Tragedy In The Comics Strips?!
Question:
Tragedy In The Comics Strips?
Lisa died today in "Funky Winkerbean." Ellie's father died in "For Better or Worse."
What's next? Marmaduke getting run over by a car? Dagwood choking to death on his sandwich? PJ on Family Circus getting leukemia? Beetle Bailey getting blown to bits in Iraq?
What's going on here? I read the funnies for an escape. If I want really want real life, don't you think I'd read the front page.
Any other thoughts?
Answers: From what I've heard, the artist of FBoFW is going to retire soon and wants to end the strip. Having read it for years and respecting the writer, I guess she has the right to do as she pleases. We all have favorite characters that we miss, and it is one of the few ways we can prepare to say gooodbye to our own loved ones.
What are we going to do, threaten God, when He doesn't run the universe the way we like it...?
Personally, I'm sort of happy that he (Grandpa Jim) was able to find a good woman after his first wife died years ago. Life goes on. We're not praying mantises, to mate and then die. We can appreciate the good times past while still looking forward to other good times. I think he can have died happy, seeing his great grandchildren and knowing that he was loved and respected.
Some other cartoonists, like Bill Watterson resisted the pleading of fans to keep going, or to restart the series (Calvin and Hobbes.) They have not only the power, but the right to do as they please with their creation, and nobody else (other than God, Who created us all) has the right to say that they should have done it otherwise.
I'm sad about it myself. I compare it to the griefs I've gone through, but I like to think that seeing the Patterson family go through all this has in some way helped me to prepare for life, maybe even with a family of my own.
I have to agree with you in this respect, though: we see enough 'grim and gritty' realism in other comics (Batman, Punisher). We see transparent political motives, in Doonesbury, where a character lost a leg in Iraq;
and lately in Spider Man what with the aftermath of Marvel's abominable 'Civil War'.
I think we can at least be grateful that there will be a new generation of the Pattersons... even if we dont see them. They'll be in the hearts and minds of the creator and in ours.
We'll see them in our imagination.
And, you know? If a wholesome family oriented comic like FBoFW inspires us to love one another a little better, spend more time with our kids and less time at the office... I think that the writer will be satisfied, having accomplished what she set out to do.
5 OCT 07, 0533 hrs, GMT. Ellie's father died? I just thought he had another stroke. I remember when the dog Farley died she got threatening letters, not so much when the Grandma died. You have an excellent point! What if Garfield finally got caught and chewed up by the dog across the street? Or if Ziggy got it in a drive by? Or Cathy's weight finally caught up with her, resulting in diabetes. Funnies are supposed to be funny! I didnt know that Lisa died in Funky Winkerbean. My papre in Tulsa doesnt carry Funky and I have to look at back issue to catch up. Didnt know that Ellie dad's past away either in For Btter or Worse.