Broken Leg Stuff: Neat and Unreal
Today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse once again delves into the bizarre medical practices of 1981’s Milborough:
Panel 1: Look, everyone at school signed my cast! It’s been awhile since I have seen someone with a broken limb and a cast you can sign. However, I will grant it was probably more commonplace back in 1981. I see Mr. Williams, Tricy, and a smiley face with arms. No Deanna Sobinski and noticeably no Michael Patterson. This one falls into the same category as the mashing spitballs into the dictionary strip -- I think Lynn Johnston keeps forgetting that Lawrence and Michael go to the same class of the same school. In other words, there is no need for Michael or Lawrence to explain to each other what happened in school.
Panel 2: I don’t hafta take baths for a long time. 6 weeks to wear a cast is typical for a fracture. That would be a long time for no bath. Actually, the recommendation for broken legs is that when you take a bath, protect it with a plastic bag to keep the cast from getting wet. Do not lower it into water. It is nice to see the return of the duck of evil though.
Panel 3: I even get your bed! This broken leg stuff is neat, Mike! Actually most people with broken legs will probably have trouble sleeping in a flat bed. Lawrence should try sleeping in a recliner or easy chair or at least have a pillow for leg support.
Panel 4: Too bad it didn’t happen to someone else. This part I can actually believe, if Lawrence is talking about the pain part. For some reason Lynn seems to be portraying Lawrence as a “my leg only hurt just after it was injured, but now it feels great” kind of kid. We haven’t seen anything about pain relief medications. That leg is going to hurt, and itch, and we haven’t even gotten to the difficulties in going to the bathroom. If Lynn is going to do that, it would have to be new-run. In the original run, it took Lynn another month to get to a realistic reaction from wearing a cast.
Panel 1: Look, everyone at school signed my cast! It’s been awhile since I have seen someone with a broken limb and a cast you can sign. However, I will grant it was probably more commonplace back in 1981. I see Mr. Williams, Tricy, and a smiley face with arms. No Deanna Sobinski and noticeably no Michael Patterson. This one falls into the same category as the mashing spitballs into the dictionary strip -- I think Lynn Johnston keeps forgetting that Lawrence and Michael go to the same class of the same school. In other words, there is no need for Michael or Lawrence to explain to each other what happened in school.
Panel 2: I don’t hafta take baths for a long time. 6 weeks to wear a cast is typical for a fracture. That would be a long time for no bath. Actually, the recommendation for broken legs is that when you take a bath, protect it with a plastic bag to keep the cast from getting wet. Do not lower it into water. It is nice to see the return of the duck of evil though.
Panel 3: I even get your bed! This broken leg stuff is neat, Mike! Actually most people with broken legs will probably have trouble sleeping in a flat bed. Lawrence should try sleeping in a recliner or easy chair or at least have a pillow for leg support.
Panel 4: Too bad it didn’t happen to someone else. This part I can actually believe, if Lawrence is talking about the pain part. For some reason Lynn seems to be portraying Lawrence as a “my leg only hurt just after it was injured, but now it feels great” kind of kid. We haven’t seen anything about pain relief medications. That leg is going to hurt, and itch, and we haven’t even gotten to the difficulties in going to the bathroom. If Lynn is going to do that, it would have to be new-run. In the original run, it took Lynn another month to get to a realistic reaction from wearing a cast.
posted by howard at 9:11 PM
17 Comments:
She also gets realistic when the cast is removed; that's because Lawrence is bummed that he won't be able to kick anyone in a while.
I would just like to say that I am horrified by the linked strip with the rubber duck, specifically the serial killer eyes on Mike when he threatens to rip its squeaker out. What is the audience for his statement, anyway? Obviously he's not funning around for his own amusement and he looks totally ravingly pissed, so it's not a joke to amuse his mother. Does he actually believe that the duck did it? Did the duck do it? Did Lynn anticipate Calvin and Hobbes by ten years? Did we narrowly avoid her half-assed philosophical musings on childhood and the human condition? Oh, wait, no, we still got that.
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I have no idea whose kids' house Lynn had the camera in back in the Eighties, but I was casted up for a broken arm as a kid and don't remember thinking it was "neat". The arm had to be set surgically, which was frightening, the next week was painful as hell and the thing itched, stank and was sore for weeks.
