# Deep Thoughts re: For Better or for Worse (Comic Strip) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-thoughts-re-for-better-or-for-worse-comic-strip/230615 "2004-02-23T05:33:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-thoughts-re-for-better-or-for-worse-comic-strip/230615/21 "2004-02-24T03:57:30Z")
Another strip where at least one of the characters has aged is _Arlo and Janis_. The son Gene was a little kid when I started reading the strip years ago but now he is something like 16 years old. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-thoughts-re-for-better-or-for-worse-comic-strip/230615/22 "2004-02-24T11:41:54Z")
Luanne: The title character in this strip was 13 when the strip started and remained 13 for years. Then, a few years ago, Greg Evans decided he’s had enough of the young teenage years and “bumped” everybody up 3 years one summer – Luanne and her friends became 16 and started learning to drive, her brother (who had been 16), turned 19 and graduated from high school. Since then, Luanne’s gotten her driver’s license, but there’s been no word on her turning 17. Her brother, Brad, however, is training to be a firefighter – a process that takes a couple of years, apparently… but he seems to be aging on without Luanne. I suspect that, once Brad gets out of fire school, he’ll stick there and will remain a 21 year old junior fireman with a 16 year old sister. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-thoughts-re-for-better-or-for-worse-comic-strip/230615/23 "2004-02-24T14:48:13Z")
I have to chime in here. I’ve loved _For Better or For Worse_ for years, and for quite a while owned the compilation books. After a long and unhappy battle with infertility, I got rid of them. When Mike and Deanna got married, and Deanna got pregnant, I was startled to realize that I actually felt jealous. Of a cartoon character! It struck me so strongly that I wrote a note to Lynn Johnston complimenting her on creating characters so strong and realistic that I could actually be jealous. She wrote me a very kind note back. I know how many letters she must get, and I’m impressed that she took the time to write me a personal note in response. I’m sorry to hear the news that the strip will probably be ending. I do enjoy it greatly. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-thoughts-re-for-better-or-for-worse-comic-strip/230615/24 "2004-02-24T16:54:16Z")
Rose (or maybe Dorothy): Apartment 3G?! Why, I haven’t read that in 30 years! Blanche: Well, let me catch you up. It’s later that afternoon… /Golden Girls ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-thoughts-re-for-better-or-for-worse-comic-strip/230615/25 "2004-02-24T17:45:13Z")
Jess: > [@](#): > > Luanne: The title character in this strip was 13 when the strip started and remained 13 for years. I believe the character was around 8 or 9 years old when the strip first started. Unlike Funky or Doonesbury, though, the “age jumps” in Luann (no “E” at the end) weren’t done as distinct gaps in the strip. It was more that the writer seemed to realize, “Hey, I want to write about the next stage in their lives,” so he does some rites-of-passage stories (Luann’s first period, her sweet sixteen party and new hairdo, Brad graduating high school) and that’s how they age. Sort of a “punctuated equilibrium” vs. gradual evolution. The segues aren’t so smooth, but it’s not the same sort of “age jump” as in those other series. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-thoughts-re-for-better-or-for-worse-comic-strip/230615.md?page=1)