Who’s Who at the Wedding
In today’s For Better or For Worse, Lynn Johnston has chosen to do a strip which is oftentimes more effective in a movie, where you get to hear a meaningful text and then see images which are supposed to correspond to the words of the text. The advantage the movie has is more space for the text. Comic strips have limits about how much talk they can handle. As for the images, in this case, they are alternatively people in the audience, the Patterson family, and Liz and Anthony. It is quite a contrast to Mike and Deanna’s Sunday wedding strip which showed Mike and Deanna moving through parts of the ceremony as Elly wept and then exclaimed for comic effect about how happy she was.
The text is not particularly meaningful and seems to consist of the wedding officiate first describing the role and responsibility of the audience, and then defining marriage with a series of nouns and generic phrases. This is typical of a good number of wedding talks or sermons I have heard over the years, and I found it to be pretty realistic.
Anon NYC requested no critical comments of today’s strip, and I really don’t have any. I read the strip like I was attending a wedding and basically ignoring the generic stuff the officiate was saying, while I was looking around to see who was there. It is an interesting combination of folks. Excluding the family we already know are there, we have:
Greta, a First Nations friend from Nipissing University, last seen in this strip.
Warren Blackwood, which is a surprise, but not out of line with Anthony’s wedding where he invited Elizabeth to be there. Of course, given the reason why Anthony invited Liz to come to his wedding, it does seem a little suspicious.
Vivian and Gary Crane, Liz’s friends from Mtigwaki.
Lawrence Poirier, once again without his partner Nicholas Browne, who hasn’t been seen since 2003. Possibly Nicholas was left out, because he looks a lot like a balding Anthony Caine.
Ruby Andrews, Candace’s aunt and former landlady to Elizabeth from university. I hope that Liz gets a moment with Aunt Ruby, who was one of my favourite characters.
Dennis North, Liz’s one-time dance partner from 2003 and 2004. I hope Liz gets a moment with him too, although I would prefer to hear from Aunt Ruby.
There were a few genuine surprises. I was quite surprised to find that Gordon Mayes was not the best man. I was pretty confident he was after Gordon was shown driving Anthony to the wedding. What was even more surprising was that there was no appearance by Gordon Mayes at all.
I also was pretty sure that Candace Halloran was going to be the maid of honour, but it appears that Dawn Enjo has that honour.
I also thought we would get an appearance of the Cruikhanks, especially since real-life Beth Cruikshank keeps writing those biography pages for Lynn’s website. And I must confess I was a little disappointed not to get to see Grandma Will and Grandma Carrie. However, this does work out logically. For them to attend, Liz could not have done the last-minute wedding, and expect them to show up, given their distance from the wedding and the difficulties of traveling with a very old Will and Carrie.
I was quite surprised that there was only one picture of Mike and no pictures of Deanna. When you add to that no appearance by wedding photographer Josef Weeder and Carleen Stein, or flower girl dress-maker Mira Sobinski and husband Wilf; I wonder if Lynn Johnston was trying to avoid a comparison of Mike’s wedding with Liz’s wedding by leaving out the majour players in that wedding.
All in all, it was not a bad series of folks and they covered quite a bit of Elizabeth’s life prior to getting married. There were also some pictures I did not recognize, and so if people know them, feel free to let me know.
The text is not particularly meaningful and seems to consist of the wedding officiate first describing the role and responsibility of the audience, and then defining marriage with a series of nouns and generic phrases. This is typical of a good number of wedding talks or sermons I have heard over the years, and I found it to be pretty realistic.
Anon NYC requested no critical comments of today’s strip, and I really don’t have any. I read the strip like I was attending a wedding and basically ignoring the generic stuff the officiate was saying, while I was looking around to see who was there. It is an interesting combination of folks. Excluding the family we already know are there, we have:
Greta, a First Nations friend from Nipissing University, last seen in this strip.
