Overview
Lyn Johnston has a website dedicated to her comic strips. She began drawing her famous comic For Better or For Worse in 1979 after signing a twenty-year contract with Universal Press Syndicate. In August of 2008 Lynn retired from the daily production of new strips and storylines but she will still create comics every once in a while. In September of 2008, for better or for worse runs in repeats on this website and in newspapers all over North America. There have been minor updates to the strips but for the most part viewers get to see authentic Lynn strips that she has created over her lifetime. Not only does the website have a comic strip everyday, it also contains general information about Lynn, her comics strips, and more. This website contributes largely to the community of fans that Lynn has. It has created a space to keep the life of her comics and stories alive and allows people to continue to relate and praise her work.
Early Life
Lynn Beverley Johnston was born May 28, 1947, in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, to Mervyn and Ursula Ridgway. Her father was a jeweler and watchmaker who loved comics and cartoons and instilled in his daughter an enthusiasm for those same things. He also taught her to analyze the value of timing and setting in comedy and cartoons. Johnston’s mother was an illustrator and calligrapher whose talents inspired the young Lynn. Johnston’s love of drawing and cartooning was a natural outgrowth of her parents’ influence, and she developed her skills as a child, using art as an outlet for her emotions. As a young adult, Johnston enrolled in the Vancouver School of Art. She left before earning a degree, having taken jobs as an animator and illustrator. After two years of Art College, she took a job in an animation studio in Vancouver, where she worked in the ink and paint department, and began to apprentice as an animator. While expecting her first child, she drew single-panel cartoons for the ceiling of her obstetrician Murray Enkin’s office. Those drawings were published in her first book, “David, We’re Pregnant!” which was published in 1973 under her then name of Lynn Franks and then republished under the name of Lynn Johnston later. These drawings ended up becoming a bestseller. After her divorce, she did freelance commercial and medical art in a studio converted from a greenhouse.
Early Career
Ridgeway is a Canadian cartoonist and author. She currently lives in Collingwood, Ontario, but she was raised in North Vancouver, British Columbia. She attended the Vancouver School of Art hoping to one day become an artist. After Johnston worked briefly in animation, she married in 1969 and moved back to Ontario, where she worked as a medical artist for five years. Her illustrations are in storage in a medical drive at the University she worked at.
Lynn has quite a few achievements that she has earned throughout the years. To list some of her earliest awards; 1985 – Reuben Award, the first woman and first Canadian to win, 1987– Gemini Award, Best Cartoon Series, 1990 – Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, 1991 – National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award. Many cartoonists and comic strip creators have been inspired by Lymm Johnston’s work. Her storytelling techniques and her willingness to tackle complex issues have left a lasting impact on the world of comics. The historical aspect of her work is valued by those interested in the evolution of society and family dynamics.
Lynn Johnston is a notable cartoonist known for her long-running comic strip “For Better or For Worse,” which was published from 1979 to 2008. “For Better or For Worse” had a significant cultural impact during its run. It touched on various social issues, including family dynamics, relationships, and the passage of time. Many readers resonated with the relatable and often heartwarming stories depicted in the strip.
Comic Strip- Overview & Analysis
Johnston’s comic strip is known for its realistic portrayal of family life and the aging process. The characters aged in real-time, and the strip addressed various life stages, including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. This made it unique in the world of comic strips. This picture of the comic strip is a little blurry, but essentially tells a story of a stressed mom whose child is asking where their dad is. The mom becomes snappy towards the child and portrays her pressure and tension of motherly responsibility. Johnston’s art and storytelling skills played a vital role in the success of her strip. Her ability to capture emotions, character development, and attention to detail in her artwork garnered a dedicated following. The strip covered several decades, allowing it to document and reflect the social and cultural changes that occurred during that time.
Development of Her Comic Strips
For this post I found an interview held between Lynn Johnston and an interviewer and Lynn talks about the development of her comic strip and how she determined the characters for her comic strip “For Better or For Worse”. In preparation for her strip she said she needed to learn how to write dialogue and sequence the art. One quote from chapter one from the Digital Studies book shows how the word “comic” is super inclusive; it shows how comics aren’t just something that is created and then read. It isn’t isolated and there are many ways to engage with the comic strip community. The quote is, “Comic strips belong to the larger continuum of comic art: from single-panel cartoons to broadsheets and comics magazines and papers to albums and graphic novels to webcomics and more. There is no distinct aesthetic that isolates the comic strip from these forms. Lynn said that she had always done her cartoons as single panels. She also said that before she could manage a daily feature, which is what her website has, she needed the time to create more clearly defined characters. She also wanted to practice writing dialogue and learn timing and technique. Often strips submitted to a syndicate are by artists who have taken years to develop and perfect their characters, their scenarios, and their style. Lynn named the main family in her strip “Patterson” because pattern, as in dialogue, and son for the family connection. They named it For Better or For Worse because that’s what they had decided the strip was going to be about: the ups and downs of marriage and family life. Lynn finds her early subject matter a bit too negative, but thirty years ago, when she touched on the tedium of being at home with toddlers, guilt at wanting a career, and the sexism many women faced, she was giving vent to issues that women had previously felt they couldn’t express publicly. Her approach certainly contributed to the strip’s early popularity.
