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I love this strip! I read it every day and have withdrawl if I miss it. My Mom and I would read it and call each and discuss what would happen next. It was so fun to talk to her about what was going on. Elizabeth and I are so much alike. My Mom and I would laugh with every strip that would come out about her and the loves in her life. (I did marry my highschool sweetheart by the way). I recently lost my Mom, but I continue to read your strip. It makes me laugh and cry. I feel she is reading it along with me. So far all of our predictions have come true. fborfw was more than just coffee talk to me and my mother. Thank you Lynn.

Jewelee, FL

Hi! I have been reading this strip from the mid eighties, from when I was a kid. My life has definitely mirrored Liz's so much throughout the years that it's eerie. Right now, we are in the same situation almost exactly. In my case, my boyfriend is a high school friend that has a little girl he takes care of, with a difficult ex of his own. Through the years, we've also kept in touch with each other's troubled relationships, never getting together ourselves. It's interesting to see Liz going through almost the same things. I almost look to her to see what may happen in my life! I think her parents were right with they told Liz that Anthony has been there for her through thick and thin. I think Anthony is a good, stable and loving young man for her, and I hope she finds peace with him. Please keep us posted!!

Gaby, Baltimore

I love the way Lynn Johnston is not afraid to write stories about Elizabeth, a daughter who is deeply flawed and her mother Elly, who knows her daughter better than she knows herself.

When Elizabeth Patterson got the e-mail from April Patterson telling her Anthony Caine had gotten a divorce, and within a month she decided to leave Mtigwaki to go back to Milborough; it was a surprising move; because she had seemed to be happy there. It shocked me to see Elizabeth throwing that away in what was, by cause-and-effect, clearly Elizabeth putting herself in a position to be closer to Anthony Caine.

But Lynn Johnston was not done. She showed us an even more complicated character with Elizabeth. Her boss' wife, Vivian Crane actually has to talk Elizabeth into telling her then-boyfriend Paul Wright about the move, as if she were going to leave Mtigwaki and not tell him. I squirmed in my seat. Could Lynn really be painting Elizabeth who could be so callous with Paul, a man who loved her so much he was changing his career for her? Then when Elizabeth does tell him, she says she is moving because she missed her family. That was a reasonable excuse. I felt relieved that I had misread Elizabeth's reason for leaving.

But then after Elizabeth moved, Elly Patterson had to visit her in Mississauga because she had gone a long time separated from family. Elizabeth didn't act like a homesick person at all. Lynn Johnston had just showed me the reasonable excuse was a lie. Even better, she showed me an Elly Patterson, who was completely aware of that lie, and acted on it. The next thing Elly did was to take Elizabeth directly over to Mayes Midtown Motors, where Anthony works, with an offer to finance her car as motivation. I thought maybe, Elly is really only taking Elizabeth there to buy a car and not to see Anthony. But, Elly abandons Elizabeth so Anthony can take the test drive with Elizabeth, and her expectant questions of Elizabeth after she took the test drive, showed me I was wrong again. She brought Elizabeth there to see Anthony, and the car was just an excuse. Elly is one sharp cookie. No matter how much Elizabeth protested her boyfriend was Paul and how much she missed him, Elly knew the truth.

These are fabulous characterizations, so deep and well-written. Now Elizabeth and Anthony are together, Elizabeth finally acknowledges the truth Elly knew over a year ago. Isn't that the way with daughters and mothers?

Paul S, Oro Valley, Arizona

I am just loving the artwork in the current story line. I think it has to be some of your best. Kudos to you and the team in Corbeil! The detail you put into the backgrounds is just amazing.
That, in part, is why For Better or For Worse is such an enduring comic strip.
One day, my friends, your work will hang on my wall!
By the way, I think my favourite strip is when Grandma Marion died, and April sensed it all the way in Ontario. She watches over the characters of the strip as much as you and I do. Maybe that's why you sometimes can't control their destinies.

Joe, Cardinal ON

I must compliment you on this strip and today's episode in particular. In to day's general cartooning population, "For Better or Worse" stands out for, among other things, its art, character development, maturity of story and pure thoughtful entertainment. I cannot wait to see Anthony's response to the kiss from that sweet thing.

Robert G (age 76), Tucson AZ

Memo from one of your formerly faithful readers(who made the mistake of checking back in to see what all the complaints were about):

I loved this strip growing up. Loved how it took deadly accurate aim at...well, at the same hack sentimentality that's pervading it now, unfortunately. I read all the collections, grew to enjoy hearing about developments in the Pattersons' lives as one does news of RL friends.

