Foobetter 'r Foowurse!
Disgruntled newspaper comics fans, this one's for you.
Obligatory footnote: Amy Mebberson and I have also worked together on Divalicious, as well as the Penny and Aggie story "Weights." You can see more of her early work at this site, and most of my stuff at this list o' links.
Obligatory disclaimer: We have no real insider knowledge about the dynamics of the Johnston household. The above is speculation based on what we do know.
(And unrelated: regarding the Sopranos finale, Sore Thumbs speaks for me.)
Obligatory footnote: Amy Mebberson and I have also worked together on Divalicious, as well as the Penny and Aggie story "Weights." You can see more of her early work at this site, and most of my stuff at this list o' links.
Obligatory disclaimer: We have no real insider knowledge about the dynamics of the Johnston household. The above is speculation based on what we do know.
(And unrelated: regarding the Sopranos finale, Sore Thumbs speaks for me.)
Labels: Divalicious, Treecomics
Posted at
10:50 PM
22 Comments:
Don't you guys think that portraying her as a bitter, defeated old bag that needs the pure wisdom of internet fans is a bit arrogant?*
*I'd of used the term "fannish entitlement" but it's not politic to speak of it these days.
When impassioned criticism becomes fannish entitlement is a huge topic that I'm not going to settle in one comments thread.
I'm all too familiar with the many ways hardcore fans try to convince themselves that they speak for the entire audience, so I watch myself as carefully as I can for signs of doing that.
But every time I waver a little, I read this essay again.
Ultimately I just have to trust my instincts on this one, and those instincts say no. I can't help but feel that the strip's millions of readers-- not JUST purely wise, hardcore strip-nuts like me and Amy and Joshua Fruhlinger and Shaenon Garrity-- would like it better these days if Liz weren't being pushed, against all common sense, into a "romance" with one of the most unappealing leading men in the comics page.
And I don't see Johnston as "a bitter, defeated old hag." I see her as a great cartoonist facing delayed empty nest syndrome who is having trouble letting go of her kids' lives, and who is letting that difficulty cloud her authorial judgment. If I thought she was bitter or haggish, we wouldn't have had her and Kate share a laugh. And if I thought she was defeated (by what, life? Being oooooooold?), we wouldn't have ended the sequence the way we did. We can advise, we can implore, but only she can write the conclusion to this truly great comic strip, and there's still time to salvage it. She's not "defeated" yet.
It's not too late.
I don't know, T. I understand the sentiment that the comic has gone astray. I do. But I'm afraid that I have to agree with William in that it feels like you're assuming an awful lot here.
This is beautiful. Just beautiful.
The blinking eyes do it for me. That is just fantastic.
I don't know about the dynamics and I wouldn't let your strip affect my judgment of the Foobworld. I just wanted to say that, taken by itself, that was a beautiful series of strips.
I think of it as a bit of flash fiction.
T wrote the whole thing, I just drew it as a fellow disgruntled FOOB reader who got a chuckle out of it.
I personally don't claim for a second that we comic fans should dictate to her how to write her comic or to know her motivations for writing what she does.
Just did it for the lulz *shrug*
OH GOD THE BLINKING OH NO GOD OH NO ITS THE BLINKING
Freaking out aside, hahaha.
I do think it's a mistake too. It would rule if Mrs. Johnston proves us wrong.
This post has been removed by the author.
That's... really rude.
If you were talking about fictional characters, this would have been fine. But you're using real people for this comic and, well.
I'm with the first comment. It's arrogant and entitled, as well as just plain rude.
Not cool. Good art though :)
(I deleted part of my original comment because it contained an uncalled for comment. My apologies if you saw it)
"...Sore Thumbs speaks for me."
Congrats, you are the first person in the history of webcomics to express that sentiment!
(Yes, I'm rooting for Granthony.)
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with T. Johnston has admitted in the press that she's done storylines out of a sense of wish fulfillment (i.e. April exists because the author wanted to have a third child in real life). So while its assuming an awful lot about the author's life, its also pretty plausible.
I also am a Granthony hater and that essay linked to in the first response could have been written by me because it explains exactly why I hate him and why the comic has left me cold. I was excited to see Elizabeth form her own independent life, then devastated to see the comic tear it up and send her home for no real reason. The author experiencing empty nest syndrome would make a lot of sense.
The real question is - I know Ms. Johnston does in fact read every e-mail she gets and gives e-mailed responses (yes, really!). How long before someone sends this her way?
