Jean: Browse The Strips

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Lynn's Comments: One of the concerns my husband had at the dental clinic was well meaning moms wanting to be in the operatory to "help calm their children". Typically, the child would be fine with the dental staff and the doctor but mom would insist on being there--that's when the problems began. I remember him telling me about a mother who watched the procedure in silence until he was ready to inject the anesthetic. Then she said to her son in a sing-song voice; "Here comes the needle!!" The child immediately started to howl and the process was delayed until he settled down. Just knowing that mom was listening in might be enough for a nervous or high maintenance kid to start a row. So the farther the parent was separated from the patient the better.

I did this strip a few months after this actual incident occurred. The characters were changed to protect the identities of the patient and his mom. As far as I know, they never did see the connection!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Lynn's Comments: This was an inside joke between Gunther Hildebrandt, a long time family friend, and ourselves. Gunther enjoyed reading the news and discussing current events, especially with my father-in-law. Together, they would solve the problems of the world. Gunther loved to talk, so in this strip I am having a bit of fun at his expense. The dental clinic was never the place to have a really good conversation, especially for the patient.

Gunther was a good sport. In fact, friends and family always enjoyed seeing their names, and it undoubtedly resulted in mail and phone calls from their own friends and family, from all across the continent, saying, "I saw you in the funny papers!"

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Lynn's Comments: As in any sitcom, my saga had to have characters who were "pawns". These are people who ask the questions the audience wants to ask and pressure the characters to give more information than they could otherwise give. In a strip, you can do this with thought balloons, which work from time to time. The best gags usually require some repartee. This not only gives you the opportunity for TWO smart minds to make a remark, but provides the artist with appropriate facial expressions as well.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I have known a lot of medical folks through my job at McMaster University--just "the luck of the draw!" I once asked a psychiatrist friend from Hamilton, Ontario how many psychiatrists there were in the city and he replied, "Oh, 40 odd.... and two normal." It was a funny line, but the more I got to know various docs, the more I wondered how hard it would be to counsel a patient when your own private life was completely out of hand!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Before I left Lynn Lake, I had discovered the joy of finding a reliable artist to help me with some of my work. I taught a friend how to colour the Sunday pages and I also had someone help me answer the mail. The move south allowed me to create a studio workspace in the downstairs of our house--large enough to give two of us a comfortable workspace.

I had desks and tables installed, and hired a woman to help with the business, do the colouring, and help with mail--a full-time job. As time went by and the business expanded to include books, calendars, greeting cards, and a few animated specials, I found it necessary to hire a full-time graphic artist to work on backgrounds and do the lettering. Having someone to take over some of the inking, cut my drawing time in half--but it meant another body in the studio. We began to use electronic means to do colouring and design--meaning that more creative work came our way.

When my husband hired a studio manager, three of us were crowded into the basement, so I decided to build a separate studio; a small bungalow on an adjoining piece of property. It was near enough to walk to, but separate from the house. This meant, for the first time in years that not only did I have to dress in a slightly more business like manner, I had to be on time for work!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Because I didn't want to juggle a whole team of characters in the dental office, I made Jean both the receptionist and dental assistant. This is impossible! I then added the situation many companies dread: maternity leave.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I don't think I had talked about Jean's private life. Whether she was married or not had never come up, and so this pregnancy was something readers just had to accept. I was still learning how to create a believable and consistent storyline.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Lynn's Comments: For a while, in Rod's clinic, both patient and assistant wore protective garb when x-rays were taken. It was soon evident that the on-off switch could be placed outside the operatory behind a permanent protective shield. This made things much easier.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Lynn's Comments: When they first came out, answering machines were a new toy for everyone. Some folks were horrified by the thought of leaving a recorded message, while others became instant hosts of their own daily show. I loved the way folks said, "Hi, I'm not here right now." -- as if they had gone to that place on "the other side." It was hard to record it right the first time, so I found saying repeatedly that I wasn't there depressing. Kids enjoyed the anonymity and entertained themselves by irritating anyone who had this device, but eventually we all became accustomed to and dependent on the answering machine. Now we're adapting to much more sophisticated toys!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. I start looking for the perfect gifts in January and continue on until December. Funny stuff is best, and when I find the perfect thing for the perfect person, I can hardly wait to wrap it and give it away. Maybe it's because we had so little when I was young that makes shopping such a treat. My brother and I were lucky to get one special toy. Anything else had to be useful--like clothes or school supplies. We learned to save and to spend judiciously. When birthdays or Christmas came the suspense was awful; knowing we might get something we had been longing for--if we could afford it. Even now I wonder what our parents did without so Alan and I could have something special for Christmas.

Our parents were adept at making ends meet. Even though we had little to live on, we had everything. In looking back, I can see that we had what mattered most: a solid, caring family, a comfortable home, good friends, and confidence in future. This is what I tried to portray in For Better or For Worse. No matter what happened, there was always something good to look forward to.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The name "Brittany" was chosen because my friends, Don and Beth, named their first daughter "Brittany." Their second daughter, they named "Elly!"

Friday, August 8, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My first husband used to come home from work, look around the house and say, "What did you DO all day?" The house was tidy, the laundry done, dinner was prepared and the baby was clean, fed and sleeping. I felt I had put in a full day's work--plus overtime!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Lynn's Comments: "Brittany" is the name of one of my friends' daughters. I knew her family would be pleasantly surprised when they saw it in the strip. Little things like this were a lot of fun. Later, the Scott family became five, as their other children, Bourton and Elly were born. I never put another Scott family name in the strip, but I suspect their daughter, Elly was named for Elly in the strip!

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Lynn's Comments: When I was first engaged (1967) and my name was Lynn Ridgway, women were all expected to change their last name to that of their husband's. Even though I didn't really like my new name after marriage, I dutifully signed my work "Lynn Franks." Later, when I married Rod Johnston, I thought my full name was too long to put on the bottom of the comic strip and resorted to signing just "Lynn." For me, it felt right. It was the one name which I would always have--no matter what!

Friday, May 8, 2015

Lynn's Comments: One of the best Mother's Day gifts I ever received was a small, round plaster "pancake" into which my son, Aaron, had pressed his hand. This was the brainchild of his kindergarten teacher. On the card that came with it was written, "This is the hand you held when I was five." It was a precious, wonderful keepsake, which was, sadly lost when we moved to North Bay from Lynn Lake. When my daughter's two children were babies, she pressed their hands and feet into similar pads of clay. I hope she keeps them in a safer spot than I did!

Monday, October 12, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Although I've never walked around with a sandwich board, I've done what I could to make folks aware that our local theatre had wonderful live performances.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Lynn's Comments: When we moved to Lynn Lake, we took with us eight enormous reel-to-reel tapes of music especially chosen for the Dental clinic. The system we had was state of the art for the time, and we felt we had countless hours of enjoyable tunes, which would create a relaxing and pleasant ambience. After six months, we knew each piece by heart and could anticipate the song that would come next. Amazing what the human head can record, retain and regurgitate. Why is it that I can't remember a phone number or a password?

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I thought for sure I'd have to change this punch line. Things relating to birth control or anything related to sex was, and still is, a very sensitive topic. Maybe the editors were feeling charitable--or maybe they just agreed!