Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Here it is....

Click to enlarge.
Erg. Since I'm not home, I had to use a different scanner, and it did some funky stuff to my image quality.  So, let's see.  I modeled the layout and also the first and third panels after the August 12, 2007 "cookout" strip, the one where Elly scares Robin by saying that she'll blow up if she eats ONE more thing, only to eat one more thing.  That's also what the final panel here refers to.  I was going to put more people and business in that first panel, but I realized I'd probably need an extra week if I did that!  So while Mike burns what's on the grill, everyone else is assembled inside, and they all come out a moment later!

Panel two has John speaking with Ted. That's Dee in the left, bottom corner of panel three and Uncle Phil on the right side. Liz is talking to Aunt Georgia in next panel.  Next are Abby Caine and April, then Greg Thomas with Steve Nichols, then Francie.  Anne Nichols is agreeing to cater Nick and Lawrence's wedding reception.  And finally we have Meredith reassuring Robin.

I'm reminded that certain little-used characters never really got a consistent look:  Ted, Steve, Greg, Nick, Anne.  In some strips, Nick looked like Anthony, in others he looked like Gord, and in some, he looked like their highly unlikely offspring.  Similarly, Greg strikes me in some places as a Gordo/Ted hybrid.

So, yeah.  This is it.  I just really wanted to close off with a sense that things are continuing.  Life is happening.  (Please imagine that a respectful time has elapsed between Elly going catatonic and Mike having a cookout.)

I have no plans to take this blog down, though probably in a couple of weeks, I will switch to screened comments.  With ARB, I noticed that a dormant blog becomes a comment-spam magnet.

Thanks to all of you who have visited this site.  I've had fun doing FOOBAR!

Edit:  I almost forgot to explain about Françoise.  She's quoting "Le Mythe de Sisyphe" by Albert Camus, where he concludes that one must imagine Sisyphus happy.  Sisyphus has resisted suicide and considers himself superior to his fate.  My silly way of lampooning how absurdly (ah, geddit?) advanced Francie has been portrayed in the strip.  :)

48 comments:

DreadedCandiru2 said...

I like this; we're seeing these people having a quiet little get-together as they go on to new things. Some people are having a better time of it than others but they'll get through it. As the theme to the TV show went "For Better Or For Worse, things will work out fine."

April Patterson said...

Thanks, dc2. That's the feeling I was going for. :)

InsertMonikerHere said...

Love it. Life goes on, and it's not all tied up in a pretty bow.

Not sure how likely it is for catatonia to drag on, but mixed-up medical plots are *so* FOOBish so it fits perfectly :-)

Muzition said...

This is miles better than that stupid Sunday Foob strip where everybody lived happily ever after.

Godozo said...

Catatonia can last forever. Of course I think it's more than Catatonia - try alzheimer's, with Elly's brain thirty years older than her body (side-effect of magic). My take, at least.

I like that Michael's still writing...and taking on parenting duties. Wonder how it will affect what he writes (about). What's he writing about, if I may ask?

April Patterson said...

Love it. Life goes on, and it's not all tied up in a pretty bow.

Thanks. :)

Not sure how likely it is for catatonia to drag on, but mixed-up medical plots are *so* FOOBish so it fits perfectly :-)

The way I see it is this. I don't expect Classic Foob to have the staying power that Classic Peanuts has had. When the syndicate drops foob, one can imagine that Elly has recovered or died. (Reader's choice!) ;)

April Patterson said...

This is miles better than that stupid Sunday Foob strip where everybody lived happily ever after.

Thanks, muzition. That final "foob" strip had enough "what the heck" and "so much no" for me that I knew for sure what I DIDN'T want to end with.

April Patterson said...

Catatonia can last forever. Of course I think it's more than Catatonia - try alzheimer's, with Elly's brain thirty years older than her body (side-effect of magic). My take, at least.

Hm... that could work.

I like that Michael's still writing...and taking on parenting duties. Wonder how it will affect what he writes (about). What's he writing about, if I may ask?

I'm not really sure. He's gone back to journalism and is working up article ideas, but I don't have a firm sense of what he's focusing on. Could be that his enhanced interaction with the kids will have him think about parenting, education, child development, and so on, but it could be any number of other areas. :)

DanielBT said...