So I feel comfortable telling you: I'm having a really, really hard time with the Liz/Anthony arc.

Specifically, with the notion that the woman who wrote the first decade of this strip actually believes that Anthony *isn't* a whiny, spineless, vapid, passive-aggressive creep who gets turned on when the woman he loves suffers sexual trauma.

We won't even get into deliberately manufacturing said trauma as a way to bring him galloping into Liz' life on a white charger. I'll just point out that you've written yourself into a lose/lose situation: Either the assault was serious, in which case Anthony comes off as [see above]- or it wasn't, in which case we're watching a trailblazing female cartoonist cynically using this most sensitive of women's issues as a plot machination...*and* Anthony comes off as [see above].

Lynn, This. Is. Stupid. On a very, very basic level, these two have no chemistry. You remember chemistry? You must, 'cause I checked back in briefly when the Liz-as-First-Nations-teacher arc looked interesting, and she and the good Constable actually had some.

So did she and the chopper pilot, for that matter. Or she and anyone who also had an interesting, outward-reaching life. (Hell, even Mike used to be fascinating to me, as a struggling writer, before you 'cutely' saddled him with 2.4 rugrats.)

As someone pointed out elsewhere, you've more or less taken the expectations of everybody who grew up with this strip and stomped them into the ground. The relevant, meaningful artist you think you are - that you're inexplicably told you are, by your remaining fans - grows and changes and embraces new experiences, Lynn. They don't go into full retreat, slamming doors behind them.

Even now, in the most favourable of settings, you're having to force idiotically contrived scenarios on Liz and Anthony in order for them to connect. I'm not sure what trauma of your own is keeping you from being honest with your own creation, but it's becoming massively painful to watch.

KM, Toronto

All marriage is a gamble, to some extent. Even when you date another person for a long time, even when both parties are mature, and even when both have solid family backgrounds and, yes, even when money is not itself an issue - still, marriage involves risk. Anthony seems to present minimal risk for Elizabeth, and she even less for Anthony. It is a reasonable match. Who can say more in this life. The idea that Therese may return to present a problem is a reality, and certainly they will argue and sometimes disagree as all married couples do. Life's like that. But, the idea of their adult romance and marriage is both realistic and reasonable. In a sense, both have been "around the block" so to speak. I find this plot line very human.

Bob

I've waited patiently for years for Liz and Anthony to arrive at this moment. Finally! Now don't give us heartbreak. Let them enter into bliss.

Russell, CA

Lynn, Thank you for many years of daily reality checks you incorporate into your strip. Life as shown in FWOFW is full of the love, loss, happiness + disappointment we all experience. Not to mention, your characters actually evolve! Reading your strip is visiting old friends everyday. As far as Elizabeth and Anthony, I'm glad to see that Elizabeth finally "sees" that Anthony was the right one for her all along. We'll see how that one turns out. The most powerful element of the strip though, was Farley's death. I never thought I could be so impacted by a 'comic' strip. I knew from that point on - I would be a remote member of the Patterson clan for life. Thanks again.

Kevin, Seattle

I was first introduced to the FBorFW strip back in 1981 when I moved to Alabama. My neighbor sent me the strip of Michael & Liz when they were in the bathtub & Liz wanted to know why she didn't have "one" like Michael. It made me laugh so much & helped to lessen the feeling of being homesick. I realized soon after that Elly & John's children are about the same age as mine (I have 3-2 girls & 1 boy). So I feel that my kids have grown up with the Patterson kids. I love this strip, it's the 1st thing I read when I wake up in the morning-it really helps to get my day going. I don't get the newspaper everyday so I'm really glad to be able to read online. The Patterson's are like family to me. I can relate to them, as I'm sure many people can. Plus, they cross the racial line-they could be any family of any ethnicity anywhere in the world! Keep up the great work!!

Patricia, TX

Hallelujah!!!
FINALLY Liz and Anthony are making another go of things! I've been following the strip since LizardBreath was a toddler.... For a fictional character, Liz's love life has been bugging me for years, and I was afraid she was always going to be at loose ends. I'm so happy now that the story arc is moving along to a rekindled romance.

I know some people really hate the idea of Liz and Anthony getting back together, but after being through the marriage and divorce wars myself and having a very old friend return to my life after tribulations of his own, well, the Liz-Anthony story arc resonates. I'm glad these characters have grown up enough (as some of us do in the Real World) to forgive, to appreciate what they had, and to recognize what they can build on.

love the strip, love the people in it and the writer behind it (and I'm particularly fond of April, she's just a few months younger than my oldest)

Rebecca, NW Washington State, USA