For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 12, 2024

Look at Farley’s eyes.

I think the only strip from the comic “The Family Circus” that I really like was the one where Billy imagines the soul of his deceased grandfather played fetch with the soul of Farley in Heaven.

Very touching and comforting.

And how can man die better

than facing fearful odds,

for the ashes of his fathers,

and the temples of his Gods?

Dogs show us how it is done.

Spoiler alert: My meat freezer lost power a couple of days ago and I didn’t notice until today.

The comic strip continues the theme established that April’s act of rebellion that led to her getting in this situation all starts from her anger over being excluded from the cruise. Judging from his reaction to “A toy boat?!”, you can tell that John gets it.

I hated this story line the first time and hate it more this time.

Water over their heads, raging river, no branch to hang onto… Just how the heck are they staying stationary??

“Run, dear! I’ll wait here”…. As if granny Carrie is going to go sprinting down to the river?

The rescue squad is on its way!

This all started way back on March 12, 2024 if you can turn the clock back when it was raining cats and dogs, and except for the sunny days during the Caribbean cruise, the weather has been one long month rain fest in Canada! Shouldn’t the parents have been listening to the radio weather reports warning children to stay away from flooded rivers and streams!

The comic is not humorous, but is Lynn’s most powerful work.

It’s about time they noticed!

Tears…

Oh Farl, you brave strong pup!

Lynn Johnston places the blame for Farley’s death firmly on the shoulders of her sister-in-law Beth Cruikshank, the veterinarian, who informed her that Farley was getting too old to live

Sometimes the comments section makes me wonder if people have ever read comic strips before.

This is not a good time for such a comic. O.J. Simpson just died.

Not all heroes wear capes.

A lot of them have collars…

Lynn Johnson mentioned in the first run of this strip that she had to keep the story going and was not sure how to finish this arc. What she does is perfect..whether you will like it or not. It was the only way to finish the story line.. and have a hero!

Good old Farley, has the heart and the courage of Rin Tin Tin. A name that should be familiar to most Canadians, as so many of Rin Tin Tin’s movies as well as a television show were based in Canada.

Not one bit funny

Will Farley make it to shore with April? Will Dad pull them both onto shore? The drama continues.

The fact the dogs were there, it was a good thing for April, but it was not a good thing for Farley.

The slowpoke brigade is on the way——notice April’s expression; like she’s half-dead already.

SERIOUSLY – why can’t ya’ll keep your comments about Farley dying until the appropriate strip! You’ve been commenting about that the whole week!Comment about the current days strip not the future!Just trying to show off that you remember this arc from the past.

I’ve been struck the last few months by how improbably quickly Edgar has gotten up to adult size. He looks to be about as big as Farley, and I can’t help wondering what would happen if the much younger dog had held April while Farley ran for help.

I suppose that was never going to happen, though. Farley wouldn’t want Edgar to risk his life in that situation. What kind of parent would not take the slightest precautions to keep a child out of such an insanely dangerous situation? Oh, wait.

This segment is hard to watch. But you gotta know it’ll turn out well. And it makes an excellent point. Know where your children are EVERY MINUTE!

They could’ve lost April

NO SAD

Elly runs out right after Edgar, but John has to go back in to put on a coat first because….?

In the meantime, it turns out Elizabeth has been outside the whole time and not noticed anything going on. What was she doing? (I suspect that Anthony is just around the corner of the house, so they were in a place where she was too busy to see the backyard or April leaving the back yard.)

While this part is not funny, when originally run this and the whole sequence brought Lynn LOTS of positive coverage for her willingness to deal with sensitive but important topics. I won’t say much more and give things away, but do also pay attention to how Farley is treated.

For Better or Worse — this is the worse part

For those of you who insist on spoiling this comic, there is nothing here definitely explaining the situation. A new reader would not assume something tragic, since it’s usually a rather funny comic. They do now. I knew what was going to happen, but after reading todays comic, I thought, “OH, we find out maybe tomorrow or in a few days what happened.”

Try reading the title…slooowly

A simple cartoon strip, a stressful situation creates a avalanche of comments, advices and compassion.

@Sambora1 pray for me today…

“A toy boat!” Suddenly, John is a toy detective. “If she was playing with a toy boat, that MUST mean she’s gone down to the raging river to play with it!”