« Thursday January 24, 2008 | Main | Monday January 28, 2008 »

I find it so depressing that April seems to be the only Patterson (and especially the only Patterson grandchild) who regularly visits and cares about Jim AND Iris and still reaches out to them instead of talking over them. Iris needs a storyline where she must travel back to be with her side of the family for a brief emergency visit. Then Ellie, Elizabeth and Michael in particular can understand firsthand just how involved it can be to care for an older person with physical needs and upside down sleep cycles -- and MAYBE, maybe they will appreciate Iris a little more, give her a break from caregiving a little more, appreciate their own good health and stop WHINING about what they do and don't have! Good grief!

Valerie T, San Antonio TX

I just wanted to say how moved I was by today's strip. Being a widow myself I can totally relate. Iris knows the meaning of true love. She knows that Jim has love in his heart for both her AND his first wife. Just because a spouse dies, the love and history had between the couple doesn't go away. Iris is the epitome of class!

Brenda S, Jacksonville FLA

I'd like Lynn to fill us in about Iris's past. I know many readers think she is ignoring her own life in devoting her attention to Jim. Some women are willing to sacrifice their self-interests to care for another person. Whether you like it or not; there are people similar to her.
The question is-- what caused her to be that way?

Wesley M, Minneapolis MN

I just wanted to thank you and congratulate you for the skill with which you have handled the grandfather's stroke and the effects it has had upon him and those around him. Often attempts at dealing with such situations become overly sentimental or maudlin. You have achieved an admirable balance between the sadness and the humor. My wife suffered a stroke in 2003 when she was only 37. Although the effects of strokes vary radically, depending upon the individual, your depictions of the condition are extremely accurate.

Robert G, Concord NC

One of the best comic strips ever. Hats off to Lynn and the Great White North.

Theodore W, Delaware

Hi Lynn! I think this is the first time I've ever commented on your site but I must say...I absolutely LOVE your comics.

I do have to agree with a lot of the readers: While it's interesting to get these 'flashbacks' to the older comics, I would MUCH rather see the current story lines continue on and grow. One of the things I love most about this strips is that you DON'T just freeze time and keep them the same age. I LOVE that they age at the same rate we do. I can't think of any other comic that does that (not in today's world anyway). So, personally, I would prefer to have the 'flashbacks' end, or have them happen once in awhile in the same way you started...as actual flashbacks.

I look back as some of the strips where you first started bring the old strips in and those flowed well. Like the strips in September where Mike is telling Merrie about his childhood. In those strips, even though it's the old art work and the old strips, you have Mike's narration at the top. The old strips also had a wonderful continuity to them (they were all Mike as a kid, or fit into what he was telling Merrie about i.e. 9/15-9/21). Even the strips in October still had that kind of continuity (like 10/11-10/14). Heck, the first 3 weeks in Nov were almost all the old strips but they went together and were part of Liz's story to April.

Now it seems like the old strips are just being thrown in there and there's no real reason why, maybe I'm just not 'getting' the connection to the story. No one is 'remembering' anything, or 'telling old stories', the strips are just thrown in. Like the Sunday strip on 12/09- there just wasn't any reason to even bring up that strip. Plus you've stopped the main story lines right when a LOT of interesting things were happening. I'm DYING to know what happens with Liz and Anthony, and April and Gerald!

I think it's perfectly acceptable for Liz to move in with Anthony without being married. It is NOT a sin. My mother-in-law (who is heavily Christian) even told my wife that if she had lived with her father (my father-in-law) before they got married, she never would have married him. Instead they ended up in a messy divorce that took 7 years and really hurt their kids. My wife and I lived with each other for a few years before we got married, and now we have 3 beautiful children and just celebrated out 8th anniversary.

Ok, I think I've rambled on enough now (this message is HUGE). Thanks for all these wonderful stories and I really do look forward to continuing with the Pattersons.

Chris M, Manchester, New Hampshire

Today's strip about Iris and Jim has prompted me to write you and comment on your sensitive and revealing treatment of Jim's health condition. You have done great service to those who are caretakers for those who no longer know this world. Bless you and your staff.

Jay S, Arlington TX

I just wanted to say, your insight into people is amazing! I'm sure you hear how you touch on subjects we all face...and you do. I just think God must be talking...drawing thru you to all of us.

Jackie, Nixa, MO (6 yrs), Hays KS (47 years)

Lynn,

I have been reading your strip for years now and nothing has ever touched me like today's strip(1-24).

To see someone still left in this world (even as a 'toon) with that much selflessness inside of them as to put the picture of another great love up just reafirms to me that there are people in this world that still love and care for one another no matter what - unconditionally.

Also, in regards to the hybrid format - KEEP IT UP! As I said, I am a reader from near the begining - even thou I was only a preteen at the time I laughed then and I laugh even harder now. As a mother of 2 older teens now I love seeing Elly again in the "little ones" situations!! (Mine drew on the wall and the couch!!)

Keep these up and keep up on the new storylines!! They are all wonderfull!!!

Happiness to you and yours.

Anne W, Marysville WA

I have been a fan of your books for a couple of years now and just completed my entire book collection. My earliest memory of the For Better or for Worse characters was in the Christmas special "The Bestest Present". I remember watching this when I was in the age group of 5-8 or so. I ordered this video last year and thought I was going to cry when I watched it again after all these years.

I love the stories and characters. I am almost 25 and find I, as well as many other people out there, can relate to the stories and characters greatly.

Colleen, Lethbridge AB

Okay, you've made a grown man cry! The last panel of today's strip has touched the very heart of what I want to say so often. Lynn, you have a gift for writing that surpasses that of most novelists. With the lines you draw (and sometimes the ones you don't) you express life as it is, and how it could be if we just tried to live up to our better natures.
Sometimes I wish I could write as well as you and your team, Lynn. I have my own tales to tell, but lack the skill.
Has there ever been a suggestion of novelizing some of the stories you have told over the years? There is enough fodder for the imagination in the work that the team has done, from your solo days in Lynn Lake, to the new, hybrid stips from North Bay. Michael Patterson would be unable to keep himself from writing those stories.
I have to confess, at times, I do write them, in my head. I wouldn't dream of tampering with the world you have created Lynn! Too many others are so quick to do that these days to make a quick dollar.
I look forward to seeing what you do with your skills outside of the Patterson Universe. After the CBC broadcast, I sometimes wonder what you painted on the large canvas at the end of the piece.

Your ardent (and envious reader),

Joe D, Prescott