for better or for worse: end is in sight
For Better or For Worse is one of the few comic strips I've read as long as I've turned to the comics pages, but it looks like that will end in four years. Why couldn't Beetle Bailey take the hit? (Via Obscure Store.)Michael and Elizabeth have grown to young adulthood; Michael is married and a father. Elly's mother has died, as have two of the family pets, most recently April's rabbit, Mr. B. Each time "FBFW" has dealt with such a grim subject, Johnston has gotten pointed reminders from readers that this is supposed to be a comic strip. ("Do you know what comic means?" one asked.) But she also gets letters of appreciation and gratitude.
The rabbit's passing elicited a "huge" response, she said, much of it for the discussion Elly and April had as April held the dying Mr. B. Elly told her that life is a miracle, as is death, but death is a "sad miracle." Readers told Johnston that they've used those words to talk to a child about, for example, a grandparent's death.
"It's marvelous that readers use these things in their lives," she said.