’s tin ear for romantic dialogue was working overtime during Anthony and Liz’s ballet back last July. I had a feeling that she could outdo herself in making the proposal even more awkward and uncomfortable than even the ballet in the rose bushes. She has not disappointed. Even the scenes in Mr. and Mrs. Smith where the couple shares romantic sentiments while trying to kill each other is more romantic than this scene. It takes a special talent to make the culmination of a romance storyline lasting 14 years end up on a chesterfield with neither character saying “I love you”.
dlauthor
that'll make for some great stories to tell one day.
You omitted the most important detail: “We put down our coffee cups and we were holding hands!”
Anon NYC
howtheduc;
As stilted and clunky and unromantic as it may appear to us, to Lynn Johnston it would resonate as much more romantic than Mike’s.
Quite right. Liz doesn't much like showy types. We may be bored to tears but to her, the gastropod on the chesterfield looks like the pinnacle of awesomeness. In that spirit, cry "boxcar" and let slip the low-key dogs of the Settlepocalypse.
Hey, it was just like the "hook-up" line Anthony used at the wedding--well, we haven't been successful at anything else, let's just finally get together.
Of course they didn't mention the "Love" word. They don't. They are comfortable and "care" for each other, Liz will take care of his children and be a dutiful wife and he will be the bread-winner. And that is all it takes to make a successful marriage. At least for a while, when one of them has a mid-life crisis, and then starts looking for more out of life and has an affair....
Wasn't it John's letter that criticized some patient because she was more in love with the idea of being engaged and married than she was with the actual guy himself? That's what Liz's reaction reminds me of.
Anon NYC, I don't see any love or passion between Liz and Anthony. Just a sort of shrugging sense that they might as well settle for one another. As for Anthony developing movie-star looks; I suppose if you can think of a movie star who looks like John Patterson, you're right on.
debjyn,
Of course they didn't mention the "Love" word. They don't.
I had a different expectation here. Liz was not ever shown telling Paul or Warren she loved them to their face and she only kissed them once in the strip. This was in stark contrast to Eric Chamberlain, whom she kissed and professed love to many times. When Anthony got back together with Liz at the wedding, they kissed a lot, and my thought was that Liz was finally giving her heart to someone after Eric hurt her. I had an expectation that Lynn was trying to show through these simple gestures that Anthony had gotten to Elizabeth in ways that Paul or Warren did not. However, with an “I love you”, Eric Chamberlain is still #1 with Liz in displays of affection.
Wasn't it John's letter that criticized some patient because she was more in love with the idea of being engaged and married than she was with the actual guy himself? That's what Liz's reaction reminds me of.
Here is the letter. Ironically, he is using the example to explain why it is that Liz and Paul’s relationship won’t work.
John's Letter, June 2006
You know it's over when you would rather be alone to enjoy what you enjoy most, rather than compromising just to make a relationship work. A patient the other day was telling me that all her life she has wanted to be engaged, and after several years with her present boyfriend in a very tumultuous relationship, he finally gave her a ring. Now that she has it, she has discovered it means nothing to her, and with objective eyes, she realizes that to get married, she would have to give up her happiness! What I was pleased to hear from her was that it's not worth being unhappy just to be married! She knows the relationship is over, but likes the ring! I thought it was quite funny that she wants to keep the ring, but dump the guy! Certainly makes wearing the ring a lot easier... no strings attached! I'm looking forward to her next checkup so I can find out what she chose to do.
Anon NYC,
“We put down our coffee cups and we were holding hands!”
And we both made a special effort to keep our eyes lined up on our face. Liz's eyes even had irises.
howtheduck:
Remeber how I said that I'd be horified if he proposed by the "Wait for me" tree? That was before I saw this. Leave it to Lynn to make things even more horrid than I feared.
"wet fart of a proposal."
Bwah, that's perfect, dlauthor.
I think it is pretty sick that Liz could not muster up any real passion or energy for this relationship until Anthony proposed to her. That tends to make it clear that she is not really into Anthony at all--she just wants to get married. Look at their body language. They aren't even sitting close to each other! The language is stilted and formal, and makes it sound like they are contracting a marriage of convenience. Her excitement is not for Anthony, but for the idea of finally being married.
