For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 14, 2008

If the strip has been rebooted back to the late ’70s, John couldn’t possibly be drooling over Shania Twain, who at the time was about 15 and unknown.

I guess that although she’s gone back in time it’s in current time. I wonder if in this reality Elly divorces him because he leaves her for his Shania Twain hygienist?

I may stop collecting this strip…

This comic strip isn’t for me anymore. After you’ve followed it for years and watched everyone grow up and you know who lived and who died, it just leaves you with an empty feeling when you read it now. I think she should have retired it, if she couldn’t keep it current.

I agree. This anachronism actually distracted me from the punchline. As much as I disliked the comic switching back and forth between reruns and current strips over the previous year, I’d almost rather have that back.

Typical man; doesn’t know when to stop talking!

I like the strip; it has it’s bad days, but, no comic is 100% likeable to every person every day. And the strip is supposed to be fiction! It’s not a political commentary! So… who cares if some things are a little ‘off’. And if the family is supposed to live in Canada, they may know who Shania Twain is; she started singing in bars as a teenager.

Shania Twain? That Don’t Impress Me Much!

I didn’t like the Shania Twain reference, either. Lynn should have used someone else from 1979. And it IS 1979 in the strip. I asked….and received an answer back at fborfw.com.

And would you know who - if he had said Anne Murray?

No, Susan lusting after a 15-year-old Shania Twain doesn’t make john a pedophile. Pedophilia refers specifically to an attraction to pre-pubescent; 15, in normal curcumstances, is post-pubescent. There are parts of the world where the legal age of consent is under 15 (and there are statesin the US where it’s possibel for someone as young as 14 - or even 12 to be legally married).

Shania Twain? No way! If that strip looks like in 1970’s, someone else must be somewhere in Canada for John’s hygienist.

Pretty sure the original said “Sheryl Ladd”- My parents have the books, and I never checked the reference until you all pointed out that it had changed (I do know who Shania is)!

I encountered the strip late, and am enjoying getting to know the characters from when the strip was new. What do you know, Lynn’s mature work was more thoughtful and nuanced! Cut the early work some slack, folks, and appreciate how the times (and characters) have changed.

Does that make me old if I remember Anne Murray? I loved her singing. However now that John has admitted to being attracted to the one applicant, Elly will tell him to choose the other who hasn’t got as much going for her, only a lot more experience!

I used to like this strip when I was a child so I thought I’d give it a try. For the past few weeks I have been irked by the sexism in this comic strip. The stereotypical family roles the parents play; the weepy wife; the husband not understanding his wife’s moods; blah blah blah. I am a wife, mother, full-time Children’s Library Associate and a part-time grad student. My husband cooks, cleans and cares for kids just as much as I do. We are a team. We understand and respect one another as equals. I think it’s time to bring this comic into the current decade. Even if I didn’t work and just stayed home with my kids (I would have loved to if finances permitted it) my husband and I would still be equal partners to be viewed as rational and intelligent people. I think I might take this strip off of my RSS feeder.

never pegged John as a womanizer?? isn’t it out of character?

If I were in Elly’s shoes, I will ask John which one he has to choose me or her as sexy toy lady?

Shania Twain is from Canada too

I don’t care for any of the comics that aren’t currently written. Outside of Peanuts, all the comics that aren’t being written anymore should move out of the way for new artists to make their money

Yep, that reference took me back a bit too! If she is going to have this in the 80’s, then it should be. Keep in mind she didn’t start till 1979, so this is probably about 1985…seeing as how Michael is not yet in school. Don’t be too hard on Elly, a stay at home mom does her part and the working man does his. That was the way it was in that time. Most of us who are reading this comic have seen our 50th birthday, so we would have remembered Ann Murry…or perhaps Victoria Principle or some other hotty from that time. Keep it real Lynn!

He’s not a womanizer but he is a man - that’s not slobber, it’s SWEAT (note the grab at the collar and the ellipses before and after his statement). I think he’s saying it and realizing - too late - the effect it’s going to have on his young wife.

Put me in with the group that is going to stop reading this comic. I thought I’d enjoy seeing the old strips again, but they do nothing for me. I, too, enjoyed watching everyone grow up and grow older. It’s hard to watch them start all over again, with 1970s values.

I wish all of you who don’t like this strip would stop reading it so I don’t irritated by your comments! Don’t forget this years motto. “WE NEED A CHANGE!” “IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE!” This is a nice change and if you don’t like this, then you sure won’t like the new president in another few weeks!

Coffee-Turtle says: “never pegged John as a womanizer?? isn’t it out of character?”   Considering how the real-life marriage that the strip is based on ultimately ended…

I was about 17 the first time around for this story line. Was John just as big a punk back then as he seems here? Or am I just getting old?

The original did say Cheryl Ladd. The comic is in the book I’ve got the one more washload blues page 33. I have no idea who she is by the way. I was a year or two old when this strip came out.

As to John being a womanizer. No he is not. Also this is not out of character. He is like the majority of Heterosexual males, he likes looking at attractive woman. If you look at every comic where they go to the beach on vacation its implied that he oogles women.

Cheryl Ladd was one of “Charlie’s Angels” - she replaced Farrah Fawcett. And she was and is still gorgeous. The change to Shania is actually a logical choice, as far as reader effect goes. Better to have a few readers jarred by the Shania anachronism then a larger number of readers wondering who Cheryl Ladd is.

Of course, many younger readers may not recognize the name Shania Twain either, as she’s been out of the spotlight for awhile.

I was going to write a grumpy comment thtat there’s no way Shania Twain was the original singer in the last panel (given that the strip is re0running originals from my adolescence).

That was assuming I knew all about Twain’s U.S. career. It turns out her native Canadian career started in the early ’80s, and I wondered if the strip originally referred to her given name Eilleen Twain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShaniaTwain#Earlyyears

Well, now I know why there was such a gap between Elizabeth and April. No sex for a decade for you, John.

I too feel like I’m done reading this strip.

OK, Coffee-Turtle, he’s not womanizing. If he were womanizing, he wouldn’t tell his wife! I feel he’s just being honest about the fact that his other choice is very beautiful. That’s being a man, when you can share that with your wife and not pretend it doesn’t exist, and at the same time, that it’s not going to affect your real love. It’s just appreciating, folks, it’s not sex…

The original punchline, on 12/13/79, was “looks like Cheryl Ladd”.