Deanna Hates Michael
I searched the Comic Strip Catalog to see if I could find another strip which utilizes a tree in the same way Deanna Sobinski does in today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse. I could not find any, but I did find this strip and this strip, where Michael and Gordon clearly consider throwing a snowball at a girl as a sign of affection. However, the only strips I found involving snow and trees, were ones with snow falling from trees on top of people thanks to gravity.
In fact, when I consider comic strips which feature the girl getting the better of the boy in a snowball fight, thanks to their scheming; the strip which comes to mind is Calvin and Hobbes, with Calvin almost always getting the worst of it from Susie Derkins. This comparison would almost work with this strip except, from what it looks like, Deanna Sobinski’s activities in the first panel, prior to Michael picking up snow, are confusing. She appears to be poking a stick into the ground through the snow. Why? We don't know.
When Michael picks up the snow to make a snowball, we see Deanna just standing there next to the tree. When Michael is behind the tree, Deanna bends it over without looking at it, as if she already had her hand on it in preparation for Michael’s approach. Lynn Johnston may be going with a situation where Deanna reacts to Michael and does a pre-emptive strike. However, stick-twiddling in the first panel and Deanna’s hand placement on the tree smack of a prepared trap. This would actually be in keeping with Deanna as we last saw her in September, 2009 where she spat at Michael for no apparent reason. Deanna has gone from a girl irritated by Michael’s antics to a girl who appears to bear Michael some ill will for reasons which have not yet been revealed.
I can only speculate why it is that Deanna suddenly bears this animosity towards Michael. Choices might be:
a. Deanna is mad that Michael was sick on her last day at school before she moved away and then moved back.
b. Deanna is mad that Michael did not write her after she left.
c. Deanna is mad that Lawrence is the gay one, and not Michael.
d. Deanna is madly in love with Michael and like most women in love in this strip, they make the life of their intended a living hell.
e. Since the divorce, Lynn Johnston can only write loveless romances that end in tragedy, like the Elizabeth / Anthony wedding for example.
f. He's Michael Patterson.
In fact, when I consider comic strips which feature the girl getting the better of the boy in a snowball fight, thanks to their scheming; the strip which comes to mind is Calvin and Hobbes, with Calvin almost always getting the worst of it from Susie Derkins. This comparison would almost work with this strip except, from what it looks like, Deanna Sobinski’s activities in the first panel, prior to Michael picking up snow, are confusing. She appears to be poking a stick into the ground through the snow. Why? We don't know.
When Michael picks up the snow to make a snowball, we see Deanna just standing there next to the tree. When Michael is behind the tree, Deanna bends it over without looking at it, as if she already had her hand on it in preparation for Michael’s approach. Lynn Johnston may be going with a situation where Deanna reacts to Michael and does a pre-emptive strike. However, stick-twiddling in the first panel and Deanna’s hand placement on the tree smack of a prepared trap. This would actually be in keeping with Deanna as we last saw her in September, 2009 where she spat at Michael for no apparent reason. Deanna has gone from a girl irritated by Michael’s antics to a girl who appears to bear Michael some ill will for reasons which have not yet been revealed.
I can only speculate why it is that Deanna suddenly bears this animosity towards Michael. Choices might be:
a. Deanna is mad that Michael was sick on her last day at school before she moved away and then moved back.
b. Deanna is mad that Michael did not write her after she left.
c. Deanna is mad that Lawrence is the gay one, and not Michael.
d. Deanna is madly in love with Michael and like most women in love in this strip, they make the life of their intended a living hell.
e. Since the divorce, Lynn Johnston can only write loveless romances that end in tragedy, like the Elizabeth / Anthony wedding for example.
f. He's Michael Patterson.
posted by howard at 10:12 PM
18 Comments:
g. She's implying that the only reason that Deanna ever gave Michael the time of day is because, thanks to her car wreck, she suffered brain damage; the Deanna we see here seems to regard Mike not as a Delicate Genius but as a dreary little shitepoke who isn't worth talking to. What's more, this opinion persisted until she faded from view. Next time we saw her, though, she ended up in a ditch and Mike was suddenly wonderful despite being an older moron; the only explanation that fits is that she's either missing key brain cells or she's suffering PTSD.
Next time we saw her, though, she ended up in a ditch
Not quite. There's an arc when they're about ten and the kids acted like real kids. Mike had no idea how to deal with Deanna, but they danced together at a Hallowe'en party and Mike's crush was far more age-appropriate. It was after this that Deanna disappeared for no apparent reason and only eleven years later we learned that she had moved. Lynn's compulsion to tell the story of Deanna's move was what resulted in the mess of newruins last year where Deanna moved away and then had to return because someone somewhere finally got through to Lynn with evidence of the 1985 strips.