This strip makes me wonder if Lynn thinks love is stupid and makes people do stupid things. If it should have no place in deciding to get married.
I realize that I don't care about Liz or her stupid life anymore. I should be upset that I missed this, but I'm not. I'm indifferent.
April Patterson
The strip today hit me in the solar plexus and knocked the wind out of me. Completely. I thought the Christmas strip hit rock bottom, but Lynn proved me wrong. Just incase it isn’t obvious, my post is meant to be a reverse snark.
Anon NYC
Well played, Anon NYC--this was almost exactly the tenor of the Yayfulness over at Coffee Talk, so I admit I was thrown for a loop (at least until I saw some critical commentary from you). :)
qnjones, I completely understand the indifference, though selfishly I miss you!
qnjones,
Look at their body language. They aren't even sitting close to each other! The language is stilted and formal, and makes it sound like they are contracting a marriage of convenience.
It was hard for me to make sense of this either considering that this the same pair that was doing intimate ballet moves in the park. Lynn makes a conscious decision in drawing to put the pair apart or together on the chesterfield, and I think she put them apart to indicate shyness and fear of rejection as opposed to unfamiliarity or formality. She’s been playing the “Anthony is shy” card pretty often in the past year, i.e. Anthony is too shy to ask Liz out, Anthony is too shy to ask Liz to dance, etc. Now we have Anthony is too shy to ask Liz to marry him, until Warren comes along and forces the issue. I think Lynn wants cute and painfully awkward with Anthony. However, in order for that to work, she had to some crucial things which she did not do:
a. We have to be able to see the emotion on Anthony’s and Liz’s faces. These long view shots of Liz and Anthony on the chesterfield do not work to convey that part of the story. The closest we get in the penultimate panel close of Liz and in that panel she looks nearly emotionless except for one eyebrow trying to escape from her face.
b. She has to have Anthony at least say how he feels about Liz, even if it is in an awkward way. For example: “We’ve been friends for so long and…I think we’d be good partners and…I am in love with you and I have been for a long time.” I think that is closer to awkward and further away from the formal language Lynn used.
This strip makes me wonder if Lynn thinks love is stupid and makes people do stupid things. If it should have no place in deciding to get married.
You could certainly get that impression from this strip and not just from Liz and Anthony. I went through an exercise in looking for “love” in the Michael Patterson monthly letters, and he never once said he loved Deanna in those letters. He loved his kids quite a few times, but never his wife.
Anon NYC,
Just incase it isn’t obvious, my post is meant to be a reverse snark.
Are you officially a “snarker” now, Anon NYC? Have we succeeding in corrupting you? Or should we give credit to Lynn Johnston, the one who made snarkers of us all?
So I've reached the point where I may quit the strip, and when I hear the news late in the year that it's over, I'll go online and read from today's strip up until the end. However, I don't know if I'll be checking in daily anymore because of this extreme let down that is "Liz and Anthony."
My question for you...Does anyone think there is the slight chance that in the next few weeks Liz will come to her senses, that the lack of the word "love" from all these strips is intentional, and that the strip may end with Liz as a single but happy 27 year old? I do believe that Warren's chances were obliterated in the single slide where he referred to Anthony as "dude" and grabbed Liz's arm--did you see the fear in her eyes? And to think this is the same girl who once lived far up north all by herself...Seriously, what HAPPENED to that Liz? She just dried up and disappeared.
I want to know if any of you think there's a chance for redemption, but I'm pessimistic. I think Liz and Anthony are a done deal for a couple of reasons...it's March, and Lynn wants to wrap up storylines by September. Jim needs to die, and this will take up several weeks. I predict he'll croak with tulips and daffodils in bloom. April needs to inform us of her future plans. Michael needs to sell his second book so that he's officially an author. John and Elly need to reflect on their 30+ years of marriage and possibly renew vows. Elly may re-enroll in University and finish her degree, and John will open a daycare on his wooded lot and give choo-choo train rides all day... Just kidding. Actually, the wooded lot will be the setting of the late August wedding. The spirits of grandpa Jim and Farley will float through the trees as Lynn and Laura mesmerize us with artwork lovelier than what we saw at Shawna-Marie's wedding.
