Faster than A Speeding Farley

The reference in today's reprint of For Better or For Worse to mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent came from the introductory lines to the 1940s Superman cartoons by Max Fleischer. They stuck to the character, although in today’s world of Smallville, I don’t know how many people would see Tom Welling and think of Clark Kent as being mild-mannered anymore. Or for that matter, would even know what “mild-mannered’ means. Nevertheless, in 1980, it was probably still a well-known pop culture reference. The most unusual aspect of the strip is that Lynn Johnston is making a joke based off a pop culture reference at all. That is a pretty rare event for her humour. Aside from using Shania Twain instead of Cheryl Ladd, the reference I remember in recent years was one to Bobby Curtola. I liked the Bobby Curtola reference, actually.

Not only was the use of the pop culture reference a rarity, the whole story of the strip is a rarity. What happened with Farley chewing up a toy could happen in any family with a dog. That was very real. The kids’ reaction to it made sense. And what is the most unusual part of the strip overall is the fact that everyone seems to be happy. Michael helps out his sister, and is interested in what happens to her stuffed bunny. Elly takes Michael’s concern seriously and acts. She doesn’t get upset with what Farley did. She fixes the problem. Lizzie is upset and then she is satisfied with Elly’s sewing work. I almost feel like saying to the author of this strip, “Who are you, and what did you do with Lynn Johnston?”