I could not find any, but I did find this strip and this strip, where Michael and Gordon clearly consider throwing a snowball at a girl as a sign of affection.
I noticed in the second of the "snowball" strips you linked what must have been the reference for the hood and drawstrings Lynn used for Dee's jacket in the January 2009 strips.
She appears to be poking a stick into the ground through the snow.
She's trying out her makeshift metal detector. If she finds gold, maybe her family can afford to leave Milborough for good.
I can only speculate why it is that Deanna suddenly bears this animosity towards Michael.
She remembers their future and is angry about the laptop incident.
DreadedCandiru2,
g. She's implying that the only reason that Deanna ever gave Michael the time of day is because, thanks to her car wreck, she suffered brain damage; the Deanna we see here seems to regard Mike not as a Delicate Genius but as a dreary little shitepoke who isn't worth talking to.
This could be it. Brain damage could explain a lot. When Deanna and Mike get together post-car wreck, Deanna does tell Mike she hoped he would tell her to wait until she dumped her fiancé. That’s not the thinking of a normal woman.
forworse,
Mike had no idea how to deal with Deanna, but they danced together at a Hallowe'en party and Mike's crush was far more age-appropriate. It was after this that Deanna disappeared for no apparent reason and only eleven years later we learned that she had moved.
When I look at these strips now, they have the same feel as the strip when Gerald and April started kissing about the same age. With them, Lynn immediately backed them off for a few years. Maybe it was the same with Deanna, Lynn may have felt she had moved Mike along a little too fast romantically and ditched Deanna.
aprilp_katje,
I noticed in the second of the "snowball" strips you linked what must have been the reference for the hood and drawstrings Lynn used for Dee's jacket in the January 2009 strips.
It showed up again in one of the strip forworse linked also. It must about this time Lynn decided to start drawing Deanna consistently, because in the early strips her appearance changed a lot from time to time.
She's trying out her makeshift metal detector. If she finds gold, maybe her family can afford to leave Milborough for good.
That makes about as much sense as her standing around by a tree waiting for Mike to attack her.
She remembers their future and is angry about the laptop incident.
Oh, my FOOBar sense started tingling.
It showed up again in one of the strip forworse linked also.
Yup, I noticed that after I posted. :)
It must about this time Lynn decided to start drawing Deanna consistently, because in the early strips her appearance changed a lot from time to time.
I guess it took her about this long to decide she was going to keep her. Only to dump her from the strip not too long after that.
Oh, my FOOBar sense started tingling.
The catch is that I already scripted and started to draw tomorrow's FOOBAR, based on the erroneous assumption that LJ would finish out the week with straight reprints. I'm referencing the candy-store strip, which she might not reprint after all. Oh, well. ;)
I've been wondering about Lynn Johnston's promise to tell us the real reason why Deanna moved away. Since the previous newrun explanation didn't mesh with the continuity, is she going to have to do another series of newruns in about three years? (And maybe add some newruns before then to set up the story line eyars in advance, the way Lynn Johnston loves to do? :) )
aprilp_katje,
I guess it took her about this long to decide she was going to keep her. Only to dump her from the strip not too long after that.
I would have to say it is a real dumping. Deanna was last seen in 1985 and Martha doesn’t show up until 1988. Oddly enough, the time passage is very similar from April and Gerald’s first kiss in 2003 to their second one after the Grade 8 grad in 2005. That similarity of timing must mean something to Lynn Johnston.
The catch is that I already scripted and started to draw tomorrow's FOOBAR, based on the erroneous assumption that LJ would finish out the week with straight reprints. I'm referencing the candy-store strip, which she might not reprint after all. Oh, well. ;)
She may still do straight reprints. There were 2 more strips in the candy store sequence and she has Friday and Saturday to fill. All may not be lost. After all, Deanna doesn’t hang around at the end of today’s strip to gloat.
Anonymous,
Since the previous newrun explanation didn't mesh with the continuity, is she going to have to do another series of newruns in about three years?
