For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 02, 2021

And to think your world was coming to an end, Patterson.

Come on, Mike. Your zit is nothing. You’re being a self-absorbed jerk at the moment, whining about your stupid zit while Gordon is trying to hold his family together.

Life is lumpy. And a lump in the oatmeal is not the same as a lump in the breast. Learn to know the difference.

Zits come and go but Gordon’s problems will take longer to resolve.

Zing!

Wanna bet Gordon’s egg-donor spends his $20 on booze??

When you are a young teen a monster zit CAN be a hardship. At least a mental one.

I would have thought his Dad was the drinker

Somehow I think if you don’t go Mike you’ll regret it.

This is the moment where Gordon was retconned into being poor. Prior to this point, Gordon had money. His parents got him gifts that Michael was jealous of (the roller skates story, if you remember that one). Gordon always had money available to loan Michael so he could go on dates with Martha. Now, that’s all changed.

I think Gordon just wrote the lyrics to a hit country song.

I complained I had no shoes until I met a person with no feet.

Yass Gordo throw that shade

Well, nice to see how Mike really cares about his friend’s welfare. What was the saying? One man’s mole is another man’s mountain.

Lynn’s Comments:

Gordon did not have a happy home life. Everyone else’s problems seemed trivial to him. His dad was abusive and his mother, complacent. It was up to Gordon to decide for himself how to navigate this pressure-filled world. Many young readers identified with him.

Ouch

Perspective dude.

Mike I think Gord’s misery’s trump’s your zit.

Life’s a bitch……..then you die.

Pop it and get on with LIFE!

I know this is a comic strip and it IS amusing – but sometimes it has a really good social message too. Hopefully some people will “get it” – and I’m not talking JUST about young people – Many adults of all ages are SO self-absorbed!

Oh, so now Mr. Funny Man Gordo is suddenly a wise old sage dispensing his insightful knowledge and experience?

Hasn’t he popped that thing yet? Pop it, treat it, it will dry up in no time.

Some people can’t see past the end of their nose…

He’s a teenager. Gord is exceptional.

It’s all iin our perspective, I think it’s dawning on him.

Nose zit, Zerlock! d;o)

I cried because I had no shoes, and then I met a man who had no socks.

“An’ I’m sorry about your gangrene! Maybe your nose should be amputated!”

Every now and then (more often than not) this strip brilliantly depicts an epiphanic moment.

I love it.

Poor Gordon. At least he has a better life as an adult…

I grew up poor, I didn’t really realize that until I joined the Navy. Then I spent from ’66 to ’75 in the Southeast theater of operations, it was then that I realized being poor was all relative.

This has always been one of my favorite FBOFW strips!

This really triggered a lot of comments. It must have struck a common chord.