I really wonder what kid-injuries were like in the Johnston household at the time. Did Lynn have Aaron taking out the garbage in his cast because she felt he was enjoying his neat-o, leisurely post-accident life too much?
If the strip was really funny it might be worth the stupid...but the gag barely rates a smile.
Honestly - is there any part of the whole "Fatal Attraction - the Poirer Obsession" that isn't just epic fail with a side of rotten?
I think Lynn Johnston keeps forgetting that Lawrence and Michael go to the same class of the same school. In other words, there is no need for Michael or Lawrence to explain to each other what happened in school.
I wonder if she'd originally meant them to be in different classes. Both the "spitball" strip and today's reprint are from the original run, and the only strips I can think that show them in the same class in this era are new-runs.
And I think "Tricy" is supposed to be "Tracy" with a squished, angled "A."
It is nice to see the return of the duck of evil though.
Ooh, you know, I've been meaning to tell you about that second "blaming the duck" strip (notice you got two from your search). What's odd is that the later one could easily be a next-day follow-up to the single-panel "he did it" strip we saw reprinted in May of last year. But it ran five months later (going from April of 1980 to May of 1980)!
Ugh, I was doing a search on "cast" and found this gem from Deanna's parental neglect. Love how, when Meredith tells Lovey that she broke her arm, Deanna "corrects" her and tells Lovey that "it's just a fracture." That's kind of like "you ripped my paper!" "No, I just tore it!"
going from April of 1980 to May of 1980
D'oh! By which I meant "going from April of 1980 to September of 1980. April to September = five months. April to May, not so much.
DreadedCandiru2,
She also gets realistic when the cast is removed; that's because Lawrence is bummed that he won't be able to kick anyone in a while.
A few brief moments of realism(?), but way after the fact. Right now, it’s neat.
Flint Paper,
Does he actually believe that the duck did it? Did the duck do it? Did Lynn anticipate Calvin and Hobbes by ten years?
I have expounded on the subject of the Malevolent Bath Duck before. Since that was one of my Blog entries I liked, I will refer you back to it.
FDChief,
I have no idea whose kids' house Lynn had the camera in back in the Eighties, but I was casted up for a broken arm as a kid and don't remember thinking it was "neat".
I suspect Lynn Johnston’s experience with broken limbs must be entirely relegated to the envious kid position, or seeing limb-breaking for comic effect on cartoons.
Honestly - is there any part of the whole "Fatal Attraction - the Poirer Obsession" that isn't just epic fail with a side of rotten?
No there isn’t. In my opinion, it is one of the worst storylines of the early years of the strip. However, it is fascinating in its awfulness. In many respects I consider it to be a good counterpoint to the latter years of the strip, where Lynn had a number of stories which were similarly awful. Sometimes, I think if Lynn had jumped to doing reprints from her middle years instead of her early years, the leap in quality of artwork and writing would have been too great.
aprilp_katje,
I wonder if she'd originally meant them to be in different classes. Both the "spitball" strip and today's reprint are from the original run, and the only strips I can think that show them in the same class in this era are new-runs.
I think you are right. In the strips showing Miss Campbell, I cannot find any reference to Lawrence in them.
And I think "Tricy" is supposed to be "Tracy" with a squished, angled "A."
Yes. That seems likely. An early appearance of the girl who will be Tracy Mayes?
Ooh, you know, I've been meaning to tell you about that second "blaming the duck" strip (notice you got two from your search).
What's odd is that the later one could easily be a next-day follow-up to the single-panel "he did it" strip we saw reprinted in May of last year. But it ran five months later (going from April of 1980 to May of 1980)!
I noticed that too. I wonder if we are dealing with a 2-strip sequence split over time. Considering how much the strip jumped around in the 1980s before Lynn got onto a 6-day storyline style, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Love how, when Meredith tells Lovey that she broke her arm, Deanna "corrects" her and tells Lovey that "it's just a fracture." That's kind of like "you ripped my paper!" "No, I just tore it!"
I guess we have evidence that over time Lynn never did actually learn anything new about fractures.
An early appearance of the girl who will be Tracy Mayes?
I was about to point out that Mrs. Mayes spells her name "Tracey," but then I recalled that I actually came across a strip where Lawrence is referred to as "Lawrence Porrier" and another where Anne Nichols is referred to as "Ann." So that's entirely possible.
