New-Run Same as the Old Run?
Lynn Johnston has made quite a big deal about her imitation of her old style of art, so that people would find moving in between the reprints and the new-runs less jarring than the style of the modern strip. I had wondered if she would truly imitate the course line work of her old stuff as in this strip, or if we would instead get the same kind of cartoony art she used back in the hybrid to introduce the reprint. The other question would be whether or not we would get hand drawn backgrounds like she did in her early strips, or the flat paneled style of background with many silhouetted shapes of the modern strips. As it turns out, Lynn Johnston is not truly imitating her old style, but doing her cartoony style, and backgrounds are not hand drawn.
As for the joke, it is joke she has used several times before, most recently with little Francie taking the position of the “Pleease” child.
Right off the bat, we have a clear lead-in to what will be the reprint storyline for the Farley the dog adoption. Lynn Johnston has a children’s book coming out about Farley, and she wants Farley back in the strip in preparation for the book. That’s pretty simple. The only real question is that since Lynn has promised September would be all new, how is she going to stretch out the month until the reprints of Farley’s adoption?
As for the joke, it is joke she has used several times before, most recently with little Francie taking the position of the “Pleease” child.
Right off the bat, we have a clear lead-in to what will be the reprint storyline for the Farley the dog adoption. Lynn Johnston has a children’s book coming out about Farley, and she wants Farley back in the strip in preparation for the book. That’s pretty simple. The only real question is that since Lynn has promised September would be all new, how is she going to stretch out the month until the reprints of Farley’s adoption?
posted by howard at 11:37 PM
14 Comments:
Ooh. The "something that's alive" line is surprisingly consistent with the older strips' style. The implication is that Mike wants a live pet, and at the same time is at least hinting that he doesn't care much about being a good pet owner (i.e., he might hurt a living creature). And we're supposed to think that's funny. Just like we were supposed to think that screaming harridan coffee cup throwing Elly was funny.
I'm impressed. I really didn't think she had it in her to find her old style again. I imagined the new-old strips would be about retconning the horribleness, not adding to it.
And--I actually did kind of find it funny. Because little kids are definitely like that.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but...maybe this won't be so bad.
qnjones,
I'm impressed. I really didn't think she had it in her to find her old style again.
She doesn’t resort to a pun, so that is a huge plus in my book. However, I don’t know how long she will be able to resist that punning temptation.
I imagined the new-old strips would be about retconning the horribleness, not adding to it.
If the reprint choices from last year are any indication, Lynn not have a problem with any strips that paint Michael or John in a poor light.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but...maybe this won't be so bad.
I have faith in Lynn. She will find a way.
howard,
I, too, think that Lynn will plumb new depths of awfulness. We can look forward to a more revoltingly chauvinstic John, a more strident Connie, a more loutishly selfish Mike and a more obtusely entitled Elly. After al, it's not just the style that's cartoony; the people have to be one-dimensional stereotypes too.
*yawn*
I find the old strips boring and irrelevant. I just can't relate to the typical early subject matter of whiney bratty Mike, drooly baby Nizzie, and gobsmacked housework-overwhelmed yelling Elly with obnoxious housework-challenged woman-leering dad John. It just annoys me.
I've seen this comic in my various local papers since about 1979 or 80 or so, but I only got interested in actually reading FBoFW when it finally branched out from this nonsense into more complexity and less "gags" (and the kids grew older, as well as grew personalities.)
The early stuff didn't merit my attention, and I don't think it will now either.
Not only do we get the cartoony style and not-hand-drawn backgrounds--we also get a mutant "extra" character in panel one, carrying the puppy that prompts Michael's wanting.
As for how Lynn will drag this out until October: cf grade-eight grad and "zits." :)
DreadedCandiru2,
I, too, think that Lynn will plumb new depths of awfulness. We can look forward to a more revoltingly chauvinstic John, a more strident Connie, a more loutishly selfish Mike and a more obtusely entitled Elly.
The redeeming character of the old strips was often that, despite these negative characteristics, the characters would occasionally admit they were wrong or they would feel guilt. In the later days of the strip, they lost that ability; so it will be interesting to see if Lynn Johnston can plot her characters with redeeming values, or if they will essentially be her older characters pushed back to their younger days.
Anonymous,
I just can't relate to the typical early subject matter of whiney bratty Mike, drooly baby Nizzie, and gobsmacked housework-overwhelmed yelling Elly with obnoxious housework-challenged woman-leering dad John.
If there is one thing that the reprints over the last year showed, it was that this material does not age well.
I've seen this comic in my various local papers since about 1979 or 80 or so, but I only got interested in actually reading FBoFW when it finally branched out from this nonsense into more complexity and less "gags" (and the kids grew older, as well as grew personalities.)
This is the crux of Lynn’s problem. Unlike Charles Schulz who cut his artistic teeth writing 4 years of "Li'l Folks"; Lynn had “David, We’re Pregnant” and some medical illustrations when she started. The early years of For Better or For Worse are rough, and there is a significant change in the art style between the early years and 4 years later. There are a lot of people out there, who are like you, and don’t remember early For Better or For Worse fondly. It could work, if the new-run material she inserts, elevates the quality of the rerun. We shall see.
aprilp_katje,
Not only do we get the cartoony style and not-hand-drawn backgrounds--we also get a mutant "extra" character in panel one, carrying the puppy that prompts Michael's wanting.
I am so glad Lynn decided to include the mutants. They were some of my favourite parts of modern Milborough.
As for how Lynn will drag this out until October: cf grade-eight grad and "zits." :)
Well, now you have me dreading it.
Well, now you have me dreading it.
There, there--if anyone can make snark-lemonade of foob-lemons, it's you. :)
It's true, the old storyline has "lack of relevance" as a major downside. I usually found the reprints boring. The whole reason she branched out in the first place, I think, was that only so many people can identify with an insensitive upper-middle class dentist, his perpetually unhappy housewife spouse, and their two bratty kids. I think there are even fewer people who can identify with this family in 2008 than there were back in 1979-the early 1980s.
I personally don't have any faith in Lynn. I think she's so convinced of her own genius that she has stumbled into a lot of unpopular strip decision in the last 5 years or so (Lizthony, the hybrid, and now the retread). I suspect that the retread will be cancelled from a lot of papers, and ended within a year or two.
Actually, I think there are a lot of unhappy women who can identify with having an insensitive husband and bratty children. And they may be the primary target audience for the new-run strip.
Whether the family is upper-middle class or not is something the readers can gloss over, as it's not the primary emphasis of the strip. We've seen how some members of Kool Aid Nation are willing to strain to find parallels between the Pattersons and their own families.
aprilp_katje,
There, there--if anyone can make snark-lemonade of foob-lemons, it's you. :)
Thank you for your words of comfort.
qnjones,
I think there are even fewer people who can identify with this family in 2008 than there were back in 1979-the early 1980s.
Not only that, for long time fans there is no suspense. We know they are going to get Farley. We know how Farley dies.
I suspect that the retread will be cancelled from a lot of papers, and ended within a year or two.
You don’t even have to wait that long. A lot of papers made the decision to dump with Lynn’s announcement of 50% reprints.
Joshua,
We've seen how some members of Kool Aid Nation are willing to strain to find parallels between the Pattersons and their own families.
With the new-runs they have lost that connection. The old “April was born the same time as my daughter” stuff is no longer a possibility, unless Lynn connects with a whole new audience, who says, “I got my dog this year, just like the Pattersons did.”
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