Open Posting to Lynn Johnston

[dewline]

I just read this piece on Johnston's apparent about-face on her plan to retire For Better Or For Worse this morning.

Mrs. Johnston, I trust that you'll forgive me for being more than slightly shocked at this. Both the cancellation of the retirement of the daily strip and the plans to retire character aging as a rule of the series. It doesn't make sense to me at all.

Comments

[arcana-j.livejournal.com]

I think it's a bad plan. There comes a time to retire a story and FBoFW is there.

[chipzdarsky.livejournal.com]

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Should I fear the possibility that she's read this?

[chipzdarsky.livejournal.com]

I think she'd like it! Really, I'm just backing up her idea to stop aging the characters!

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Exactly my fear.

Better that it end this year as a daily and go to the "occasional graphic novel" format, than either what's been announced or what that satire encourages her to fear.

[jcoville.livejournal.com]

Ha! That's funny!

[chipzdarsky.livejournal.com]

Actually, and excuse me for saying this, but it's better that she do whatever she wants with this strip, even if it's giving all the characters heroin habits, than for her to listen to what anyone else wants. If someone doesn't like it, they can stop reading the strip. I'd rather claw my eyes out than read another rant about Johnston destroying her characters.

I stopped reading it years ago when I stopped enjoying it. Some people started when I stopped. C'est la vie.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

*shrugs*

[newyorkerinuk.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. I am not happy about this news, at least the not the "stop the aging" aspect of things. I really had hoped that Lynn Johnston would change her mind and let the strip run until April graduates high school (which seemed a more natural place to end things). But I do not want it to keep running without seeing what happens to these characters as they age in real time and go through real time experiences. That's probably one of the best parts of this strip, and what has made it such a pleasure over the years. I have all the collections and it's a lot of fun every few years to go back to the beginning and see how much things have changed and developed with them.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

The more I think about it, the more I think that you're right about timing it for April's graduation. Not to mention the rest of it. I'd be interested to see how Johnston handles a graphic novel from scratch as opposed to a daily feature.

[mencc1701.livejournal.com]

I personally think she should just end the strip. What makes FBFW great is the fact that it's one long, ongoing story. I mean, how many people my age "grew up with" the Pattersons, in an almost literal sense?

I have no problem with the strips being re-run, as it's worked fairly well for Peanuts, after all, but I dunno about this other plan.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Re-runs in the newspapers, with no framing sequences needed, really. Original material for the graphic novels. I'd like to see her really take a serious run at OGN material. I have a feeling she'd shine as nowhere else.

[mencc1701.livejournal.com]

Forgive me - OGN?

[dewline.livejournal.com]

OGN: Original Graphic Novel.

[mencc1701.livejournal.com]

*nods* I figured it was something like that.

I'd like to see that too. Lynn Johnston is a very good cartoonist, I'd love to see what she could do in that sort of format.