The Local Fearground
Today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse is from March 24, 1981. That means that Lynn Johnston has opted not to reprint the March 23 strip which was related to the Farley training sequence already reprinted last year, except for that strip. Today’s trip is a lead-in to the already reprinted March 25, 1981 strip about Spring.
I had figured the long-awaited “’Allo?” girl explanation new-run would tie into an Elly / Connie conversation and it appears I was wrong. Lynn seems to be going through the remaining strips from March, 1981 she has not reprinted already.
The strip itself is one that is unusual because Lynn Johnston was actually taking a shot at someone other than her husband or son for a change. The victim of Lynn’s ire this time is her neighbours. Back in 1980 in Lynn’ s interview with CBC, it showed a scene from her life in Lynn Lake with her son and other children playing in her backyard. Lynn looked very maternal in the picture and it always struck me as a dramatic contrast to the way Elly often comes off in the strip. Today’s strip sets that record straight. Even though the strip makes fun of Elly for being weak-willed, the first 2 panels make it clear that Lynn does not like having other kids over at her house for what she perceives is “all the time.” We know that in the 1980 documentary Lynn’s neighbours were aware she was doing a comic strip. In the interview, Lynn made a joke about how they started being careful about what they said around her for fear the “crazy dentist’s wife” would put the story in one of her comic strips. It seems to me then, highly unlikely, that little Aaron’s friends’ moms would miss Lynn’s shot at them in this strip. However, Lynn may have had the expectation that they would not catch on to what she was saying.
As for the story, the best part is Michael standing at the door with his friends fearfully asking, “Can we come in, mom?” as if that were a question Michael would normally ask. The sour look on Elly’s face clearly has given Michael pause and he wonders whether or not his mother would let them come in. I am not sure who the other kid is beside Lawrence. He doesn’t look like Darryl Smythe, who has yet to make his first appearance. Probably he is just a generic not-Lawrence friend.
I had figured the long-awaited “’Allo?” girl explanation new-run would tie into an Elly / Connie conversation and it appears I was wrong. Lynn seems to be going through the remaining strips from March, 1981 she has not reprinted already.
The strip itself is one that is unusual because Lynn Johnston was actually taking a shot at someone other than her husband or son for a change. The victim of Lynn’s ire this time is her neighbours. Back in 1980 in Lynn’ s interview with CBC, it showed a scene from her life in Lynn Lake with her son and other children playing in her backyard. Lynn looked very maternal in the picture and it always struck me as a dramatic contrast to the way Elly often comes off in the strip. Today’s strip sets that record straight. Even though the strip makes fun of Elly for being weak-willed, the first 2 panels make it clear that Lynn does not like having other kids over at her house for what she perceives is “all the time.” We know that in the 1980 documentary Lynn’s neighbours were aware she was doing a comic strip. In the interview, Lynn made a joke about how they started being careful about what they said around her for fear the “crazy dentist’s wife” would put the story in one of her comic strips. It seems to me then, highly unlikely, that little Aaron’s friends’ moms would miss Lynn’s shot at them in this strip. However, Lynn may have had the expectation that they would not catch on to what she was saying.
As for the story, the best part is Michael standing at the door with his friends fearfully asking, “Can we come in, mom?” as if that were a question Michael would normally ask. The sour look on Elly’s face clearly has given Michael pause and he wonders whether or not his mother would let them come in. I am not sure who the other kid is beside Lawrence. He doesn’t look like Darryl Smythe, who has yet to make his first appearance. Probably he is just a generic not-Lawrence friend.
posted by howard at 9:41 PM
8 Comments:
In the interview, Lynn made a joke about how they started being careful about what they said around her for fear the “crazy dentist’s wife” would put the story in one of her comic strips. It seems to me then, highly unlikely, that little Aaron’s friends’ moms would miss Lynn’s shot at them in this strip. However, Lynn may have had the expectation that they would not catch on to what she was saying.
I can imagine her reaction to the discovery that this was not the case; that's because I remember how Mike reacted when Mel Kelpfroth confronted him about that hateful, passive-aggressive article he wasn't 'supposed' to find out about: by smirking and thinking that he 'deserved' to be thought of as a wild animal. About the only thing that gave him pause was the threat of legal action.
