End of Marriage Leads to New Content in Revamped Strip

Astor, Dave, Editor & Publisher

As "For Better or For Worse" moved into "hybrid" mode this week with a look back at how Elly and John Patterson met, few readers of Lynn Johnston's partly autobiographical comic knew that her real-life husband left her this April.

The news that Rod Johnston had met someone else was a devastating shock to Lynn, whose millions of fans thought her long marriage -- like the long marriage of Elly and John -- was "storybook" in nature. "It shows our family was as vulnerable as anyone," she said during a phone interview with E&P.

But there's a silver lining of sorts in the breakup of the marriage, which will probably officially end in divorce next April. Johnston, who's feeling much better about the separation than she did this spring, has been devoting more time to her hybrid comic than initially planned. And she intends to continue doing so -- meaning there'll be more "new" in the new-old "FBorFW" than anyone could have expected.

"The sudden change in my life has given me a lot more need to focus on …

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Publication information: Article title: End of Marriage Leads to New Content in Revamped Strip. Contributors: Astor, Dave - Author. Magazine title: Editor & Publisher. Publication date: September 7, 2007. Page number: Not available. © 2002 Editor & Publisher. COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group.

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