Incomplete Chocolate Bunnies: Worth Eating, But Not Worth Giving
Today’s reprint of For Better or For Worse comes from the Easter strip from 1981 and is one of the few Sunday strips from April to June, 1981 which Lynn Johnston has not already reprinted. The theme of the strip is a variation of the old joke where a person devours or otherwise destroys a gift, and then tells a long story about the reasons why it was a good thing that happened. The gift in this case is a chocolate Easter bunny.
Lynn Johnston never repeated this joke that I can tell, but the comic strip Sally Forth has a recurring storyline of Sally’s habit of eating the ears off of her daughter, Hilary’s chocolate Easter bunny. I wonder if Greg Howard, the creator of Sally Forth borrowed this idea from Lynn Johnston when he created his strip in 1982 a year later.
As for the systematic eating of chocolate Easter bunnies, only this strip of For Better or For Worse brings the subject up again, but not in the same way. The part I find most interesting about the strip is the idea that 6-year-old Michael bought a chocolate bunny for his sister. The Pattersons often have money expectations of Michael, which I would consider to be beyond the capabilities of most 6-year-olds. Even Michael’s story today, while funny, seems to me to be very advanced. My son is 14 years old and I doubt he could put together an explanation as skillfully as Michael does in today’s strip. Now, if we are talking Dennis the Menace, then that is a different story. Dennis was a consumate liar, and if think it is Dennis that little Michael is channeling today.
I am looking forward to tomorrow’s strip. Will it be the can opener strip? In other words, will we be in straight reprints? The tension builds…
Lynn Johnston never repeated this joke that I can tell, but the comic strip Sally Forth has a recurring storyline of Sally’s habit of eating the ears off of her daughter, Hilary’s chocolate Easter bunny. I wonder if Greg Howard, the creator of Sally Forth borrowed this idea from Lynn Johnston when he created his strip in 1982 a year later.
As for the systematic eating of chocolate Easter bunnies, only this strip of For Better or For Worse brings the subject up again, but not in the same way. The part I find most interesting about the strip is the idea that 6-year-old Michael bought a chocolate bunny for his sister. The Pattersons often have money expectations of Michael, which I would consider to be beyond the capabilities of most 6-year-olds. Even Michael’s story today, while funny, seems to me to be very advanced. My son is 14 years old and I doubt he could put together an explanation as skillfully as Michael does in today’s strip. Now, if we are talking Dennis the Menace, then that is a different story. Dennis was a consumate liar, and if think it is Dennis that little Michael is channeling today.
I am looking forward to tomorrow’s strip. Will it be the can opener strip? In other words, will we be in straight reprints? The tension builds…
posted by howard at 9:51 PM
8 Comments:
I'm hoping it's the can opener strip; that way, the Deathpocalypse makes more sense. Also, it would make the strip a better investment for the Syndicate, allow Lynn to travel more and provide snarking material and, best of all, I could start talking about other things on my blog. After all, Foob isn't the only strip that bothers me.
Michael will also wander off on his own to shop for Lizzie's birthday present, for when she turns two. I can no longer link to the strip in question, as Steph has not only blocked out that big chunk of 1981, but apparently also disabled strips from that time from coming up in other searches. Watch out folks, she might start showing up at your houses and confiscating your collections. 0_o
[verification word: parting]
Okay, I see I can still find the "can opener" sequence by plugging in the punchlines. Maybe there's something else going on.
Okay, found the birthday present strip.
DreadedCandiru2,
…and, best of all, I could start talking about other things on my blog. After all, Foob isn't the only strip that bothers me.
I agree. Over the years, you have certainly examined For Better or For Worse quite thoroughly. There is not the same thrill of discussing a completed work as a work in progress. With For Better or For Worse the train wreck may very well be ceasing its motion.
aprilp_katje,
Michael will also wander off on his own to shop for Lizzie's birthday present, for when she turns two
I think little Aaron Johnston, the real-life Mike, would have been 9 years old at that point, so having a little money to spend or even the desire to spend it on your little sister would have been more likely than it would be for a kid a few years younger. If Lynn lifted this one from real-life, then it would have been without the understanding of the difference those few year make.
I think little Aaron Johnston, the real-life Mike, would have been 9 years old at that point, so having a little money to spend or even the desire to spend it on your little sister would have been more likely than it would be for a kid a few years younger. If Lynn lifted this one from real-life, then it would have been without the understanding of the difference those few year make.
Aaron was born in 1973, and I think he has a June birthday, so he would have been just shy of eight when Lynn ran the gift-shopping strip. That still seems awfully young to me, for going off on shopping excursions. But I wouldn't have put it past Lynn in 1981 Lynn Lake.
aprilp_katje,
But I wouldn't have put it past Lynn in 1981 Lynn Lake.
True enough. From what I can tell Lynn Lake is remote and there would have been very few places where Easter things could have been purchased, all of which may have been in close proxity to the Johnston household.
Post a Comment
<< Home