Warren Blackwood, which is a surprise, but not out of line with Anthony’s wedding where he invited Elizabeth to be there. Of course, given the reason why Anthony invited Liz to come to his wedding, it does seem a little suspicious.
Vivian and Gary Crane, Liz’s friends from Mtigwaki.
Lawrence Poirier, once again without his partner Nicholas Browne, who hasn’t been seen since 2003. Possibly Nicholas was left out, because he looks a lot like a balding Anthony Caine.
Ruby Andrews, Candace’s aunt and former landlady to Elizabeth from university. I hope that Liz gets a moment with Aunt Ruby, who was one of my favourite characters.
Dennis North, Liz’s one-time dance partner from 2003 and 2004. I hope Liz gets a moment with him too, although I would prefer to hear from Aunt Ruby.
There were a few genuine surprises. I was quite surprised to find that Gordon Mayes was not the best man. I was pretty confident he was after Gordon was shown driving Anthony to the wedding. What was even more surprising was that there was no appearance by Gordon Mayes at all.
I also was pretty sure that Candace Halloran was going to be the maid of honour, but it appears that Dawn Enjo has that honour.
I also thought we would get an appearance of the Cruikhanks, especially since real-life Beth Cruikshank keeps writing those biography pages for Lynn’s website. And I must confess I was a little disappointed not to get to see Grandma Will and Grandma Carrie. However, this does work out logically. For them to attend, Liz could not have done the last-minute wedding, and expect them to show up, given their distance from the wedding and the difficulties of traveling with a very old Will and Carrie.
I was quite surprised that there was only one picture of Mike and no pictures of Deanna. When you add to that no appearance by wedding photographer Josef Weeder and Carleen Stein, or flower girl dress-maker Mira Sobinski and husband Wilf; I wonder if Lynn Johnston was trying to avoid a comparison of Mike’s wedding with Liz’s wedding by leaving out the majour players in that wedding.
All in all, it was not a bad series of folks and they covered quite a bit of Elizabeth’s life prior to getting married. There were also some pictures I did not recognize, and so if people know them, feel free to let me know.
posted by howard at 3:38 AM
16 Comments:
Phil and Georgia are present. As a long time reader, I find their presence appropriate because he was a key secondary character in the Early and Middle years of the strip.
Are you sure about all of those people you listed? In your list, the only ones I recognize are Lawrence and the Cranes. Where do you see Warren, Dennis, Ruby, and Greta?
Nitpick: Technically, I don't think Ruby was ever Liz's landlady. She moved into Liz and Candace's apartment after the "Roobery" made her fearful of living alone. They already had a landlord or landlady that they (shock!) didn't develop a nurturing relationship with. ;)
I'm a bit disappointed not to see Sharon Edwards.
A toast to the bride and groom: May "For Better or For Worse" be far better than worse, and may your love for each other raise your spirits when you face the many challenges in life. Cheers!
Sharon Edwards (aka Anon NYC)
Didn't love John's throwaway joke, but that's par for the FBOFW course.
Was also surprised not to see Gordon as best man.
Since LJ so often uses the strip to work out her own life issues, it was a little disorienting to see John & Ellie now as independent characters. Also, for me, it's hard to see the marriage ceremony when Anthony had one, said the words, but didn't mean it, and then didn't appear to go through any kind of counseling.
It seems rather sad to think either there's nobody on the groom's side, or that we, and by extension, Elizabeth, knows none of them.
dreadedcandiru2,
Phil and Georgia are present. As a long time reader, I find their presence appropriate because he was a key secondary character in the Early and Middle years of the strip.
True, and I find his appearance to be quite a bit more satisfying this time around than it was for Liz’s graduation, or Mike’s wedding for no other reason than he has had a part in the proceedings, even if it was all Grandpa Jim-related.
april_katje,
Are you sure about all of those people you listed? In your list, the only ones I recognize are Lawrence and the Cranes. Where do you see Warren, Dennis, Ruby, and Greta?
