This is part two in a series of posts containing “Things You Didn’t Know About FBorFW”, based on some questions we asked Lynn. Read the first post here.
Breaking away from a “gag a day” format in family themed comic strips was, at the time FBorFW started, unique. Was it something your syndicate warned against or was worried about? Dramatic story strips were declining. Were they worried it might hurt the popularity of FBorFW?
Continue reading
The third FBorFW treasury book, The Complete Library, Vol. 3, is out next week! Order it from IDW Publishing, or check your local bookstore. (We won’t be carrying it in our online store – the weight and size of this book makes it too expensive to ship from Canada).
No phone, no light, no motor car, not a single luxury–John and Phil’s canoe trip turns them into castaways on an island! Once back in civilization, John solves his mid-life crisis by buying a sportscar, and Elly improbably winds up in front of a judge as a result!
Michael enters junior high school, but not before learning a different sort of life lesson at summer camp with a girl named Martha, while Liz loses her first tooth, gets her ears pierced, and finds herself in a “Mean Girls” situation with her friends at school.
Then it’s wedding bells for Uncle Phil, and Lawrence moves back to town–with a new family of his own! Volume Three, which collects the complete daily and Sunday comics from July 6, 1986 through December 9, 1989, brings to a close the first decade of Lynn Johnston‘s modern masterwork, but of course, the story is just getting started…
At the Reuben awards in Huntington Beach, Ca. recently, Cathy Guisewite collected a few longtime friends together for lunch. The theme was “Thorns and Roses.” We each briefly said what had happened to us during the past year – good and bad. There were some amazing stories. We all got to know each other just a little better!
Seated in order from left to right are:
Over the decades of FBorFW’s existence, Lynn has answered hundreds of interview questions about the strip, and her work in general. This got our team wondering if there are interview questions Lynn hasn’t been asked, and what pieces of information about the comic are less widely known. We put together a series of questions we hoped would reveal some things you didn’t know about FBorFW, and Lynn’s answers turned out extremely detailed.
Here’s the first set of Qs and As in the series:
You have covered a lot of the inspiration behind the core characters and some of the supporting cast in books like “The Lives Behind the Lines”. In addition to the name origins of the characters, were there any real-life inspirations behind some of the other supporting characters?
Continue readingWe’re still finding more cool things in our archives, so here’s a new installment of our Deep Dive feature. Hope you like it!
How did you come to do all the North Bay Nugget Christmas cards?
The North Bay Nugget is North Bay’s community newspaper. After moving to the tiny community of Corbeil (just outside of town), I soon got to know the publisher, graphic artist and editors. One year, I was asked if I would create a unique Christmas card for the Nugget to send out to clients and friends. I didn’t want them to pay me, so I did it as a gift. The next year, they asked me to make this an annual commitment and I agreed—in exchange for them printing my personal Christmas cards on their presses. For many years, I produced an original Christmas greeting card for the Nugget and the newspaper printed mine. It was a great exchange, and resulted in some fun and funny images. The card you see above has a lot of different faces—all of which were made up…just random cartoon faces. Even though this was the case, some folks on the newspaper staff insisted I had drawn a caricature of them.
Do you have any reminiscences about Peru?
I had gone to Peru to work with the Medical Missions. As a volunteer, I said I knew enough Spanish to be helpful. When my identification card arrived, it said “translator” on the top, and so I was tossed into learning the language fast and furious, and on the job. Immersion like this gets you close to fluency mighty fast!
On this trip, we were housed in a Christian compound a few miles out of Cuzco. Our job was to work in outreach clinics, providing medical and dental help to people who would otherwise go without. My time was spent between the doctors and dentists, explaining procedures to patients so that they would be well informed, unafraid and cooperative.
The Peruvians are beautiful, funny, helpful and articulate people who welcomed us all with enthusiasm. The best way to really experience a country is to work there—even for a week or two; nothing puts you into the picture like working alongside the locals. This photo was taken in Arequipa en route to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu. We were given the weekend to sightsee. Not wanting to shop, I was waiting for some of the other volunteers. This woman, her children, and two new baby goats were standing nearby hoping I would pay them to have a photo taken. Since there was little going on, and business was slow, I had my picture taken and this is it. I have been to Peru several times. I have friends there and will go again. It’s a country that beckons my soul.
Continue reading