On my other blog, I often make fun of the venerable “For Better or for Worse” comic strip by Lynn Johnston. In general, I think it’s been a creditable example of long-form serial storytelling: well-drawn, affecting, well-intentioned and sensitive to modern life’s joys and sorrows.
Right now, though, it’s a freakin’ train wreck.
By forcing Liz Patterson and Anthony Caine back into a romantic relationship that many readers find just plain nauseating, Johnston is squandering a lot of the goodwill she’s banked over the past decades. Liz seems to be throwing away her independence for a needy, passive-aggressive guy whose redeeming qualities are greatly exaggerated. Why is Johnston insisting on doing this?
Part of the answer may lie within this long interview with Johnston conducted by Chris Mautner. Asked about her readership’s negative reaction to the Liz/Anthony coupling, Johnston admits that Anthony is “just a shadow figure.” His backstory hasn’t been fleshed out:
The child was a very big question mark and also, what did happen to Anthony’s marriage? What really happened? All of those things I wanted to explore. I haven’t had a chance. I don’t know Anthony. (my emphasis)
At this point, I’m not sure whether Johnston can salvage her strip’s finale via a deeper understanding of Anthony Caine. However it turns out, this episode serves as a cautionary tale of how faulty character construction can wreak havoc on a work of fiction.