Welcome Brenda
Today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse confirmed what I suspected yesterday. Yesterday’s new-run set up the “Mike is a non-linear thinker” strip. The question I had yesterday was, “How far in advance is this being setup?” With today’s strip we get that answer. The mention of Brenda makes this strip clearly a lead-in to the first strip of the Parent-Teacher conference sequence of strips originally published during the first week of April, 1981. How do I know this? Brenda, the baby-sitter was never mentioned again according to the Comic Strip Catalog search mechanisms. It’s too bad we never got to meet Brenda; because she sounds a lot like Rosalyn, the babysitter from Calvin & Hobbes. In nearly all the "Rosalyn stories", Rosalyn is shown demanding advance payment and raises in wage from Calvin's parents, supposedly because she needs the extra money to pay for college or for the hard work she puts into to control Calvin. Lynn Johnston seems to lifting Rosalyn for Brenda with today's strip. Of course, the phrase I know is "hazard pay" and not "danger pay."
The Parent-Teacher conference sequence occurred after Lawrence got his cast removed in mid-March, so it appears that yesterday’s strip showing Lawrence and no crutches was not a fluke. Congratulations Lawrence. It’s a miracle. Your leg is healed.
More importantly, by jumping to early April, 1981 for reprints; Lynn Johnston has officially passed the point where she had reprinted daily strips before – that being mid to late March, 1981. In other words, she can go to straight reprints any time now, and no longer have to worry about strips she had already reprinted from the dailies. The Sunday strips are a different matter. The only thing which could stop Lynn from going to straight reprints is the fact that February 20, 2010 is not synchronized with early April, 1981. If she goes to straight reprints now, she is going to run into trouble on the holiday times.
Of course the other question is whether or not Lynn Johnston will actually go through it and go to straight reprints. For example, today’s strip is unnecessary. Lynn could have gone straight to the Brenda strip reprint without this new-run. The fact that Lynn Johnston didn’t do that tells us that she might not be quite ready for straight reprints. She could be reconsidering her plans. For those of us who have watched Lynn Johnston's retirement plans over the years, it would be more in character for her to change her plans than to actually go through with them.
The other possibility is that Lynn will do new-runs until the first week of April and then synchronize the strips. However, considering Lynn’s usual attention to detail, I would actually be surprised if Lynn even knew there would be a problem with seasonal synchronization.
The Parent-Teacher conference sequence occurred after Lawrence got his cast removed in mid-March, so it appears that yesterday’s strip showing Lawrence and no crutches was not a fluke. Congratulations Lawrence. It’s a miracle. Your leg is healed.
More importantly, by jumping to early April, 1981 for reprints; Lynn Johnston has officially passed the point where she had reprinted daily strips before – that being mid to late March, 1981. In other words, she can go to straight reprints any time now, and no longer have to worry about strips she had already reprinted from the dailies. The Sunday strips are a different matter. The only thing which could stop Lynn from going to straight reprints is the fact that February 20, 2010 is not synchronized with early April, 1981. If she goes to straight reprints now, she is going to run into trouble on the holiday times.
Of course the other question is whether or not Lynn Johnston will actually go through it and go to straight reprints. For example, today’s strip is unnecessary. Lynn could have gone straight to the Brenda strip reprint without this new-run. The fact that Lynn Johnston didn’t do that tells us that she might not be quite ready for straight reprints. She could be reconsidering her plans. For those of us who have watched Lynn Johnston's retirement plans over the years, it would be more in character for her to change her plans than to actually go through with them.
The other possibility is that Lynn will do new-runs until the first week of April and then synchronize the strips. However, considering Lynn’s usual attention to detail, I would actually be surprised if Lynn even knew there would be a problem with seasonal synchronization.
posted by howard at 10:14 PM
11 Comments:
I wonder what happened to the previous babysitter, Karen.
And those search results...! If Karen were 13 in 1979, she'd be 31 in 1997: did Elly never realize that her former babysitter outgrew her perm, got contacts and became Becky's mother?! Karen's freckles, Becky's freckles: I think we have a match! I mean, I know that, aside from Connie, Elly was never friends with the parents of her kids' friends, and indeed didn't even meet Anthony's mother until the day this unseen woman became Elizabeth's mother-in-law, so I guess it's understandable that Elly just ignored Karen, even as Karen's marriage fell apart, unless she needed someone to look after April and / or the pets.
