Farley: Browse The Strips

Saturday March 23, 2019

Lynn's Comments: Our Farley, the real one, was hard to handle. We took him to dog training classes and worked hard to make the lessons stick…but the only things that stuck to Farley were burrs and briars from the ravine behind our house. He considered himself a free spirit, and there were times I’d have given him away—for free.

Tuesday April 9, 2019

Lynn's Comments: Looking at the furnishings in the last panel, I have no idea where in the house Elly and Mike are. I was pretty diligent, especially after we started doing the animated specials, in keeping the house architecturally real and placing everything in the same location. Strange.

Sunday April 21, 2019

Lynn's Comments: Any opportunity to draw Farley at his scruffy best, gave me a thrill. I loved to draw him eating and scratching and burping and being thoroughly, happily disgusting. Not only was he great fun to draw, I had to “get into the spirit of the dog” in order to draw him well. Being Farley for a few hours was a happy, funny and relaxing time...and I have to say, he really was my favourite character!

Wednesday May 15, 2019

Lynn's Comments: We had one bathroom in our house on 5th Street. If Dad came home in a bad mood, we all ran for the comfort of the “throne” before he could lock himself in there and relax. I once went to visit Harry Morgan (of “Mash” fame.) While showing me around their LA house, his wife said, “Lynn, Harry and I have been married a long time and I gotta tell you, the secret to a happy marriage is having separate bathrooms!” I have to agree.

Sunday May 19, 2019

Lynn's Comments: I try to make a comment about each of these cartoons but there are times when nothing comes to mind. Where ideas come from has always been a mystery. When I first joined the National Cartoonists Society and could finally talk face to face with cartoonists I'd admired for years, the thing we'd discuss most was: “where and how do you get your ideas?” If you have the gift, ideas come. Ideas come when you are on a deadline and have no choice but to produce something. Good or bad, the idea has to be written, drawn up and sent in. It's a real job.

I have no idea where the idea for this strip came from, except that it seemed like a good gag at the time—and if I was to do it again, I'd change the colour. I think it would look better if the word “Worse” was in turquoise and if Mike had a deep turquoise shirt! Otherwise, it still looks OK!

Thursday June 13, 2019

Lynn's Comments: Having Elizabeth wear glasses separated my real life daughter even more from the character in the strip. Glasses gave Elizabeth a new look and something else to worry about! Things like this marked the growth of the characters and the passage of time. In FBorFW, everyone aged and changed.

Wednesday June 19, 2019

Lynn's Comments: Readers were always suggesting I give Elly a more modern hairstyle. They were right…she really did need a change. The trouble is it's hard to change a cartoon character's established "look." Elly's hairstyle was part of her trademark; her recognizable image. Even in sitcoms, the characters tend to keep their "look." I managed to placate the critics by giving Elly a bun or a French roll from time to time, but her hair remained long for the length of the strip!

Wednesday June 26, 2019

Lynn's Comments: Girls with the name "Elizabeth" did not appreciate this strip. I recently heard from a reader who said that after all these years, her brother still calls her "lizard breath!"

Monday July 15, 2019

Lynn's Comments: Here’s another punch line that could never be translated! When strips like this one reached international papers, the dialogue, and therefore the gag, had to be changed entirely. The translators who did this were excellent creative writers who often had an almost impossible job.

Sunday September 1, 2019

Lynn's Comments: I'm looking back at these drawings from a grandmother's point of view now...and the first thing that came to mind was, "Why is Elly criticizing the kids when they have actually mowed and raked a lawn?!—For heaven's sake, girl, leave the complaints for bigger misdemeanors!"

Sunday October 13, 2019

Lynn's Comments: We had a small piece of property near our house in North Bay. Friends who were involved with a tree planting program gave us two dozen evergreen seedlings to plant—which we did, hoping to see at least some of them survive. All of the seedlings grew, and today, there is a forest on that land. Hard to believe I have lived long enough to see a forest grow!