For Better or For Worse
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For Better or For Worse is a comic strip by Lynn Johnston which began in 1979.
Set in the fictitious Toronto-area suburban town of Millborough, Ontario, the strip chronicles the lives of a Canadian family and their friends. The father, John Patterson, is a dentist whose hobby is model railroading; he appears less often than the mother, Elly, a housewife turned book store-owner.
The happy couple have three children: Michael, Elizabeth, and April. Michael is married to Deanna, Elizabeth teaches on a native reserve, and April is in high school. The strip also features Elly's father, Jim Richards, and his second wife, Iris.
Unlike most comic strips (the best known exception being Gasoline Alley), the characters age in real time; fans have been known to express surprise and dismay at passing time in the story, such as "Michael is married?! He can't be that old!"
The comic's characters were based upon Johnston's real family. However, the characters are substantially different from her real family. When her children were younger, she asked their permission before depicting events from their lives; and she only once used a "serious" story from their lives. [1] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14846-2004Oct7.html) When Lynn Johnston had the urge to have another child, she settled on creating a new daughter (April Patterson) for her alter-ego from the strip.
Johnston has stated that the strip will end in 2007.
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Past Storylines
In the comic's three decades, the strip has featured a variety of storylines, as the characters and their friends age. These include Elly's return to the paid workforce, John's mid-life crisis, the birth of a friend's six-fingered daughter, friends' divorces, the coming out of Michael's best friend (Lawrence), and the death of Elly's mother.
Current Storylines
Storylines sometimes concern the Pattersons dealing with difficult acquaintances such as Kortney, a dishonest employee who worked for Elly; Becky, April's vain friend and bandmate in 4-Evah; and Thérèse, the wife of Elizabeth's friend Anthony, who seemingly resents Elizabeth's presence. Deanna's squabbling parents, Wilf and Mira, are recurring characters.
Unconventional Comic Storylines
Since the comic happens in "real time", at one point it became apparent that the Patterson's first dog, Farley, was starting to get fairly old. When he was fourteen years old, Farley saved April from drowning in a nearby stream. Unfortunately Farley's heart could not take the shock of the cold water, or the exertion of saving April from the water, and Farley passed away. Very few comics have main characters die. In FBOFW, the realism demands it.
In recent years, the strip has tackled more sensitive issues. The 1994 story on Lawrence's coming out generated controversy, with some readers threatening to cancel newspaper subscriptions. About 100 newspapers ran replacement strips or cancelled the comic. Three years later, Lawrence introduced his boyfriend and another uproar ensued.
During second-year university, Elizabeth moved in with her boyfriend, Eric. She maintained her own bedroom. Elizabeth later broke up with Eric when she found out he was cheating on her.
Characters
Main characters
John and Elly Patterson
John Patterson (b. February 17, 1949), is a dentist whose hobby is model railroading. John appears less often than his wife Elly. Elly Patterson (born August 26, 1951), nee Elly Richards, is a housewife turned toy store-owner. She tends to take life quite seriously, sometimes to the point of appearing grumpy.
Michael and Deanna Patterson
Michael (b. April 28, 1976), is one of Elly and John Patterson's three children. He works as a senior editor at Profile magazine. He is married to Deanna (b. December 13, 1976), who is a pharmacist. The couple have had two children: a daughter named Meredith (b. October 10, 2002) and a baby boy named Robin Michael (b. November 1, 2004).
During the couple's marriage preparations, Deanna was constantly at odds with her unruly mother.
Elizabeth Patterson
Elizabeth (b. April 26, 1981), John and Elly's adult daughter, teaches on a native reserve in Mtigwaki, Ontario. Throughout her childhood, brother Michael referred to her as "Lizard-breath".
April Marian Patterson
April (b. April 1, 1991) is the teenage daughter of John and Elly Patterson.
Jim Richards
Elly's father, Jim Richards (b. March 21, 1921) is known to the Pattersons and readers as "Grandpa Jim". Jim is a war veteran.
Iris
Iris (b. May 19, 1926) is Jim Richard's second wife, after Elly's mother died in the 1990s.
