The Lives Behind the Lines: 20 Years of For Better or For Worse

by Lynn Johnston

This is a trip down memory lane, looking back over some of the Patterson family's most memorable moments. Creator Lynn Johnston's commentary adds a behind-the-scenes element, as she describes some of her thoughts about the strip over the years.

Author's web site:

Genres: Comics, Humor, Nonfiction, Comic Strips, Art, Cartoon, Comic Book

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Lynn Johnston CM OM is a Canadian cartoonist, well known for her comic strip For Better or For Worse, and was the first female cartoonist to win the Reuben Award.

Reviews

[The other John · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the 20th Anniversary of the comic strip For Better or For Worse, Lynn Johnston put together this 213 page book that looks at the world of her strip. Part of it is back story on the characters and the settings, part of it tells of the real life inspirations of the same. All of it is liberally illustrated with strips and artwork from the strip's first 20 years. It's a book only a true fan could appreciate. But the non-fan might enjoy skipping the text and just reading the comics.

[Karlton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stars for the strips (wish there were twice as many); 2 stars for the text (which there was half as much.

[Sarai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a lovely comic to come home to. I have read several of the other compilations and when I used to get the newspaper this was one strip I read regularly. Unlike other strips where the characters stay the same age over the passage of many years, in For Better or Worse the characters age and go through common life experiences (discovering a friend is gay - which at the time was a daring storyline, moving, the death of a parent, remarriage).

After reading through many of the compilations you start to feel like these are friends of yours, and you root for them in times of crisis and laugh with them in times of joy. Lynn Johnston gives the illustrations depth of emotion even though the lines are very simple.

I would recommend any of this series.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lives Behind the Lines: 20 Years of for Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston (Andrews McMeel Publishing 1999) (741.5971) is simply the back story of the comic strip "For Better or For Worse." Lynn Johnston, the author (and illustrator?) of the strip, provided the stories that flesh out the characters introduced into the strip and the events that complicated their lives. I recommend this only for a true fan of the strip. My rating: 5/10, finished 11/1/11.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big Lynn Johnston fan and I've read all of her For Better or For Worse comic collections. I began reading them when my kids were little and the kids in the comics grew up at the same rate as mine. Her kids were definitely better behaved and more traditional - no surprise there. This book explained the origin of some of the main characters and connections to her own real-live family.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why I got the idea to read this book, but I really enjoyed it. In this book, Johnston explains and explores the back story behind many of the characters in For Better or For Worse. I really appreciated her thought, and her creativity, as well as how progressive, diverse and CANADIAN this comic strip was.

I plan to re-read some of the treasuries in the next while.

[❀Aimee❀ Just one more page... · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up reading this comic strip of a family through time. It was good to read about the author's life and how everything comingled in the creative process. I miss this comic strip tremendously since so much of the family dynamics were so like my own.