With the end of this webcomic, I figured this would be the best place to post my thoughts about the Rise & Fall of FBOFW:
http://sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/2010/05/for-foob-or-for-fbofw.html

Feel free to post it on the FOOBiverse livejournal if you can. I don't particularly feel like joining up just to constantly bash the old strips when Lynn was still finding her voice. Besides, the Feifer comic on my blog pretty much sums up my thoughts at her attempt to rewrite history.

If possible, could someone find the links where Brian was a possible canidate for being Gay, and the site that analyzed where Elizabeth was in Mtigwaki, and said "WAIT!" at the peak of her happiness? I'll be very grateful to anyone who helps fill in these blanks.

Destroyer of Worlds said...

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!! *sob, sniffle*

These are the tears I'm crying because FOOBAR is over... :( You did a great job, and I'll miss coming here to check out your take on FBOFW. Hmm, I definitely didn't feel like this when Lynn ended FBOFW. Sigh...

I'm going to continue with my blog, but I don't think I'll ever fill your shoes, or "knock you off the comic page!" :)

I do like the fact that you have everyone having normal lives, are in different places of their lives, and in varying levels of goodness and badness. Perfect for a strip that was called "For Better or for Worse."

Kudos. The Real Kind.

Anonymous said...

Heh. Loved the reference to how we -know- from past strips than Anthony considers marriage counseling to be a waste of time. And from the look on her face, Liz is remembering this too.

April Patterson said...

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!! *sob, sniffle*

::comforting you:: :)

These are the tears I'm crying because FOOBAR is over... :( You did a great job, and I'll miss coming here to check out your take on FBOFW. Hmm, I definitely didn't feel like this when Lynn ended FBOFW. Sigh...

Aw, thanks--I'll also miss doing FOOBAR, but this feels like the right time/place to stop.

I'm going to continue with my blog, but I don't think I'll ever fill your shoes, or "knock you off the comic page!" :)

Hee. I'll keep an eye on your blog. :)

I do like the fact that you have everyone having normal lives, are in different places of their lives, and in varying levels of goodness and badness. Perfect for a strip that was called "For Better or for Worse."

Thanks--to me this seemed like a better way to do the characters justice.

Kudos. The Real Kind.

:)

April Patterson said...

Heh. Loved the reference to how we -know- from past strips than Anthony considers marriage counseling to be a waste of time. And from the look on her face, Liz is remembering this too.

There was definitely a strong vibe of Anthony doing the counseling as a pro forma measure that would allow him to say that he really did try and therefore isn't Mr. Bad Guy.

Anonymous said...

Let's face it, as far as Anthony is concerned, Therese daring to acknowledge that he's emotionally unfaithful -and- daring to suffer from depression and stress was just more signs that Liz and he were meant to be. *rolleyes*

howard said...

A fine ending with moments and people that could have and should have been around at other times.

You've been doing this since November, 2008. Can you believe it? I think Lynn should have handed the regular strip off to you. Obviously you can handle the art and the schedule and you are lot funnier than Lynn.

On the positive side, maybe we get more Crazy Guy.

April Patterson said...

A fine ending with moments and people that could have and should have been around at other times.

Thanks! You know, speaking of people who could/should have been around--when I was looking at that August of 2007 "cookout" strip as a reference, it occurred to me that Dee is nowhere to be seen. Arguably, the teensy-weensy silhouette who is with silhouette Robin and silhouette Merrie at the silhouette kiddie pool in the background of panel one could be Dee, but otherwise, there is no sign of her. This strikes me as odd.

You've been doing this since November, 2008. Can you believe it

Sometimes I forget how long I've been doing it! I wanted to refer to one of my older strips and mistakenly thought I'd done it this year instead of last. :)

I think Lynn should have handed the regular strip off to you. Obviously you can handle the art and the schedule and you are lot funnier than Lynn.

That means a lot to me! I've thought about what it would be like to work with her and can't help wondering what exactly happened with Karen Matchette.

On the positive side, maybe we get more Crazy Guy.

I'll definitely be working toward more frequent "Crazy Guy" updates. As I've mentioned before, my first goal is to get ahead by a couple of weeks on a consistent basis. I don't want to get too far ahead, because I like to respond to current events, but I also don't want to be scrambling to get my strip done on its post day.