Supporting characters
- Agnes Dingle
- the former landlord of Michael and Weed while the two were in university in London. She is often moody and crabby, however she does have a gentle heart that is deep inside her and this was shown in a few episodes.
- Candace Halloran
- Elizabeth's roommate while she was in university. The two have known each other since their high school days, but eventually grew apart. They reunited during Elizabeth's first year at university, and since then have become close friends.
- Moira Kinney
- Elly's trusted employee at the toy store. Moira used to work for the previous owner of the toy store, Mrs. Petrucci. Elly kept Moira on staff when she took over the store.
- Shannon Lake
- A girl in April's home economics class with special needs. When Shannon got lost in a mall in March 2005, April happened to be there, and was able to stay with Shannon until Mrs. Lake found her. [2] (http://www.fborfw.com/char_pgs/shannon/)
- Ted McCauley
- A doctor by profession, Ted is John's friend and used to be married. Despite his increasing age, Ted is still single and lives with his mother.
- Becky McGuire
- (14 years old as of January 2005) April's friend. In a January 2005 plot line, another character claimed that Becky was sexually active (in FBofW speak, she was labelled as "hands on", "gig" and "roadside", and was stated to have "been there"), although Becky has never confirmed this. Subsequent episodes deal with Becky's rejection by an older boy.
- Lawrence Poirier
- Michael's friend since childhood. In 1994, it was revealed that Lawrence is gay. The Pattersons are still friends with him, and he hired Elizabeth to work for his landscaping business during one summer.
- Lovey Saltzman
- Michael and Deanna's current landlord. She is very kind to Michael and Deanna, often helping the couple out by preparing meals and babysitting the kids.
- Ned Tanner
- "Weed" (Josef Myron Weeder)
- A professional photographer who is Michael's university friend, roommate and later journalistic partner.
Minor characters
- Andrea Sobinski
- Anne Nichols
- Anthony Caine
- Ardith Narayan
- Beatrice Alfarero
- Bev Cruikshank
- Brad Luggsworth
- Brian Enjo
- Carleen Stein
- Carrie Patterson
- Connie Poirier
- Dawn Enjo
- Dennis North
- Duncan Anderson
- Eric Chamberlain
- Fiona Brass
- Gary Crane
- Georgia Richards
- Gerald Forsythe
- Gordon Mayes
- Greg Thomas
- Jean Baker
- Jeremy Jones
- Jesse Mukwa
- Kevin Smyth
- Kortney Krelbutz
- Laurie McLeod-Shabogesic
- Lily Petrucci
- Marian Richards
- Martha McRae
- Maxine Hébert
- Mira Sobinski
- Nicholas Browne
- Paul Bergan
- Phil Richards
- Rhetta Blum
- The New Bentwood Rockers
- Ruby Andrews
- Rudy Dodd
- Sharon Edwards
- Shawna-Marie Verano
- Steve Nichols
- Thelma Baird
- Thérèse Caine
- Tracey Mayes
- Vivian Crane
- Warren Blackwood
- Wilf Sobinski
- William Patterson
The fictional town of Millborough, Ontario is located near to Barrie, Ontario. Deanna described the drive up to the Patterson's house as a two-hour drive up Yonge Street.
Distribution
The strip is now seen in over two thousand newspapers throughout Canada, the United States, and about twenty other countries and translated into eight different languages.
Animated series and specials
In the late-1980s, CTV produced an animated special starring the Patterson family, called A Christmas Angel. The special soon became a fairly long-running series of mini-movies.
In the late-1990s, Teletoon had Ottawa's Funbag Animation create an animated series. Hosted in introductions by Lynn Johnston herself, the show looked at three related storylines from three different eras of the strip. While the series never really caught on, many Canadian children know the television series better than the originating comic strip.
External links
- Official site (http://www.fborfw.com/)
- Daily strip (http://www.ucomics.com/forbetterorforworse/)
- FBoFW's 25th Anniversary (http://www.fborfw.com/25th_anniversary.php)