OMG. It's blinking at me.
(Yes, thats my only comment...I've never read the comic in question.)
I don't think it's that offensive. In fact, I rather like it. I generally avoiding even reading Lynn-bashing, as it tends to get very misogynist, but this strip works for me because
1) Lynn is drawn to be attractive.
2) It's based in reality (the wish fulfillment thing)
3) I see my own mom in Elly (and Lynn), and I see this sort of desire to have control over my life in her. That doesn't make my own mom (or LJ) monsterous or defeated. It's realistic.
4) The pun. Cute
5) The obvious love for the strip. Yes, I make fun of it now, but for years and years, I adored this strip. So must have all the people who mock it now (or else why would they care so strongly?). Thanks for acknowledging what a fantasitc strip it was, even as recently as a year ago).
Why do people even read this comic? Every fan of it I know is filled with unbridled rage. I've yet to hear ANYONE say, "It's a good comic strip" without tacking on a "but...."
How terrible that a cartoonist write a strip that indulges in wish-fulfillment!
Wait, that's exactly what T has done here . . .
r.k.: I'm not really sure why I read it, but it was my favorite comic for a very long time. I'm Liz's age, and could always identify with her; my life has taken some of the same paths that hers has. I'm deeply emotionally invested in it, and can't give up on it just yet.
I too have been reading my entire comic reading life, and have rolled my eyes over the whole Liz and Anthony thing. But what hurts worse is what will happen in September--everything will freeze at the age it is now and never grow old again.
I LOVED "For Better or Worse" for actually aging the characters, to have events have consequence. What other newspaper strips did that? (I know there are some but my paper didn't publish them.) And the reason for it? "I can't keep up with the changes in technology and society and I want to keep doing the strip till I die." That's just a copout. If you want to end the strip, end the strip and bring events to a satisifying conclusion.
Since that won't happen, I'm just in cruise control for the rest of my reading it. Enjoying the punchlines, because I fell bleah about everything else.
Well, I know she'd read the first tangent I wrote on her website. However, I do want to point out one thing so many other cartoonists are so very eager to point out at every single opportunity: it is [her] story to tell as [she] feels like.
We as fans have but one answer to this. We can stop reading. We have no other right to demand a story be changed. To claim otherwise is to slip down that slick slope of Entitlement arguments...
Rob H., Tangents Reviews
http://www.tangents.us
I've had this Opera tab open for days, trying to decide whether to say anything. I've decided I can't just walk away. Here goes.
It's not entitlement. T doesn't claim to be speaking for anyone else here. What it is, though, is something even worse: condescension.
I hold no brief for Anthony. I haven't been a regular reader of newspaper comics in years, so all I know about the current storyline is what I've read in Shaenon's LJ post. I agree, it doesn't sound good. I liked Anthony back in the day, but if you say he's now a what-does-she-see-in-this-guy, Terry Long sort of character, I'll take your word for it. Nothing wrong with complaining about such a character, or with not wanting Liz to end up with him (though I do think it's silly to invest a lot of feminist import in her).
But just look at this comic. Look at the contempt that oozes from it. T doesn't think Lynn Johnston is writing her comic wrong -- he KNOWS. And she knows too, and squirms under his gaze. He's so sure of his judgment that he puts it in the mouths of real people -- people who aren't even public figures, didn't sign up for this, and bloody well MAY want children and otherwise share Johnston's values.
T, when all of us debating the Fans finale were falling all over ourselves trying not to offend you, you said not to hold back. Well, this time I won't. This strip makes me sick, and I can't believe someone with any respect for Johnston could write it. Fans was yours to end the way you wanted to. We respected that, even those of us who were horrified. But can you do the same? Can you respect Johnston's writing decisions (not like -- no one's saying you have to like them)? No. You, the webcomic writer, stand in judgment over this thirty-year veteran of professional comics like a dog owner scolding his mutt for going on the carpet.
Johnston will probably never read your little RP fic -- but if she does, I bet she'll have a good laugh at the idea that you know anything about her and her family.
- Z
I agree with the sentiment, but...
This reads like a chick tract.
Wow ... uhm ... I dunno, I kinda liked it. Granted, the final panel of "everyone glares down at the poor, tormented soul with the moral dilemma" kinda made me twitch, but at the same time, I can see where you're coming from.
Post a Comment
<< Home