Once I've got a consistent lead time going, I want to focus on improving/expanding my technique. Once I'm feeling pretty confident in that area, then I think I'll slowly expand the frequency.

DanielBT said...

One comic idea I had when FBOFW ended was a gathering of three comic characters whose sudden demise caused the decline of their franchise. Another thing all three would have in common was a similar Black & White Motif. The cast would consist of Lord Morpheus from Sandman, L from Death Note & Farley from FBOFW.

It would be titled, "Pale Originals", as an allusion to the phrase "Pale Imitation", since all three had replacements that failed to live up to the first version.

Lord Morpheus would speak with a slow melodramatic overtone, while L would talk in a sarcastic monotone while trying to keep Farley from eating his sweets.

"Why don't you conjure up some food for the animal before he hurts himself?" (L is keeping Farley at bay with his feet) "I know you have no taste for mortal meals."

"IT IS BENEATH MY DIGNITY TO PRODUCE SUCH A FEAST FOR A BEING SUCH AS THIS. HOWEVER, IF HE WISHES TO MAKE HIS INTENT KNOWN, ALL HE NEEDS TO DO IS ASK."

(Farley looks at L with a pleading expression) (For some reason, having lived with humans his whole life, and accustomed to thinking of himself as a human, sees Lord Morpheus as an Anthropomorphic Sheepdog)

The only one refereeing the dialogue would be Opus the Penguin, the only Pale Original to come back twice, and somehow come back as a shadow of his former self.

Anybody interested?

Holly said...

I really enjoyed this ending -- and, of course, all the strips which preceded it. Something about the ending as being just a snapshot of a group of people at a certain point in time seems far more satisfying than a wall of text mapping out every major event of the rest of their lives (new baby, dead Grandpa, screenplay, B&B ownership, sewing school...).

I really admire the dedication you've had -- I know how time-consuming it is, having tried and failed -- and the courage to put it up here. Yes, we're a built-in audience, but can also be a very details-orientated and critical one, so it does take a lot of confidence to publish it and leave it open for comments.

Thank you for the past nearly-20 months: it has been a joy to read, with plenty of genuine LOLs.

Holly said...

DanielBT
Anybody interested?

I would be! Although Farley's in a slightly different situation: his original franchise declined and then went into the timewarp, bringing him back to life, but he was also spun-off into soft toys and a children's book.

April Patterson said...

Thanks for the kind words, forworse. The audience could be daunting at times, but also very motivating and inspiring. :)

howard said...

That means a lot to me! I've thought about what it would be like to work with her and can't help wondering what exactly happened with Karen Matchette.

Back in 2005, the Canadore Chronicle from Canadore College did an alumni look at the Toon Team happily working for Lynn Johnston, because so many people on her staff were from Canadore. I kept a copy of it because it was no longer available from the Canadore College website. According to the website you listed, Karen Matchette moved to Canada to work with Lynn in 1998 and left in 2000. The description of how Laura Piché was hired goes like this:

Similarly, Laura had mixed emotions about leaving Canadore College, where she’d been the graphics technician and part-time faculty, and had been hoping to move into a fulltime teaching role. While doing some casual work with Lynn in 2000, she was given a unique opening. Lynn quietly passed her a Post-It Note asking the question, “Do you know how to draw?” and invited Laura to bring in her portfolio. The rest, as they say, is history. She has just passed her fifth anniversary with Lynn.

Notice Lynn had to get that portfolio and she was hired in 2000. Also notice that Laura has no background in the comic strip industry or inking, unlike Karen Matchette. It appears that Laura was doing both inking and colouring in the early days because this is the description for how Jackie Levesque come on staff:

For Jackie, deciding to work at the studio was a ‘happy-sad’ event. She very much liked her boss and the interior design work she was doing and felt reluctant to leave. When Laura was looking for an assistant in the fall of 2002, however, Jackie felt the pull of working with Lynn and her long-time friend and quickly accepted the offer.

My guess is that inking and colouring the strip was getting to be too much for Laura, so she was allowed to hire Jackie. Jackie’s background is interior design and not colouring a comic strip. As for Karen Matchette, there is a clear indication of what her problem was from Lynn in the same article:

Over the years, Lynn has found that she has better results in recruiting new staff through the recommendation of people she trusts, rather than through newspapers ads. She looks for someone who is comfortable with the north, who wants to remain in the north. That’s one of the reasons that Canadore graduates might fit in well, and Lynn is happy to have that college connection through Laura.

