Middle Age Spread

For Better or For Worse #16

by Lynn Johnston

In her touchingly funny daily strip, Lynn Johnston gives her fans realistic characters who humorously deal with both the good and bad that life gives them. Every day, Johnston demonstrates--through hormonal children and parents who aren't always right--that life goes on For Better or For Worse. In Middle Age Spread, parents John and Elly have started to notice their own aging process: the increasing need for glasses, exercise, and computer skills. Their children are also growing older. Michael, the eldest, advances ever nearer to adulthood as he makes his way through college in a distant town, creatively managing classes, a grumpy landlady, and a special girlfriend. Daughter Elizabeth, with her contact lenses, short new hairdo, and boyfriend, Anthony, is becoming a young lady upon whom her parents increasingly rely. The youngest, April, along with the Patterson pets, Edgar the dog and Mr. B the bunny, provide welcome doses of comic relief. But Elly worries about her parents. Her mother has grown dangerously weak and is often bedridden. With heartfelt authenticity and gentle humor, Johnston's Middle Age Spread delicately describes a loving family whose life together speaks to the noble human spirit in all of us.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Comedy, Cartoon, Canada

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Lynn Johnston CM OM is a Canadian cartoonist, well known for her comic strip For Better or For Worse, and was the first female cartoonist to win the Reuben Award.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming out in 1998 with strips from January up to November of 97. I have nothing but good things to say about the strip for this run – I can’t say I was delighted when April was introduced some years before, I was pretty tired of Johnston’s standard baby talk and gags after having gone through it once before with Elizabeth but by now April starts school and has really become a pretty entertaining character in her own right. And with Michael in college and Elizabeth getting her driver's license more of the action is moving out into the broader world.

[Stasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just currently in one of those moods where I only seem to be able to read comics. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Been enjoying some of these again, I used to read the whole series through yearly but it's been many years since I did that.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could read and the re-read these over and over.

[The other John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The focus of this For Better or For Worse collection seems to be the forces that pull upon the middle-aged. More and more we're called upon to aid our aging parents while our kids continue to come up with new challenges to hone our parenting skills. In the case of Elly Patterson, her mother is in failing health back in British Columbia, while her daughter April is threatening to amass a menagerie, daughter Elizabeth is being a teen-ager and son Michael tries to figure out what to do with his life. It's still good comics, though there seems to be a slight change in the art. I don't know if this was when Ms. Johnston started using assistant artists or maybe started using some new techniques? Or maybe it's just my imagination.

[Adrian Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always thought of the Pattersons as the neighbors. I started reading the strip when I was a kid and was faithful to the end. I have the entire collection and I read it every few years. It's a classic!

[Child960801 · Rating 4 out of 5]

John and Elly go on vacation and leave April and Liz with a house sitter. Gordon and Tracey have their baby. Elly's mother is in the hospital and she and April go to the coast to visit her. Liz gets her driver's licence. Michael is overwhelmed by school.

[Kyrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

She still makes me laugh.

[Rivkah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked it. I love the sarcastic undertone humor.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

funny and charming and about lifes upset and down lows and all the inbetween I loved this book.