I’ve noticed a good amount of Dopers chime in on threads for the daily FBoFW strips. And I’m over here thinking: “What the hell?”
I’m not trying to act as an arbiter of taste, I’m just curious as to why this strip appeals to you, if in fact it does. I have noticed that it seems soap opera-esque, in the way that plots continue for much longer than the usual comic fare and I’ll say that’s certainly points in it’s favor. I’ve just never laughed while reading it.
Just curious.
It’s not a “laugh at” strip. It’s a “relate to the plot and characters” strip.
I’m not the devotee others here are, but it’s one the best strips around.
Fair enough. I can certainly understand that in a way that I can never understand, say, Family Circus or Andy Capp.
And apologies for the poorly written OP. Damn. I’m slipping.
I’m not a hardcore reader but I do enjoy the strip.
I like it because, like a good sitcom, it IS sometimes funny and sometimes poignant. Especially when the kids were younger and when they had more pets.
And it’s a nice read if you’ve been following the story lines. Unlike some other storyline strips like Mary Worth or something, it’s based in real REAL life.
Another point: I’m 36, and the character Mike Patterson, is roughly my age: a lot of the experiences the character has had parallel things in my life.
Ditto what Askia said; I grew up with the strip, and it’s amazing how many of the life experiences of the strip’s characters have parallelled my own.
I read it everyday,but I don’t like it.
I used to like it. But over the last…I dunno year or so…it has ceased to interest me.
That’s where I’m coming from. I’m strangely drawn to it though. How old is it, roughly? It’s been around since I started reading the “funnies.”
Since 1978, I believe.
As a (ahem) mature woman who was starting my family when the strip started, I relate much more to Ellie than any of the other characters…and we share a name, so that was always nice. The laughs are there, but they are more subtle, and it’s nice to see similar things that have happened to me happen to the fictional Pattersons as well.
September 9,1979 according to Wikipedia.
There are a few of strips that are loved by people whose opinion I respect that I just don’t get*. This is one of them. Absolutely no humor. And nothing in the least bit interesting happens in the strip.
*The others are Mutts & Zits.
There are only 7 or 8 strips that I follow every day, and FBOFW is one of them. It’s exquisitely drawn, and there aren’t that many strips left that I can say that about. Luann and Zippy are better-drawn, possibly Gasoline Alley, but I can’t sustain any real care for any of those strips’ characters.
The strip is kind of a last bastion for quality craftsmanship. It bucked the Doonesbury /Sylvia /Dilbert paradigm of "funny, but it looks like crap. Ultimately, why does one like anything?
I think I used to actually like it when I was younger, but now I’m reading it more for the “train wreck” potential. I must say I’m really disappointed by today’s plot “twist.”
Krokodil:
How old are you? Sure Doonesbury started out looking like crap in its VERY early days, but already by 1974, the art was excellent.
The art in Doonesbury changed from meh to pretty damn good in the 80s. The first story arc with the new style is In Search of Reagan’s brain. To me the story that really brought me into the strip was the one about Andy and Lacy.
Back to the OP
FBOFW is sometimes funny, it used to be funnier. It also used to be less cliched in some ways and the characters more engaging. I watch it now as much out of morbid curiosity as out of any other reason.
I read it - usually in great batches when I remember I haven’t read it in awhile - because I read it. I just do. I always have, since living at home with my parents, who actually had a paper delivered. Elizabeth is about my age, and we’ve gone through some similar things and the family reminds me of mine in many ways. I guess I read it because I can relate - they seem like real people and I’m interested in what happens in their lives.
Actually, I read it to make fun of it. sorry, guys.
I read it because I’ve read it for the last 20 years. It’s not like every day I get up and think Must Read FBOFW! But I’ve followed it long enough to know the characters, to want to follow along, and to “care” in a it’s-just-fiction sort of way, what happens to them. And I’m reading it now because as the artist winds it down (maybe), it’s becoming IMO more and more of a trainwreck, and I can’t help but watch with dismay as it goes off the rails.
It used to be much funnier and less soap-operatic, and had a lot of resonance to my life, or the life I was living then. One strip I remember, teenaged Mike is complaining that there’s nothing to eat in the fridge, and Elly kneels down in front of it: “Oh great frost-free God! Fill thyself with good things that my son’s hunger may be satisfied!” Very funny – and something that would get said or done in my house, growing up. And make no mistake, Johnston can write story arcs that draw you in and touch you (or, rather, me) emotionally – when Lawrence came out as gay and when Farley died, to name two. Now IMO she’s trying to take the strip in too many directions, follow too many characters, and it’s become too serious. But I read it because I’ve always read it, and I still want to see what she’ll do with it, with these characters, even though I’m not really liking her choices anymore.