# "For Better or For Worse" website
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 16, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676 "2006-07-16T00:16:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/1 "2006-07-16T00:16:56Z")
I am disturbed by a new development in Lynn Johnston’s strip–at least in the [online version.](http://www.fborfw.com/index.php)
I have my mug of tea, my early morning radio program, and the few sites I cruise by while drinking my tea: The Globe and Mail, the weather, this and that. FBOFW strip fix is one such morning stop on the web.
Until it started blinking at me, that is.
I noticed it a few days ago. The strip with the squeaky fan and Michael being unable to sleep. He blinked at me!
Now every strip’s got a character or two or three–blinking.
I am very vaguely creeped out by this.
---
### Author:  [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/2 "2006-07-16T00:22:42Z")
At least it’s not like _Luann_, where the characters whisper to you to kill the President and the mayor.
What?
Oh.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/3 "2006-07-16T00:27:14Z")
Dear **Savannah** ,
_I see you._
Signed,
Mike Patterson
---
### Author:  [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/4 "2006-07-16T01:11:53Z")
Aaack! I went to the website and noticed it, too. It’s very weird, and, if you hadn’t warned me, I would have thought, “Huh?!? Did I really see that??”
I hadn’t been to the website before, so I poked around a bit, and one of the things that really disturbed me was the image of Elizabeth in the “Meet the Pattersons” section, where she’s doing this kind of flirty, cheesecake-y thing while sitting on a desk. The adult Elizabeth has been depicted in the strip as a grounded, thoughtful, independent woman.
But damn if I didn’t get sucked into the Farley story again. Wa-a-a-a-a-a-ah!
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### Author:  [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/5 "2006-07-16T01:20:41Z")
> [@Savannah](#):
>
> Now every strip’s got a character or two or three–blinking.
>
> I am very vaguely creeped out by this.
Okay, you’re obviously not some random slob, based on your join date. Can you link directly to a blinking cartoon? That would be helpful.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/6 "2006-07-16T01:31:48Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#):
>
> Okay, you’re obviously not some random slob, based on your join date. Can you link directly to a blinking cartoon? That would be helpful.
>
> Thanks!
[http://www.fborfw.com/strip\_fix/archives/001920.php](http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/001920.php)
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### Author:  [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/7 "2006-07-16T01:33:20Z")
I am so a random slob! Just ask my husband. 🙂
Here’s [today’s](http://fbofw.com/strip_fix/strips/2006/july/j3p/060715moz.gif) strip, with lots of blinkiness.
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### Author:  [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/8 "2006-07-16T01:34:59Z")
OK, apparently it’s something new. From the above link:
> [@](#):
>
> Animated Strips:
> You’re not seeing things! We began animating the strips on the 19th of June, 2006, and will continue to animate selected strips when the artwork accommodates it. We’re pleased this feature has added some extra interest to the strip - thanks for all your feedback!
What have they animated besides blinking so far?
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### Author:  [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/9 "2006-07-16T02:04:04Z")
Ewww! That’s just not right. I don’t like my comic strips to move.
What next, an actively wagging Dogbert? Drusilla doing hip-thrusts?
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### Author:  [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/10 "2006-07-16T02:15:08Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#):
>
> What have they animated besides blinking so far?
In [this one](http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/strips/2006/july/j2e/060707edk.gif), Liz’s hands in the 3rd panel move as well.
I agree that it’s pretty creepy - I hadn’t been reading on the fbofw website but on another site, and hadn’t noticed the animation.
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### Author:  [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/11 "2006-07-16T03:43:08Z")
> [@teela brown](#):
>
> Ewww! That’s just not right. I don’t like my comic strips to move.
>
> What next, an actively wagging Dogbert? **Drusilla doing hip-thrusts?**
Now that would be worth animating a strip for!
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/12 "2006-07-16T04:10:53Z")
Ugh. I hate it.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/13 "2006-07-16T04:11:06Z")
I don’t see moving hands or blinking eyes. I must’ve done something right when I set up this browser 🙂
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### Author:  [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/14 "2006-07-16T05:20:49Z")
Arrrrgh! That’s . . .unnatural!
Wrong, just plain WRONG!
Make it stop please.
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### Author:  [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/15 "2006-07-16T06:43:33Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> I don’t see moving hands or blinking eyes. I must’ve done something right when I set up this browser 🙂
I didn’t see anything at first either, but the blinking just happens intermittently. I’d almost prefer it if the animation was constant, instead of there just being this occasional movement in a strip that you expect to be stationary - it’s creepier and more likely to make you start questioning your sanity.
---
### Author:  [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/16 "2006-07-16T08:01:48Z")
Ooooo, I must torment my friends with that now.
Another vote for much creepier than it should be.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/17 "2006-07-16T13:38:00Z")
There’s been quite a bit of discussion about this nasty new wrinkle over at the [Comics Curmudgeon](http://joshreads.com/) website (slogan: “Josh reads the funny pages so that _you_ don’t have to!”).
The best aspect is that it’s encouraged some of the Curmudgeon regulars to animate other comic strips, including an instant classic with **Mark Trail being raped by a bear**.
If you should happen to go to the 25th comment following the top entry (from Jonnya), you’ll find the magic linky.
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### Author:  [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/18 "2006-07-16T14:39:06Z")
I kind of like the animations in the For Better or For Worse strips. Seeing all the animations in any given cartoon is a little like finding the "Nina"s in the old Hirschberg cartoons. The animations are small, relatively subtle features of the strip, and you have to pay some extra attention to the drawings in order to see all the little moving parts.
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### Author:  [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/19 "2006-07-16T18:17:49Z")
I wouldn’t say I find it creepy, but it is annoying. You’re in the middle of a sentence in panel two and suddenly there’s something twitching in your peripheral vision over in panel four, interrupting the flow. Since the animation is invariably irrelevant to understanding the strip, it’s just a useless distraction.
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### Author:  [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-better-or-for-worse-website/364676/20 "2006-09-14T03:53:12Z")
I wasn’t so much creeped out as much as I thought I was going nuts.
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