Friday, August 22, 2008

Finally: A Happy Wedding Strip

Despite Liz’s announcement that the wedding would be on August 23, the wedding ceremony continues on into next week, assuming Lynn Johnston wants to present the For Better or For Worse part of the Anglican vows, which make up the title of the strip, somewhere in the strip’s modern day ending.

For me, today’s strip was the first pleasant one of the wedding day series, with a character admitting his vulnerability and asking for help. Not only that, but the kids appear well-behaved and not rotten for a change. I noticed this trend also with Mike and Deanna’s wedding too. Once the actually ceremony started, and all the preparation was done, then the storyline became much more pleasant with lots of thought balloons about how wonderful things are. The Elizabeth, who was yelling at children and desperately trying to calm down, has been replaced by this happy, friendly, serene woman. It’s an interesting transformation and almost seems to say that while the author detests the preparation necessary for a wedding, she seems to like the ceremony and beauty of it. In that regard, I am in total agreement.

I really have no protest about the story in today’s For Better or For Worse. However, I am disappointed with the art. I went through a long time thinking that the radically differing art styles from one strip to the next had to be the work of different artists, because the art was so inconsistent. Now, I think that the differences in the art are directly related to how much time and effort Lynn Johnston puts into it. In today’s strip, the changing face shape of Elizabeth Patterson in every panel is a real distraction. Also, the squinting Asian eyes of Dawn Enjo, which she never had up until this year, are shockingly consistent. I had hoped that when it came to the final weeks of the modern storyline, especially with the reprints giving her so much extra time, Lynn Johnston might spend more time working on the art for the end, to take her modern day strip out on a high note.

Also, I am desperately trying to ignore John’s hand position in the final panel. I wonder if that’s a little message Lynn is sending to the real-life John Patterson.

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess I would like this better if John weren't such a jerk. He usually acts as though he barely remembers that Liz exists. So why would he be nervous about the wedding?

John's behavior here rubs me the wrong way because he strikes me as someone who is looking for attention to be on him precisely at a moment when it should be on Liz and Anthony. That's really obnoxious. Although this is in keeping with John's asinine behavior with the ring. I wonder if this is a case of Lynn character assassinating Rod via John again?

I keep forgetting to say--lavender and teal roses? Major uggo.

12:42 AM  
Blogger DreadedCandiru2 said...

I'd like to get a little bit of topic here and acknowledge that the people who said that Therese would not appear are right. She may hover in the background as a menace or eventually apologize to Liz for not bowing out ages ago but that won't occur until after the Reload starts. As for John, he was always a bit of an ass so why should he go out as anything else but The Man Who Can't Behave?

2:40 AM  
Blogger howard said...

qnjones,

He usually acts as though he barely remembers that Liz exists. So why would he be nervous about the wedding?


Answer:
a. John has done absolutely nothing in preparation for the wedding, and he did absolutely nothing with Mike and Deanna’s wedding. He’s nervous because he has to do something, even if it is as benign as walking his daughter down the aisle.
b. John is nervous because he realized that he won his bet that Liz would choose Anthony and he has winnings coming.
c. John is nervous because someone told him he had to walk Liz down the aisle and not step on her dress. He is not used to doing two things at once.
d. John is nervous because his next practical joke on Liz requires her to try to physically support him.
e. John is nervous because, before the wedding began and he was calmly playing practical jokes and Liz was nervous, there was a sort of Freaky Friday effect and they switched bodies. Now nervous Liz inhabits John’s body, only they are both too stupid to realize their bodies have been switched.
f. John is nervous because he knows after he gives away the bride, he has to sit beside Elly and Connie Poirier, and listen to their comments about weddings were different in their day.
g. John is nervous because he knows where Anthony buried the bodies.

7:01 PM  
Blogger howard said...

DreadedCandiru2,

I'd like to get a little bit of topic here and acknowledge that the people who said that Therese would not appear are right.

They may be right, but it was so wrong for Lynn Johnston not to include a strip where Francie calls Liz “mommy” in front of Thérèse, as Thérèse admits she threw away a good man and child.

7:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Howard,

John’s hand position in the final panel.
I just asked my husband to allow me to hold his arm; he held his hands in the same positions that John is holding his. Why does it look strange to you?

qnjones,

I'll go with Howard's first reason.
I am sure many fathers become extremely emotional when they walk their daughters down the isle. My macho father was bawling at my wedding. He told me that he was crying because he couldn't shake the image of me as a child, when I was critically ill.

Anon NYC

7:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In answer to anonymous:

First of all john's hand appears bent out at the wrist and tightly gripped in tension with the thumb awkwardly pulled in like on a gamer's joystick. It's not a relaxed loose grip as when escorting someone on one's arm. Secondly, the viewing angle places this hand directly at his crotch. I shall not explain further, any adult can figure out the rest.

11:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

howard

I also noted that the order in which the children walk down the aisle appears to match that which you predicted: Robin, then Meredith, then Francie. Congrats!

11:14 PM  
Blogger howard said...

paladin,

I also noted that the order in which the children walk down the aisle appears to match that which you predicted: Robin, then Meredith, then Francie. Congrats!

The giveaway on the order is when Elizabeth sidestepped Francie’s question about the order of the flower girls. That pretty much told me that Francie was going last.

3:58 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home