It seems to me then, highly unlikely, that little Aaron’s friends’ moms would miss Lynn’s shot at them in this strip. However, Lynn may have had the expectation that they would not catch on to what she was saying.
There is a sense that she looked down on people who lived in Lynn Lake, or in mall-less areas anywhere, and thought herself superior intellectually.
He doesn’t look like Darryl Smythe, who has yet to make his first appearance.
I just said the same thing at the Foobiverse before reading your blog. It's too early for Gord's first appearance, too. Darryl's name was very rarely used -- I think I found only one instance of it, when Mrs Hardacre yelled at the boys -- even though he was seen hanging around with Mike, Gord, Lawrence and Brian for years. I'm sure he's due a liography.
If this isn't meant to be some generic non-Lawrence friend, Darryl or proto-Gord, the only other possibility is that this is Richard, Annie's rarely-seen eldest son who was Mike's age, meaning that he survived somewhat longer than we knew.
DreadedCandiru2,
I can imagine her reaction to the discovery that this was not the case; that's because I remember how Mike reacted when Mel Kelpfroth confronted him about that hateful, passive-aggressive article he wasn't 'supposed' to find out about: by smirking and thinking that he 'deserved' to be thought of as a wild animal.
Mike’s reaction to Melville Kelpfroth’s anger is probably pretty close to Lynn’s. I can imagine her protesting that it wasn’t really related to her real life. Unlike Melville’s threat of legal action, the mothers of Lynn Lake would have given Lynn worse treatment, i.e. “Our children aren’t coming over to your house to play anymore, if that’s the way you feel about it.” Then it isn’t Lynn who suffers, because that’s what she wants; but little Aaron pays the price. Is it any wonder that her kids begged her to stop putting their lives in her comic strip?
forworse,
There is a sense that she looked down on people who lived in Lynn Lake, or in mall-less areas anywhere, and thought herself superior intellectually.
After her Maclean’s interview when Lynn suggested that Lynn Lake was entirely made up of adulterers, I would say it is more than “a sense.”
even though he was seen hanging around with Mike, Gord, Lawrence and Brian for years. I'm sure he's due a liography.
That’s for sure although Beth has really fallen off the wagon when it comes to liographies. I think the Coffee Talk monitoring must keep her too busy.
If this isn't meant to be some generic non-Lawrence friend, Darryl or proto-Gord, the only other possibility is that this is Richard, Annie's rarely-seen eldest son who was Mike's age, meaning that he survived somewhat longer than we knew.
“Look who I dug out of the ravine, Ma! It’s Richard! I wondered where he went.”
howard,
It's not in the least a surprise that her kids asked that of her if she kept on like that; what is a surprise is that she doesn't seem to want to admit that they have a point. The immature jerk in her thinks that behaving like a human being is some sort of sacrifice.
Lawrence's last name sure is spelled interestingly in that last strip you linked. Or does this mean the teacher's mispronouncing his name?
DreadedCandiru2,
It's not in the least a surprise that her kids asked that of her if she kept on like that; what is a surprise is that she doesn't seem to want to admit that they have a point.
It’s in Lynn’s interviews where I still see this tendency. Lynn has told some outrageous stories to interviewers and I have often thought she was just saying them to test to see if the interviewer was smart enough to realize she just told them an outrageous story. In the same respect, all the business of what she puts in her strip where she takes shots at people in her life seem to me to be the same way—is the person smart enough to figure out Lynn just slammed them? What she doesn’t seem to realize is the consequence of what happens when the person is smart enough to figure it out.
Muzition,
Lawrence's last name sure is spelled interestingly in that last strip you linked. Or does this mean the teacher's mispronouncing his name?
Looking over the strips starting from 1979, this may be one of the first times Lawrence’s last name has been mentioned. The strip just calls them Lawrence and Connie with no last names mentioned prior to this point that I can find. So I don’t know if this is a teacher mispronouncing his name, or if this is the way Lynn thought Poirier would be spelled? She’s not exactly known for her French skills.
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