Character Development
Lynn Johnston created characters for her comic strip “For Better or For Worse”. Dedicated fans have followed her for years and years and feel like they are connected to the characters and her daily comic strips that she puts out everyday. Lynn Johnston has created a number of characters with detailed stories that she shows throughout her comic strips. On her website “For Better or For Worse ” there are tabs for each character that give the rundown of everything you need to know. On these tabs they list their birthdate, likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc. I have found this to be very resourceful and brings a sense of understanding for her comic strip family. As someone who has recently started to follow Lynn Johnston’s work, this aspect of her work allows an emotional connection to each character along with necessary identification of her work. The main family in her comic strip is the Pattersons. Some of the main characters from her comic strip in this family are Elly, John, Michael, Elizabeth, and April. The link below takes you to the page where it lists all the characters important information. There is also a tab that allows you to get information on every character that has been in the strip “For Better or For Worse”. I counted over 50 different characters in this tab. Each character has a brief rundown about their part in the comic strip. This allows for easy basic information on everyone in the comic. This is especially useful for her website because it shows one comic strip a day and each day that comic strip changes. So when someone is going to her website to see a comic strip, if they need a little refresher on somebody they can easily access that information right there on her website.
Later Career
Luckily, there was an interview that was published on June 16th, 2021. The purpose of this interview was to highlight some of the important things she’s done in her life but to also highlight what she is up to now. Lynn was asked the question “what are you working on now”. Lynn shared that she is currently engaged in various artistic endeavors. She is heavily involved in painting and creating visual content suitable for printing on clothing and posters. Additionally, she mentioned her involvement in surface design for fabric. Lynn had also mentioned that she is collaborating with her daughter, Katie Hadway, who is a graphic artist and graduate from Emily Carr. They work together in a studio and dedicate time to their shared creative pursuits every day. They also have a partnership with IDW Books in San Diego, focusing on producing a series of volumes for “For Better or For Worse.” These volumes aim to be the definitive collection of the comic strip, replicating the orginal format, color, and size as it appeared in newspapers.
Timeline
[timeline src=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C-AjhCnhgLGwGsz1l3BDeU3zLm8Pc4z6QQTFWa37E6E/edit?userstoinvite=coriannenichols@gmail.com&sharingaction=manageaccess&role=writer&pli=1#gid=0″ width=”100%” height=”650″ font=”Default” lang=”en” version=”timeline3″ ]
Creating this digital timeline allows for an interactive way for people to engage and educate themselves on Lynn Johnston in an entertaining way. It allows people to easily view pictures of her life while getting a title and description of each event/period of her life. My timeline shows Lynn’s life from the day she was born to the latest information on her that I could find. It interactively tells people what she did in her early life to get the background of cartoons that she has. It also shows certain important events in her life that are important to know in order to get the full idea about Lynn Johnston. I also included videos of her talking about her famous comic strip and explaining her way of thinking to create certain characters in her cartoon. One super cool thing I have learned while exploring Lynn’s life is how normal of a person she is. She takes life events that happened to her, like giving birth, and creates work around her everyday life. Her path of becoming a cartoonist makes sense because she knew she loved to create and draw so she went to art school, then everything after that just fell into place. Another highlight I hope users pay attention to is her Reuben Award. Lynn has received a lot of awards over her career of being a cartoonist. This is the award that stands out most to me because of its significance to other female cartoonists while representing other Canadian cartoonists. She was the first woman and the first Canadian to receive this award. I think that is very telling for people who do not know about Lynn, she is a very intelligent and talented artist who has paved the way for other people who follow in similar footsteps. Some gaps in the research are created because of the lack of dates provided. There’s a lot of information on Lynn and her life but I found while doing my research that things were all the time listed with dates which made it hard to put into a timeline. I think the timeline turned out super effective, but one downside is you can’t enter information without a date. So, trying to problem solve and figure out how to include information that I thought was interesting but did not necessarily have a date attached made this challenging, and therefore there are certain gaps in her timeline. While I do not think this is super noticeable while scrolling through, it is something that you would be able to notice if you were already familiar with Lynn. My timeline gives an overview of Lynn Johnston’s life and I hope the audience can gain a deeper understanding of her background, experiences, and the events that shaped her career. I also hope that through the videos of Lynn in the timeline the audience can gain insight into the mind of a successful cartoonist. That can foster an appreciation for the thought and effort that goes into creating meaningful and relatable characters.
Conclusion
Lynn Johnston, as you have read, is a widely known Canadian cartoonist. She is an important figure in the realm of comics, and has left an enduring legacy through her iconic strip, “For Better or For Worse.” This strip was created in 1979, and it continued until 2008. Lynn’s special talent for drawing family life in a real way, talking about real issues, made her stand out as a pioneer in the world of cartoons.
The digital timeline I created for this wordpress is a fun and informative trip, showing us Lynn’s life and career. Lynn was born on May 28, 1947, in Collingwood, Ontario, and her parents, who loved art, passed on their love for comics and cartoons to her. This shaped her artistic side. Going to the Vancouver School of Art and trying animation were the early steps in her successful career.