Still, no one's brought up the demise of Lynn's own marriage exactly one year ago and how this could/should affect her storylines. She has given us no reason to believe Liz and Anthony are "in love," which means there's a significant chance that one day--as soon as ten years from now, as far away as 30--one of them will realize what they've missed out on and seek that passion from another person. Can I possibly interpret this as the last sliver of hope that this wedding will never occur? Or is Liz one of those subscribers to "sometimes love isn't enough?"
Howard
Are you officially a “snarker” now?
A snarker needs to find fault with every strip. I’m only willing to snark bad strips. But then again, they’ve all been pretty bad, haven’t they???
OK, I’ll admit, this blog has corrupted me. I now notice details such as adult feet that don’t reach the floor, poorly drawn hairlines, and pants that appear backwards. And although I try to separate the art (for lack of a better term) from the artist, I did think the tree falling on the house was a personal statement.
So you decide…
Anon NYC
anonymous
Actually, the wooded lot will be the setting of the late August wedding.
That’s what I think. But the groom will be Anthony and the bride will be Liz.
Only those who are gluttons for punishment still read it. My daughter and husband “bailed out” when the hybrids started.
Anon NYC
Anonymous
Lots of questions.
My question for you...Does anyone think there is the slight chance that in the next few weeks Liz will come to her senses, that the lack of the word "love" from all these strips is intentional, and that the strip may end with Liz as a single but happy 27 year old?
Not a chance. Lynn Johnston has been working on Liz and Anthony together since the characters were 12 years old. I don’t see her giving up on that now.
I do believe that Warren's chances were obliterated in the single slide where he referred to Anthony as "dude" and grabbed Liz's arm--did you see the fear in her eyes?
I had to go back and look. Actually she looks mad to me.
And to think this is the same girl who once lived far up north all by herself...Seriously, what HAPPENED to that Liz?
That Liz never existed in Lynn Johnston’s head. According to her interviews, Lynn always had in the back of her mind that Liz would imitate her experience in Lynn Lake, where she would enjoy the wilderness for awhile and then get sick of it and want to go back home. Unfortunately, Lynn failed to put her distaste for Lynn Lake into Liz’s character (possibly to avoid insulting the First Nations people?), so the move back to Milborough seemed abrupt to us readers.
Jim needs to die, and this will take up several weeks. I predict he'll croak with tulips and daffodils in bloom.
Lynn has already said in interviews, no more deaths. Jim’s next step is the Sunset Manor.
April needs to inform us of her future plans.
Already done. She’s quit her band, still plays for grandpa and plans to got to vet school and marry Gerald after he gives up his musical ambitions.
Michael needs to sell his second book so that he's officially an author.
That will probably happen. But first some sales reports from the first novel.
John and Elly need to reflect on their 30+ years of marriage and possibly renew vows.
That would be fun, but really the next thing on their plate is Liz’s wedding and John’s retirement and selling his business to Dr. Everett Callahan.
The spirits of grandpa Jim and Farley will float through the trees as Lynn and Laura mesmerize us with artwork lovelier than what we saw at Shawna-Marie's wedding.
I do really hope that Lynn and Laura will make an effort to make the art on Liz’s wedding look good. The engagement sequence has not been impressive at all, artwise.
Still, no one's brought up the demise of Lynn's own marriage exactly one year ago and how this could/should affect her storylines.
Can I possibly interpret this as the last sliver of hope that this wedding will never occur? Or is Liz one of those subscribers to "sometimes love isn't enough?"
My personal belief is that (contrary to what Lynn has said in her interviews), her husband’s cheating was not a surprise to her, and she continued in her marriage for some time while knowing this was going on. I think there are too many references to cheaters in her strip for this to be coincidence. I also think that this is reflected in the reason why Liz and Anthony have not mentioned love, but have made their relationship sound like a business partnership.
Anon NYC
Are you officially a “snarker” now?
So you decide…
We accept you, one of us! Gooble Gobble! I love using that quote!
A snarker needs to find fault with every strip.
Technically the definition is “one who makes a snide remark (snark)”, so all you have to be is snidely remarking.
I’m only willing to snark bad strips. But then again, they’ve all been pretty bad, haven’t they???
Unfortunately this is the case, and they have been getting worse. It is with sadness that I realize I am starting to look back fondly on the quality of the strips before Lynn started this dreadful hybrid business.
Post a Comment
<< Home