Lynn Johnston, Creator of For Better or For Worse, Part One - Page: 3
But then, Lynn Johnston has another life, one of complex fantasy.
The comic strip, For Better or For Worse, has allowed Lynn the freedom to create a second family. Elly and John Patterson and their three kids, Michael, Elizabeth and April, (plus boisterous pets), live in a detailed imaginary town. It is appointed with well-rounded characters of relatives, friends and strangers. Johnston's nameless town is placed somewhere in southern Ontario, with schools, businesses, parks and rivers. The setting is far enough from the bigger cities that characters Michael and Elizabeth must move to attend university.
Lynn Johnston has made her fantasy world come alive in the comics pages since 1979, drawing readers into realistic human stories that we can all relate to, no matter what age. Her cartoon may bring laughter or tears to the eyes of her fans and always brings them back for more. Let's take a look at her exceptional cartooning career.
On May 28, 1947, Lynn was born in Collingwood, Ontario to parents Merv and Ursula Ridgway. Her father was a watchmaker/jeweler, and her mother a calligrapher and bookkeeper, and both were artistic and creative. Unfortunately, Lynn's childhood often took unpleasant turns when her mother was angry. Lynn has one younger brother who is a professional trumpet musician. The Ridgway family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia when Lynn was three years old. She always loved to draw and doodle, right from the start. She attended the Vancouver School of Art for three years, with a goal of working in animation. When finished school, Lynn found a job in the ink and paint section of an animation studio. She married a television cameraman and the couple moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 1969.
There was no animation work available in Hamilton, so Lynn began work as a medical artist at McMaster University. She said she "gained a reverence for life and the human body that only one in a hospital environment can achieve." *(1) During her pregnancy in 1972, she left her job to become a freelance designer at home.
While expecting Aaron, Lynn's obstetrician challenged her to do cartoons for the ceilings of his patient examining rooms. She complied, creating over 80 comics. The collection formed her first book, "David, We're Pregnant." Shortly after, Lynn and her husband divorced. She was left a single parent, struggling to run her own business from a greenhouse turned into a studio.
Rod Johnston was a second year dental student when he entered Lynn's life. They married in 1975, around the same time her second book of cartoons came out, " Hi Mom, Hi Dad." The Johnston family grew to include baby Katie. The family prepared to move to a small town in Northern Manitoba in 1978 (to fulfill Rod's dream of becoming a flying dentist) when Lynn received a letter from Universal Press.
Lynn did not seek syndication. Universal Press Syndicate sought her talents to do a daily comic strip. They liked her books and thought she would be a good bet for cartoonist. They requested samples of her cartooning, so she sent almost two dozen strips of a comic she called "The Johnstons." Lynn based the characters on her own family. "We were the only people I knew I could draw over and over again with some consistency." *(2)
Universal offered Lynn a 20-year contract on the basis of her ingenious work. The syndicate editor changed the name from "The Johnstons" to "For Better or For Worse." Lynn changed the characters' names to the second names of everyone in her family, except for the star character. Elly is named after a high school friend of Lynn's who died of brain cancer. In negotiations with the syndicate, Lynn held out for a few things, such as insisting the strip remain Canadian-based.
The characters of the comic strip are broadly constructed from the family and friends of the Johnston's. Michael and Elizabeth follow some elements of Lynn's own children Aaron and Katie, but are three years behind. John is very similar to her husband Rod, both being dentists and model railroaders. April is Lynn's own imaginative creation, sprung from her desire to have another child. April's spirit follows the cartoonist's own childhood attitudes. Lynn lovingly added traits of her own father into Elly's father. She added elements of her in-laws into several other characters and created new in-depth personalities as friends and neighbours.
Even the animals in For Better or For Worse take on endearing personalities. The readers are pulled into the joys of the rabbit, Mr. B., chasing Edgar, the pup, through the house, then looking like guilty children when ordered to stop. Fans world-wide were wrenched with sadness on the death of the Patterson's beloved first pooch Farley, after he saved April from drowning the Sharon River near their house.
It all sounds so real, doesn't it?
Lynn is not afraid to tackle difficult issues in her comic strip, making it more of a saga than a laugh-a-day event. She shared the sorrow of the death of Elly's mom and included the reader in the mourning and confusion of her father on his wife's death. She boldly included the difficulties and pain of Michael's friend Lawrence admitting he was gay. Lynn stuck with this important story line, even though she received hate mail and cancellations of her strip. It was not enough to cause any permanent strip damage - she came out ahead in newspaper count after the kerfuffle was over.
Lynn Johnston, Creator of For Better or For Worse continues in Part Two: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/cart...
*(1) The complete home website of Lynn Johnston with information, games and goodies. http://www.fborfw.com
*(2) How to be a Successful Cartoonist by Randy Glasbergen, Publisher: North Light Books, 1996, Pages 70-71
Keep up with the For Better or For Worse story: http://www.comics.com/comics/forbetter/i...
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