One big moment in Lynn’s early career was when she published her first book, “David, We’re Pregnant!” in 1973, under the name Lynn Franks. This book showed her talent and set the stage for her becoming a great storyteller. The mix of her natural artistic skills and inspiration from her parents gave her a solid base for her creative expression.
Lynn’s talent for drawing and telling stories got her many awards. In 1985, she got the Reuben Award, being the first woman and Canadian to get it. Lynn’s way of telling stories, dealing with complicated issues, and talking about changes in society made her a legend in the world of comics.
The heart of Lynn’s legacy is in “For Better or For Worse.” This special comic strip had characters who aged in real-time, something not common in comics. Lynn really cared about developing her characters, and her website has lots of details about each one. This makes readers feel a connection to the characters and helps them understand the daily comics better.
Moving into the later part of her career, a 2021 interview told us about Lynn’s current projects. She’s working with her daughter, Katie Hadway, on painting and creating designs for clothes and posters. They’re also working on fabric designs. They’re even partnering with IDW Books to make a special collection of “For Better or For Worse,” keeping the original look and size from the newspapers.
The digital timeline isn’t just a list of dates; it also has videos where Lynn talks about her creative process. This gives audiences a chance to really get to know Lynn Johnston—her background, experiences, and the big moments in her career. There are some gaps in dates, but the timeline still shows us Lynn’s journey, making us appreciate the smart mind behind the beloved cartoons.
One remarkable aspect of Johnstons legacy is her impact on the comic world itself. Her work gained her fans and recognition in the industry, and because of that she was awarded with over 15 incredible rewards. Some aspects of Lynns life will be more private unless you’re someone like me, who has put in a ton of work to really get to know her, but her lasting impact and numerous awards is something that will be learned forever.
Another important aspect of her work is her feminist themes. In our keywords book, in the chapter feminism it stated, ”The relationship between feminism and comics is complex, marked by both challenges and opportunities in addressing gender and sexual differences within the political and social domains.” Lynn Johnston’s work can be seen as reflecting some feminist themes, but her approach to the subject may not align with every feminist perspective. Johnston addressed various issues related to gender roles, women’s rights, and family dynamics. Johnston’s focus on the everyday struggles and triumphs of her characters, set within the context of a family-oriented comic strip, may not always align with the more overtly political aspects of certain feminist ideologies but it brings a lot of interesting approaches to this topic and its importance as a whole.
In summary, this exploration is like opening a door to Lynn Johnston’s impact on the world of comics. Her skill in showing family life and talking about the changes in society has left a big mark. Her legacy is timeless, still connecting with people around the world. Through the digital timeline, we get to see Lynn’s journey—a mix of creativity, strength, and love for storytelling—placing her among the great cartoonists.
Author Bio
My name is Cori Nichols, I am a senior at the University of Richmond double majoring in Rhetoric and Communications and Health Studies. I have spent my time at the University of Richmond as a D1 athlete on the field hockey team while immersing myself in other clubs/organizations. I am proud of everything I am a part of here and have really learned a lot and pushed my academic abilities being a part of the rhetoric department. This semester I pushed my abilities to research and then educate others on the cartoonist, Lynn Johnston.
References
Artsudbury.org. “Publication.” For Better or For Worse the Comic Art of Lynn Johnston, thecomicartoflynnjohnston.com/. Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.
” Encyclopedia of World Biography. . Encyclopedia.Com. 12 Dec. 2023 .” Encyclopedia.Com, Encyclopedia.com, 15 Dec. 2023, www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lynn-beverley-johnston.
“Lynn Johnston.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Johnston#Personal_life.
Heintjes, Tom. “The Lynn Johnston Interview.” Hogan’s Alley, Hogan’s Alley, 6 Sept. 2019, www.hoganmag.com/blog/the- lynn-johnston-interview.
“FBorFW.Com Is the Official Website of Lynn Johnston’s Comic Strip for Better or for Worse.” FBorFW.Com Is The Official. Website of Lynn Johnston’s Comic Strip For Better or For Worse., www.fborfw.com/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2023.
Kerry. “For Better or for Worse: The Comic Art of Lynn Johnston.” Pickle Me This, 16 July 2015, picklemethis.com/2015/07/15/for-better-or-for-worse-the-comic-art-of-lynn-johnston/
Fawaz, Ramzi, et al., editors. Keywords for Comics Studies / Edited by Ramzi Fawaz, Shelley Streeby, and Deborah Elizabeth Whaley. New York University Press, 2021.
Peters, Benjamin, editor. Digital Keywords : A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture / Edited by Benjamin Peters. [Enhanced Credo edition]., Credo Reference, 2018.
Comments
One response to “Cori Nichols – “Lynn Johnston””
I appreciate the detail Cori uses to give us the most clear idea of who Lynn Johnston is. One thing I learned was that Lynn shows the real aging of people in her comics. This is meaningful because her readers can relate to the cartoonists and understand what they are going through at the same time. I want to know more about other cartoons Lynn made and its impact on the medium. Cori can improve on her formatting of the piece to help it flow better.