The wonderful Canadian comic strip, "For Better or For Worse", has been in over 2,000 newspapers in Canada, the United States and several other countries since 1979. The story concluded a few weeks ago with the wedding of Elizabeth, the Patterson family's oldest daughter but is now rerunning the original series with new artwork and other content added by the author, Lynn Johnson.
One of the elements distinguishing FBoFW from other comic strips is that unlike classic strips like
Blondie, in which members of the Bumstead family have remained the same ages for over 60 years, the Pattersons and their friends, co-workers and relatives age in close to real-life time. The strip also dealt with problems and issues other newspaper comic strips rarely touch: aging, death (of a grandparent and, earlier, a family pet), child abuse and sexual harassment. In 1993 a neighbor character, Lawrence Poirer, came out as a gay man and the strip's author stood firm against some negative reaction, later introducing Lawrence's long-term partner. During the strip the family adds a new baby, April, who is high school age at the end of the series. One item of interest to Brokies: the epilogue mentions that April later becomes a vet and moves to Calgary, working for the Calgary Stampede.
The FBoFW has an extensive
website, with separate pages about each character, books and promotional items, a "Q and Eh" section and backgrounds on the settings.
Wikipedia also has a good summary of the characters. The strip's author has established "The Farley Foundation", also featured on the site, which concentrates on non-elective medical care for pets of senior citizens as well as aid to women "at risk of abuse who have fled to a women's shelter and whose pets are being cared for through OVMA's SafePet Program."