::sob::
She's never going to go to straight reprints. I think she should start paying me for doing Foobar. ;)
The other possibility is that Lynn will do new-runs until the first week of April and then synchronize the strips. However, considering Lynn’s usual attention to detail, I would actually be surprised if Lynn even knew there would be a problem with seasonal synchronization.
Yes, I imagine she's too distracted and vague to worry herself about such things. Someone else is going to have to bring this to her attention, if this hasn't happened already.
If Karen were 13 in 1979, she'd be 31 in 1997: did Elly never realize that her former babysitter outgrew her perm, got contacts and became Becky's mother?!
Ooh, I think you're right! Perfect match. :)
The Parent-Teacher conference sequence occurred after Lawrence got his cast removed in mid-March, so it appears that yesterday’s strip showing Lawrence and no crutches was not a fluke. Congratulations Lawrence. It’s a miracle. Your leg is healed.
I quite agree; it's the miracle of having a lazy, unfocused creator who doesn't want to be limited by such pointless details as continuity, causalty, common sense and consistent behavior. What's more, there are a legion of deluded fans ready to step right up and defend her right to churn out nonsense.
However, considering Lynn’s usual attention to detail, I would actually be surprised if Lynn even knew there would be a problem with seasonal synchronization.
If it does become a problem, she could point to the fact that the comic strip PreTeena is three months behind the times.
forworse,
I know that, aside from Connie, Elly was never friends with the parents of her kids' friends, and indeed didn't even meet Anthony's mother until the day this unseen woman became Elizabeth's mother-in-law, so I guess it's understandable that Elly just ignored Karen, even as Karen's marriage fell apart, unless she needed someone to look after April and / or the pets.
Since April came along later in Elly’s life, she would find that the vast majority of the parents of April’s friends would be much younger than she was. I have the same issue, since I didn’t have kids until I was 33 years old; but that doesn’t stop me from talking about my kids with their friends’ parents, in spite of our age differences. Elly may be a different story. However, my current theory is that Connie is Elly’s only friend, because she is the only one who can stand to be around her for any significant period of time.
aprilp_katje,
She's never going to go to straight reprints. I think she should start paying me for doing Foobar. ;)
Chin up, aprilp_katje. Today’s strip may be a new-run, but there is nothing to stop Lynn from going to straight reprints with Monday’s strip. I think we may be on the verge of it. There was no good reason for Lynn not to use those “Lawrence in his cast” strips from March, 1981 for reprinting unless she just said in frustration, “I can’t remember which strips I did or did not reprint! Just tell me where to start that’s after all that.”
Yes, I imagine she's too distracted and vague to worry herself about such things. Someone else is going to have to bring this to her attention, if this hasn't happened already.
Another possibility is that even if it were brought up to her, the simplest solution would be to pull up the strip for the year involving the holiday and move it to the appropriate date. Even if the dates were closely synchronized between 1981 and 2010, the holidays would match the day of the week only once every 7 years on average, and a more fluid holiday like Easter would have to be moved every year.
DreadedCandiru2,
What's more, there are a legion of deluded fans ready to step right up and defend her right to churn out nonsense.
These would be the fans who would say, “Thank you Lynn for doing the reprints and not going away completely. I read the strip every day. I can’t wait to read about Farley dying and Lawrence coming out again.”
If it does become a problem, she could point to the fact that the comic strip PreTeena is three months behind the times.
If Lynn knew that strip existed, she could. Nevertheless, your point is well-taken. Lynn may just say, “The strip is in straight reprints, however that may fall in the calendar. There are quite a few reprint strips being published now and most of them do not pay much attention to the daily calendar.
howard,
Lynn may just say, “The strip is in straight reprints, however that may fall in the calendar. There are quite a few reprint strips being published now and most of them do not pay much attention to the daily calendar.
She'd be well within her rights to do so; it would be refreshing if she had the moxie to simply say "This is how it is, like it or not." instead of talking about cars, houses and fantasy capsules.
I know that after Connie moved, Carol Enjo was originally portrayed as filling in the "Elly's best adult friend" slot. Elly herself even lamp-shaded this via a thought balloon!
However, this was all but forgotten once Connie came back.
Oh my GOSH. I looked inside "Lives Between the Lines" for info on the Enjos and came right to the strip where 13-0something Liz and Dawn gloat about how it's FATE that made them best friends and DESTINY that will bring them together with their FATED future husbands!
AAAAAAAAGH!
Elly herself even lamp-shaded this via a thought balloon!
Here?
Yup! That's the panel. Anybody who saw that who'd ever seen any fiction EVER could pick up that cue.
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