I wonder if we are dealing with a 2-strip sequence split over time. Considering how much the strip jumped around in the 1980s before Lynn got onto a 6-day storyline style, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Lynn does have a history of expecting readers to recall details she dropped months, if not years, before. Which is kind of ironic, considering her own memory issues.
I guess we have evidence that over time Lynn never did actually learn anything new about fractures.
Not only did she not learn anything new about fractures--I think she might have forgotten the little she knew. In the "Lawrence breaks his leg" arc, we see Dr. Plett telling Elly that "it's just a small fracture." Later, when Lawrence tells Connie that he broke his leg, at least she didn't interrupt him with "it's just a small fracture!"
aprilp_katje
I was about to point out that Mrs. Mayes spells her name "Tracey," but then I recalled that I actually came across a strip where Lawrence is referred to as "Lawrence Porrier" and another where Anne Nichols is referred to as "Ann." So that's entirely possible.
At this point in the strip, the first appearance of Tracey as a character is in the distant future. All we really have is an early indication that Lynn Johnston liked the name and might use it for a character later on. One of the nice about the Comic Strip Catalog is that occasionally you will run across obscure characters for whom Lynn did a few strips, and then never came back to. Remember Paula and Melody Morrison. I know I didn’t. In the case of Tracey, Lynn did come back to the name, even if it wasn't the same spelling.
In the "Lawrence breaks his leg" arc, we see Dr. Plett telling Elly that "it's just a small fracture." Later, when Lawrence tells Connie that he broke his leg, at least she didn't interrupt him with "it's just a small fracture!"
True, but in Lynn’s mind, Lawrence’s statement about the broken leg to Connie may have been a part of the humour. Lawrence goes from smiling to crying instantaneously and then exaggerates the extent of his injury. In the Deanna case, I can almost understand Deanna’s perspective, since she is trying to show she is not a negligent mother.
Remember Paula and Melody Morrison. I know I didn’t. In the case of Tracey, Lynn did come back to the name, even if it wasn't the same spelling.
Ha, it figures Lynn has had two characters named Paula, considering how man times she used "Paul."
I hadn't remembered either Paula, but I actually did remember Melody Morrison and the drama of the Valentine cards. Poor Melody. It's interesting that there's one Sunday strip where Melody actually comes over to the Patterhouse to play with Liz.
The pacing in this one is so odd. And it's cropped up across the entire run of the strip: Apparently in the Lynn-verse, it's normal to have a fragment of a conversation, go dead silent while the between-the-panel activities are performed, then resume talking abruptly, without any verbal sign that the break ocurred.
I'd say it was a sign of young-Lynn being unused to her medium, but this happened all the time while April was in high school!
aprilp_katje,
Ha, it figures Lynn has had two characters named Paula, considering how man times she used "Paul."
It’s a wonder we don’t have variations on Pauline, Paulette, or Paulina.
It's interesting that there's one Sunday strip where Melody actually comes over to the Patterhouse to play with Liz.
I think Lynn must have been considering these girls for Liz’s schoolmates, but must have decided to go with the ethnic diversity panel, which is the hallmark of Patterson friendships.
Anonymous,
I'd say it was a sign of young-Lynn being unused to her medium, but this happened all the time while April was in high school!
Lynn Johnston picked up certain techniques, which she often ascribes to having followed the examples of other artists and some of which she only thinks follow the examples of other artists. The conversation across panels is one of these techniques which can be very distracting. If this comic strip were about the speeding superhero, The Flash, then it would make more sense that all these things could be accomplished all while the slower character was speaking. It were a movie, you could imagine Lawrence narrating a montage of things he didn’t have to do during the day thanks to his broken leg. As it is, it seems odd, and I don’t know where Lynn Johnston got it.
A little while back, Lynn Johnston responded to a question about the little dot s that show up around a character’s head and she called it “dandruff” saying it showed “movement, dander, dirt, ...” and suggested we look for “nerls, plews, squeens, whifferoons" and credited Mort Walker’s book "Back Stage at the Strips" and claimed Mort mentioned them. Mort Walker did Beetle Bailey, and there are no dots around Beetle’s head.
I don’t know from whom Lynn got this technique, but I will admit she is pretty consistent with it.
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