The fun part about this stuff is that Lynn appears to have only hired Laura and then she was the one who hired Jackie and neither of them seemed to have any prior experience doing the work. The implication is that Karen is an industry professional who was hired through an ad and got tired of living in the north. If Karen was accustomed to California weather, Corbeil would be a whole lot different.

How do you feel about moving to Corbeil?

Joe England said...

And what happened to the magic book? Has that been discussed?

April Patterson said...

How do you feel about moving to Corbeil?

I'm not sure. I'm open to Canada in general, but I'm not sure about Corbeil in particular. I guess I'd have to visit to figure out whether I'd like to live there.

April Patterson said...

And what happened to the magic book? Has that been discussed?

It hasn't been discussed and I confess I haven't really thought about it. I am thinking April locked it away in a very safe place.

DanielBT said...

"I would be!"

Good to know you're interested in the concept, forworse. I'm afraid I don't have an artist to collaborate my ideas with. And I'm a pretty lousy artist myself. All I have are tons of ideas that I feel are deserving of illustration.

If you know anybody who has high aspirations for creative concepts, feel free to send them my way...

DanielBT said...

If you liked the Bilbo parody of FBOFW at the end of my post, you'll probably enjoy my short parody in my other post of rejected Garfield strips. Just search for the "For Better or for Garfield" title.
http://sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/2010/05/rejected-garfields.html

It's the kind of humour I figure you guys would like.

Joe England said...

Maybe there could be some kind of "after the ending" stinger tacked on like in those old horror movies. Like, say, they buried the book in a field somewhere and then later night falls and Heathcliff shows up and digs it out and start laughing maniacally.

April Patterson said...

DanielBT, I confess I am not familiar with "Sandman" or "Death Note," but your idea sounds intriguing. I like the Nimoy-looking Jon Arbuckle in the realistically drawn "Garfield" strip. :)

April Patterson said...

Heathcliff shows up and digs it out and start laughing maniacally.

Does he then plot his revenge against Garfield, for being a better-known cartoon cat? ;)

Ziesdov61 said...

Thanks for doing this. A friend directed me to this page several months in. I eagerly consumed the back catalogue and then looked forward to every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (and getting me to look forward to Mondays is quite an accomplishment, I'll tell you!).

Good luck with everything that comes next. I hope it will all be wonderful for you. (And my word verification is "pregies" -- don't know what to make of that.)

Joe England said...

I like to imagine that the title of the book changes for whoever picks it up. It'd read "Magic for Orange Cartoon Cats Who Aren't Garfield and Never Have Been Garfield However Much They Want to Have Been."

Anonymous said...

This is SOOOO much better and more realistic and more satisfying an ending than the Settlepocalypse.

Real people, real issues, a good set of "finally got a clue"s, some real-life-type problems but overall an optimistic feel (perhaps Liz and Anthony MAY work things out? - If this were canon, it could be Sequel Setup! :D)

(Francie in this strip - ROFL! XD)

Thank you so very much for creating this extremely clever satirical "alternate Patterverse" fanstrip. It has been a great pleasure reading FOOBAR, and while it has ended very appropriately, I will miss looking forward to new installments. :)

--- Karisu

PS: You don't know Death Note? It's great - totally worth looking up...

April Patterson said...

Thanks for doing this. A friend directed me to this page several months in. I eagerly consumed the back catalogue and then looked forward to every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (and getting me to look forward to Mondays is quite an accomplishment, I'll tell you!).

Thanks for reading! I enjoyed sharing my take on the foobs. :)

Good luck with everything that comes next. I hope it will all be wonderful for you

Thanks--it will be odd NOT updating FOOBAR 2x/week anymore.

April Patterson said...

I like to imagine that the title of the book changes for whoever picks it up. It'd read "Magic for Orange Cartoon Cats Who Aren't Garfield and Never Have Been Garfield However Much They Want to Have Been."

Hee. :)

April Patterson said...

This is SOOOO much better and more realistic and more satisfying an ending than the Settlepocalypse.

