For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 05, 2024

Classic moment coming!

She is too young to be unsupervised outside.

Why isn’t that gate padlocked?

Sure

Oh dear…I remember this. I’m going to skip the next couple of days.

Oh no, I also remember this…

SPOILER ALERT: April showers bring May flowers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

How will this end ?

Oh, no…

Just stay away from that van down by the river..

Skipping for a few days, see you next week!

I do not like the looks of this…

I do not like where this is headed.

The irony of her statement is not lost on me!

Like others I remember where this is headed. And I am also going to stop reading for a while.

I don’t think I will read this for a few days…

Oh oh! Where is her mom?

I remember this.

I recall that one of the grandmothers told Ellie what to do at the crucial moment. . .

chocking up already

Oh no, I was wondering when we’d get to this arc, time to stop reading for a bit. :( :( :(

Bittersweet moment in the next few days.

I never liked this arc.

The tension builds…………………..Oh how, oh how will this story end. Will it end in sunshine and rainbows? Will it end in romance? Will it end in tragedy? Stay tuned for the next exciting adventure.

With all the people claiming to stop reading this comic for a while, why aren’t the number of comments going down?

So are all of the people from yesterday who made a big deal about there being a river in the backyard going to say “Oops, My bad”.

Remember this but will keep reading, I’ve watch Old Yeller several times all the way through even though I knew how it ended.

And April Patterson prepares to set sail on the SS Titanic

I think other strips showed her doing that escape artist bit with the gate befoire….

One thing I’m guessing at is that April left the gate OPEN….because if she hadn’t, how could Edgar get back to the house and sound the alarm?

Oh, dear. I remember this arc from when it first ran. I think I’ll skip next week.

Am I the only one wondering why she was able to escape the house SOLO and no one has thought to look for her yet? Classic… FBFW… smh

cue the dark ambient music with discordant overtones which, although broadly tonal, is inflected with chromatic and polytonal passages representing the archetypal example of a florid, melodramatic style without being interpreted as an overly heavy-handed metaphor within the context of the thematic material a bit on the frenetic and frantic side with interesting rhythmic devices which seem to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor utilizing a novel imaging technique known as positron emission tomography and the spontaneous nondenominational conceptions by expansively recontextualizing liminal narratives of colonic hydrotherapy

The dogs save April… coming up next.

Oh oh

yeah, classic, but very very sad………

Oh no! I know what’s coming!

Not sure my heart can take this a second time.

“sunchaunzo almost 8 years ago

Uh-oh! I think this is when we lose Farley!”

“When this arc first ran, I think it was about here that I started to get a sense that it might not end well.”

The Patterson back yard is a strange place. There is a wooden fence between the back yards of Elly and Connie and Annie. However, straight in the back is a chain link fence, which we see today that separates the yard from the ravine and the river. The chain link means the Pattersons will have a nice river view and it will be obvious to them every time they are in the back yard.

There are gates on all these places with similar latches. April used the stick to get into Connie’s yard for the story where Sera and Farley got together and made Edgar. This is the first time we have seen April use the stick to go through the chain link fence, but she claims to have done it often. Elly learned about her ability to do this almost a year ago and does nothing to prevent it. However, the important part is that because the fence is chain link, all they have to do to spot April back there is to look out through the back window of the house.

HINDSIGHT!!!!

Painfully predictable…

Do I hear ‘suspense’ music in the background?

Hands everyone a box of tissues

I think I’ve always had a subconscious dislike of April since this ran the first time. Now that I’m hopefully more mature than I was then, I try to self-police a bit and remind myself that she’s a little kid who should not have been left unsupervised like this. But her monologue here is not remotely endearing. I find kids who are that impressed with themselves to be brats, always have and always will.

Okay, lets be real. It’s unrealistic to expect parents to watch their kids 24 hours a day. April is supposed to ask permission to go out. She got around that by asking her reflection in the mirror. And yes, they should have padlocked the gate after they realized she could open it. And April has been to the river before, apparently accompanied by parents or siblings, but now she is thinking “I’m a big girl now, I can go by myself.” And the river is unusually dangerous at the moment due to heavy rains and melting snow, it’s not always like this.

Oh, spare me the “Ophelia” moment…

Nobody’s watching April!

Oh…

But what about you. Who is going to keep you safe?

Ok, ok, I will tell you what really happens, April runs into a scary clown & beats him up & then the clown cries,….

The value of a dog that bonds with a child is priceless. I remember when my youngest daughter was 3. She would run through the field with our dog. He would stay with her until she came back home.

I hope this isn’t leading up too what I’m thinking of!

Thought we had a few more months to go ….. crying already. I bet Lynn is also.

So maybe this is an alternate universe where Farley doesn’t have to die.

see you guys in a while. I can’t go through this again.

Major bonus points for invoking Bobby Curtola. I have about a dozen of his albums. One of the good guys.

Reliving that dreadful moment.

I remember what happened. I don’t want to read it again.

Cue IT (no not a spoiler)

Ah. Now we know whose fault it is.

Uh-oh. I remember how this turns out…. :-(

I remember this plot. Sad moments ahead.

Why isn’t anyone watching that kid?