Happy New Year 2010 (or the year between 1981 and 1982)
Happy New Year everyone.
Looking at the New Year strips which webmaster Stephanie van Doleweerd has kindly pulled out for us, it appears that in the latter days of the Pattersons, the emphasis on New Years’ Eve was usually the parties attended by some Patterson or other. In the New Year 1981 strip reprinted for New Years 2009, it’s just Elly and John while the kids are looking on. In New Year 1982 strip, they celebrate the event with Grandpa Will and Carrie. With the straight reprints coming this year, that strip should be reprinted to coincide with New Year 2011. It appears in the early years of the Pattersons, they celebrated the New Year together without going to a party. Today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse shows neither a party nor the appearance that young Michael Patterson stayed up for the countdown, as he is up at 6 in the morning. This implies that that the Patterson family togetherness with either themselves as in the early years or with their friends as in the later years did not occur this year. There is part of me which would prefer the final new strips of For Better or For Worse to end with family togetherness, and there is another part of me which finds this lack of togetherness to be entirely appropriate with the way the strip has been going.
As for New Years’ Eve strips from the past, I enjoyed this one and this one and especially this one.
Looking at the New Year strips which webmaster Stephanie van Doleweerd has kindly pulled out for us, it appears that in the latter days of the Pattersons, the emphasis on New Years’ Eve was usually the parties attended by some Patterson or other. In the New Year 1981 strip reprinted for New Years 2009, it’s just Elly and John while the kids are looking on. In New Year 1982 strip, they celebrate the event with Grandpa Will and Carrie. With the straight reprints coming this year, that strip should be reprinted to coincide with New Year 2011. It appears in the early years of the Pattersons, they celebrated the New Year together without going to a party. Today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse shows neither a party nor the appearance that young Michael Patterson stayed up for the countdown, as he is up at 6 in the morning. This implies that that the Patterson family togetherness with either themselves as in the early years or with their friends as in the later years did not occur this year. There is part of me which would prefer the final new strips of For Better or For Worse to end with family togetherness, and there is another part of me which finds this lack of togetherness to be entirely appropriate with the way the strip has been going.
As for New Years’ Eve strips from the past, I enjoyed this one and this one and especially this one.
posted by howard at 11:56 PM
8 Comments:
Could it have been a head injury which led to Elizabeth's increasingly strange behaviour in the final years of the strip? I know she wound up on crutches after this tumble, but this strip makes it look like she took a nasty bump to the back of her head when she hit the steps.
At this point in the story it was still entirely possible that Anthony and Thérèse could have a successful marriage, if only because parenthood reminded him of his responsibilities and he outgrew his teenaged crush. Liz could have found happiness with Paul in Mtigwaki or flying around the world with Warren.
Instead, a head injury caused Liz to fixate on her high school friends and an idealized version of her hometown, preventing her from moving on more than just superficially. This, coupled with the manipulations of her parents and her brain damage-induced inability to stand up for herself led to her believing that she was homesick and returning to Milborough at the first opportunity, then being unable to act on her perceived feelings for Anthony for months. The brain damage continued to go unchecked, leading to her zombie-like behaviour as she went through the motions of reuniting with Anthony, getting engaged, buying rings, and preparing for -- and going through with -- a wedding.
forworse,
Could it have been a head injury which led to Elizabeth's increasingly strange behaviour in the final years of the strip? I know she wound up on crutches after this tumble, but this strip makes it look like she took a nasty bump to the back of her head when she hit the steps.
That does seem likely. Before the fall, she was simply offended by Thérèse's implication that she was a gold digger on the make and eager to prove her wrong. Afterwards, she turned into Zomble Lizardbreath who passively stood there while other people lived her life for her. As for the collapse of Anthony's marriage, he might have been pulled in too many directions and broken under the strain; given his confusion about how to handle Thérèse's PPD and his guilt over the crippling injury that he clearly saw as his fault, he simply snapped and fell all to bits.
howard,
It is sadly sort of appropriate that the end of the new-ruins has the Pattersons at such a low ebb of togetherness; since Lynn is pretty much alone right now and she can't imagine very well, it's sort of fitting that the Foobs are hibernating until the Rose Parade comes on.
forworse,
Could it have been a head injury which led to Elizabeth's increasingly strange behaviour in the final years of the strip?
I have heard about things like this, where someone got a brain injury and it completely altered their personality. At this point in 2005, Elizabeth has yet to be accosted by Howard Bunt and has not met Paul Wright. When I think about the Elizabeth of the past, she almost never turned a guy down for a date unless he was much older. Without that brain injury she may have accepted Howard Bunt’s attentions and agreed to go out with him. If you don’t have the attack and Anthony’s subsequent defence of Elizabeth, then a lot of the Anthony / Elizabeth relationship setup falls apart.
DreadedCandiru2,
It is sadly sort of appropriate that the end of the new-ruins has the Pattersons at such a low ebb of togetherness; since Lynn is pretty much alone right now and she can't imagine very well, it's sort of fitting that the Foobs are hibernating until the Rose Parade comes on.
At least the strips are new. I anticipate that will continue for the first week in January, and then we are going to get a lot of reprints to make up for all this new stuff.
I anticipate that will continue for the first week in January, and then we are going to get a lot of reprints to make up for all this new stuff.
I'm curious to see whether she repeats the nightschool strip where she realizes she can sleep with her eyes open. She hasn't had Elly come right out and say she was dropping/had dropped the class--but I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted us to "read between the lines" as she so often does when it suits her.
aprilp_katje,
I'm curious to see whether she repeats the nightschool strip where she realizes she can sleep with her eyes open.
There is a long stretch of strips past the first week of January which she did not reprint last year. Lynn could reprint all of them, including this strip, in preparation for straight reprints. If she decides to alter the sequence, I can only imagine it would be for her usual purposes of making Elly look better (or John look worse).
Huh...this New Years strip, http://catalog.fborfw.com/indexpanel.php?q=Cause+Neither+Of+Us+Can+Stay+Awake+Past+10!!!&Submit=Search has some insight in Elly and John's lives before the strip started. I don't know if it conflicts with other information, but it seems that Elly and John was dating for two years in college, was married by the third (and Elly dropped out to support John), and had Michael by the fourth NYE. Mike would have been 8 months old at the time.
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