For Better or For Worse
For Better or For Worse is a comic strip by Lynn Johnston which began in 1979.
The strip chronicles the lives of a Canadian family and their friends. The father, John Patterson, is a dentist whose hobby is model railroading; he appears less often than the mother, Elly, a housewife turned store-owner. The happy couple have three children:
- Michael, married to former pharmacist Deanna (they have a daughter named Meredith)
- Elizabeth, a teacher
- April, a teenaged daughter
The characters age in real time; fans have been known to express surprise and dismay at passing time in the story, such as "Michael is married?! He can't be that old!"
The comic was based upon Johnston's real family and closely emulates them. Her son, unhappy at being constantly portrayed in the comic, is now alienated from her.
The strip is now seen in over two thousand newspapers throughout Canada, the United States, and about twenty other countries and translated into eight different languages.
It is now an animated series broadcast on Canada's Teletoon.