Thanks! :)

Francie in this strip - ROFL! XD

I admit I crack myself up a little whenever I look at that panel. ;)

Thank you so very much for creating this extremely clever satirical "alternate Patterverse" fanstrip. It has been a great pleasure reading FOOBAR, and while it has ended very appropriately, I will miss looking forward to new installments. :)

Thanks for tuning in!

You don't know Death Note? It's great - totally worth looking up...

I will do so. :)

April Patterson said...

My library seems only to have the non-graphic novel Death note: another note, the Los Angeles BB murder cases and the DVDs. I've requested the novel and may give the DVDs a look, too.

Anonymous said...

I hope I don't come off as a Janey One-Note (I know I do talk about gay issues a lot), but I love the fact that in every single alternate story that is done in these blogs, Lawrence and Nick get married. After all the horror of living through the nastiness of Proposition 8 and knowing how many people really think that I am somehow wrong for wanting to marry the person I love, it's a wonderful thing to see that there are people like you (and the others who post) who believe that two people in love should be able to marry, no matter who they are.
Thank you.

I will really miss FOOBAR--the story was fascinating and knowing that Elly got her just desserts made it even better.

--mighty_penguina

April Patterson said...

mighty_penguina, like a lot of readers, I felt Lynn was copping out when she had Lawrence say that he and Nick weren't going to bother getting married because they already felt "married in spirit"--but gee, isn't it nice that it's possible?

One of my dearest friends lives in CA and married his partner in August 2008, only to see the ugliness of Prop (H)8 unfold.

But yeah, it just seemed to me that Lawrence and Nick would marry, given that they were legally able to do so. :)

Destroyer of Worlds said...

*ahem* This is Death Note.

http://www.onemanga.com/Death_Note/

April Patterson said...

Thanks, Destroyer of Worlds--immediately bookmarked that. :)

Unknown said...

What a satisfying ending! Nice work.

April Patterson said...

What a satisfying ending! Nice work.

Thanks, Lady. :)

DanielBT said...

I wasn’t sure where else to post a follow-up to a common complaint you guys have about the strip - my blog entry about the inspiration for those “fleas” that follow Farley & the kids everywhere:
http://sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/2010/07/dots-everywhere.html

Also, found a Sunday comic that offers an answer to Elly’s Sisyphusian effort. Given the daily obstacles she encounters, her grievance has a point. Underwear on the banister? Wet towel on the couch?
http://catalog.fborfw.com/indexid.php?q=7168

Sometimes I wish I could point out several earlier strips that could support or denounce your arguements, rather than the later strips, which seems to be the only ones everyone knows.

April Patterson said...

DanielBT, thanks for sharing your link. I tried to post a comment to your entry, but for some reason I couldn't.

I thought it was interesting that you singled out Farley as being a recipient of the "fleas." I went through the archives and spent way too much time finding examples of the humans in the strip with these "fleas" emanating from their heads. Also, we often see bits of detritus fly from their food and mouths when they're eating, leading to a frequent complaint about the Pattersons being messy eaters.

Please let me know whether you'd like me to post links. :)

DanielBT said...

That's strange that you couldn't post any comments. It shouldn't be as difficult as it is to comment on this blog. You should enter your comments in the box at the end of my link, then choose from the box of profiles (Google Account, Livejournal, etc), click "post comment", and there you go.

Feel free to post my link elsewhere. I'm always in the mood to share my ideas.

DeBT said...

Me again. I know it's been a long time, but I thought it'd be best if I posted my latest blog entry to you first. This was something that occured to me a few weeks back, and only seriously devoted some time and energy doing the research for, This is the kind of analysis that Howtheduck would appreciate, and I'll probably add it to his comments as well. I thought I should notify you first since you were nice enough to post my first entries on the front page.
http://sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/2010/10/for-better-or-for-cerebus.html

If there's anybody else out there who'd like to add anything else I missed, let me know. Of course, that would involve doing panel-by-panel analysis of Cerebus, and all previous attempts to do so have never gotten past the first book.

Anonymous said...

'Bastard love child'? So not cool, any more than using 'faggot' to mean gay would be. But the strip WAS funny.

April Patterson said...

Anonymous: Point taken. I had no intention of being offensive and have made a small edit to the text of my entry.