It would be in 4 years. Deanna’s last strips were in 1985 and Lynn is currently reprinting strips from 1981. Nevertheless, if Lynn wanted to tell that story, she would have to do new material. After seeing the previous new-run, I wonder if Lynn has any story to tell other than Deanna moved because her dad got a job? We’ve known for years that Wilf Sobinski owns a hardware store in Burlington from this strip. Clearly he moved to take over a job which would allow him to buy the store, or the opportunity to buy the store motivated the move. In the most recent new-run, Lynn Johnston did not even cover that much material. I got the impression that she regretted having Deanna move without getting to show these lines she penned in the book The Lives Behind the Lines:
Deanna Sobinski was his first crush. As elementary kids with elementary feelings, they prodded each other and teased each other, the words and the touching electrifying them, sending them into giddy bouts of laughter and silliness. When Deanna’s family moved west to Burlington, Michael’s mood was grim. Despite his young age, he’d discovered the magnetism that draws two people together. He wasn’t too young to feel the loss when Deanna said goodbye. He wasn’t too young to feel the helplessness and frustration. He was too young to know what to say or what to do, and so he didn’t do or say anything. It would be fourteen years before he saw Deanna again.
Deanna was last seen in 1985 and reappears in 1996. Not exactly 14 years, but it might explain why Lynn Johnston thought Deanna left before she got to Grade 1, instead of in Grade 4.
She may still do straight reprints. There were 2 more strips in the candy store sequence and she has Friday and Saturday to fill. All may not be lost.
True--I might just end up being a day out of synch.
Deanna was last seen in 1985 and reappears in 1996. Not exactly 14 years, but it might explain why Lynn Johnston thought Deanna left before she got to Grade 1, instead of in Grade 4.
That's probably it. If you check the section in TLBTL where she writes about the Nichols children, you will see that she mixed them up and had Richard as the first born and Christopher as the second born. It's no wonder she botched them as badly as she did in the new-ruins.
Similarity in timing is everything to Lynn.
Didn't she originally have Liz and Anthony getting married on the exact same date he married Therese? And didn't seem to understand why many people found that bizarre and upsetting?
I vaguely recall the date was altered, but I'm not sure.
With comic strip weddings it is difficult to pick an exact date:
Thérèse and Anthony’s wedding day started August 20, 2003 and ran to August 26, 2003; with the walk down the aisle occurring on August 22.
Elizabeth and Anthony’s wedding day started August 4, 2008 and ran to August 31, 2008; with the walk down the aisle running from August 23 to August 25. The officially credited date of the wedding on the website was August 25th, 2008, the last day of walking down the aisle, when they were pronounced man and wife.
In contrast, Michael and Deanna’s walk down the aisle ran September 15 – 16, 2001; but the website credits September 15th, 2001 as the wedding date, the day before they took their vows.
Thérèse and Elizabeth's wedding days can at least be said to overlap and they are close enough in time to be mighty suspicious. The whole theme with Anthony and Elizabeth is second chances, which implies that it should have been Elizabeth walking down the aisle with Anthony the first time he got married. Picking the same approximate date for the wedding could have been another way to Lynn to get that point across.
Thérèse and Elizabeth's wedding days can at least be said to overlap and they are close enough in time to be mighty suspicious.
Ah, but I have in-strip references to both weddings' dates.
Anthony and Thérèse's wedding date is given as August 23rd, 2003.
Anthony and Liz's wedding date is given as August 23rd, 2008.
I think Lynn did this by mistake (wanting for each to do a late-August Saturday) and then fudged the date for Lizthony's wedding on the website write-up.
Good catch. I can always count on you to remember things like this. Yes, with very specific dates mentioned like this, there can be little doubt that Lynn's original intent was to set them on the same date. Little did she suspect that her fans would not find that interestingly symbolic as a second chance indicator, but extraordinarily creepy.
fudged the date for Lizthony's wedding on the website write-up.
Maybe this is the reason. However, the writeup for Mike and Deanna's wedding is so full of errors, it's difficult to tell if Lynn intentionally made a date change or just decided to write it up from what she remembered. Lynn is not exactly known for her attention to detail.
However, the writeup for Mike and Deanna's wedding is so full of errors, it's difficult to tell if Lynn intentionally made a date change or just decided to write it up from what she remembered. Lynn is not exactly known for her attention to detail.
Good point--we've seen how much she appears to rely on her faulty memory and how poorly that works out. Very plausible and possible.
Thanks, April. I recall at the time, it seems almost everyone in the world of online Foob-snarking caught the date duplication...and that even the most ardent Lynn-defenders were raising their brows in wonder at the utter oddness of it.
Part of me suspects Lynn really -did- intend it to be the same date, the other part thinks that's making Lynn a bit TOO warped and bitter. Heh.
Part of me suspects Lynn really -did- intend it to be the same date, the other part thinks that's making Lynn a bit TOO warped and bitter. Heh.
Anthony: Hey, let's get married on August 23rd!
Liz: But isn't that the same date as your first wedding?
Anthony: Why, yes! I went through so much trouble learning one anniversary date, you're not going to force me to learn a whole new one, are you?
Liz: I guess not....
Anthony: Good girl!
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