No, I am not sure, since Lynn does not name them. They are guesses, but this is where I see them:
Greta – Panels 1 and 8. First Nations skin-colouring woman to the left in both cases.
Warren – Panel 1. To the right of Greta. Has the smug look and combed-back hair of Warren.
Ruby –Panel 8 – Between Greta and the Cranes.
Dennis – Panel 8 – Between the Cranes and the Richards
Nitpick: Technically, I don't think Ruby was ever Liz's landlady. She moved into Liz and Candace's apartment after the "Roobery" made her fearful of living alone. They already had a landlord or landlady that they (shock!) didn't develop a nurturing relationship with. ;)
Interesting. I guess I had always presumed that Liz and Candace moved in with her, because she was fearful of living alone.
I'm a bit disappointed not to see Sharon Edwards.
That’s right. That is a surprising one to leave out, all things considered.
Sharon Edwards (aka Anon NYC)
I like your toast. Lynn should have put your toast and your picture in the strip today.
Thursday Next,
Also, for me, it's hard to see the marriage ceremony when Anthony had one, said the words, but didn't mean it, and then didn't appear to go through any kind of counseling.
I think that Anthony’s conversation with Gordon is as close as we are going to get to him saying that he made the wrong choice with Thérèse.
It seems rather sad to think either there's nobody on the groom's side, or that we, and by extension, Elizabeth, knows none of them.
When I look at the Mike and Deanna’s wedding strip, the angle of the drawing is such that Mike and Deanna’s body blocks the view of seeing the bride’s side. But even without that, we already had gotten to know Deanna’s parents thoroughly and much of the wedding preparation was devoted to Deanna’s nephew Sean, the ring bearer, and a little of Deanna’s sister. Possibly when Lynn wrote the strips, she was counting on the Cruikshank bio of Anthony Caine to explain where and why Anthony’s parents were not much of a presence.
howtheduck, here is the strip that establishes Ruby moving into the house that Candace, Liz, and Anita had been sharing. Liz and Anita were packing up to leave for the summer, and Anita let Liz know that Ruby and Candace would be moving in. Candace had been staying with Ruby since the attack. That's probably what you were thinking of.
September 2003: Scroll down to the 15th to see the arrangement further spelled out. :)
I love the look of mild horror on Lawrence's face, while virtually no one else in the panel can even bear to open their eyes. If it were me, I'd be running like hell to keep from getting crushed under the enormous walls of text.
The look of mild horror on Lawrence's face. How about the look of sadness on Liz's face while walking down the aisle, but then it turns into her dumb led around by the nose look that she has worn since reuniting with dishrag Anthony.
..and no Grandpa Jim or Iris....this is wrong in so many ways.
What a sad, sad, wedding.
aprilp_katje,
Thanks for pointing out my area of Rudy confusion, oh my continuity goddess.
dlauthor,
I love the look of mild horror on Lawrence's face, while virtually no one else in the panel can even bear to open their eyes.
You’re right. In that panel, Lawrence is the only one with his eyes fully open, while all the people behind him are in the throes of squinty-eyed, satisfaction. Plus Lawrence’s head is way up in front to attract attention to it.
Anonymous,
How about the look of sadness on Liz's face while walking down the aisle, but then it turns into her dumb led around by the nose look that she has worn since reuniting with dishrag Anthony.
I didn’t get sadness from Liz’s face. She seems almost emotionless to me. She seemed quite a bit more excited in Saturday’s strip. I would have preferred that expression.
debjyn,
..and no Grandpa Jim or Iris....this is wrong in so many ways.
Without a more emotional reaction from Phil and Elly over Jim’s heart attack, it does raise a question why Lynn put it in the story. We still have a week left to go, and so there is still time for Lynn to do something with it. I certainly hope we will have something with Grandpa Jim next week. I don't want the strip to end with Grandpa Jim in the hospital bed.
Post a Comment
<< Home