At Costco I stumbled upon a Treasury Edition of the For Better or For Worse comic strips by Lynn Johnston. Growing up with them, I was intrigued and I took a closer look.
A few years ago, Lynn Johnston had decided to end the comic strip that we all love about the Patterson family, and that was that. Or was it?
She then decided to start from the beginning and insert/change existing strips to flesh out some more story, change some strips. From the sounds of it, it sounded exactly like George Lucas vs. Star Wars. I remember Trish talking to me about this and we didn’t know if it would fly or not.
The first Treasury Edition presents a chronological retelling of the Patterson family from the first strips and when necessary, inserts ‘new’ strips which are placed in the timeline. There is an asterisk beside each new strip and also personal comments on various strips…perhaps a note about the inspiration of a certain strip, or why the choice to go back and add more strips.
I must admit that it is pretty great. I read a third of the book last night and laughed ridiculously at a few points. I had forgotten how much I love Lynn Johnston’s writing. The Treasury Edition is great as well…I enjoyed reading her comments about certain story elements, or the need to flesh out a character’s backstory when she didn’t think of doing so when she originally wrote it.
A third of the way through the book, I can only see one strip that has changed and they actually include the original to compare with the new one. It basically makes John sound less of an ass. I did enjoy the fact that they did include both of them for archival sake.
So, if you enjoy For Better or For Worse, I would highly recommend the first Treasury Edition even if you own the collections. They include new strips as well as insight to what was going through Ms. Johnston’s head.
Mom, I picked up a copy for you so remind me to give it to you when you come down next!