What I like about this strip is that it progresses with the auther. As the family gets older so do the characters. They took some flack a few years back when the family pet died and they put it in the strip, but that is life and that experience may have helped some families deal with the loss of a pet. I will always admire Lynn Johnston for that.

This strip is great. The storylines are addictive, and full of real-life Drama. Sometimes, when a threat is going on against one of the characters, I find myself worrying about him/her until a resolution is published. The author takes risks. How many other comics have dared to tackle a serious take on homosexuality, and have it published in mainstream media? Even so, there is plenty of humor in the strips, even if the more recent ones have had more serious content than humorous, the humor's never been completely lost. And, the characters age, and grow as people, living their own lives, making their own choices. When my favorite online comics website quit carrying FBOFW, I almost quit going there altogether.. instead, I searched the internet until I found the best online resource of FBOFW comics.. the authors own website.

I used to skip FBOFW when reading the comics page of my newspaper. Every strip was either serious or a poor attempt at humor. But when I started checking out the collections from my library, I began to develop a liking for the storylines, nice artwork, developed characters, and the cool fact that the characters age over the years (a pretty rare phenomenon). I haven't checked out any of Johnston's recent work, so this rating goes for her stuff from the 80's and early 90's.

The old ones that I've read from back when Liz was just a small child often reeked of humour, and were very funny. Lately, they've gotten more serious, simply because the kids aren't kids anymore, and the only children really around are Mike's two. Each character has their own story now, and sometimes it's almost as if you're reading three or four different comics. April certainly is becoming a teenager, and Lynn protrays her as such. However, she should be starting to become a little more mature and less bratty than her friend Becky, as she is 15 now. I used to desperatley hope that Liz would end up with Anthony, but I'm starting to like that police officer guy. I'm impressed with how much Mike has grown. He's a husband, a father, and a very good journalist. I've grown up with these characters, and almost feel as if they're my friends. Liz better get married before the series ends!!!

Back in the mid-80s this was parodied as "It Couldn't Be Worse". he drawing style has improved since then, but Lynn Johnston retains her lazy and ultimately infuriating habit of using reaction shots as punch lines. At least it's no longer a strip about a feebleminded Canadian dentist. Now the whole awful clan is involved in the gratingly sentimenta;l and faux-significant "fun".

Consistenly on the mark. Humorous without trying to be hilarious. Lynn Johnston tackles a variety of issues, some controversial. Some comments say it's "too Canadian," but should that be a negative? Not all comic strips out there are made in the USA! We can learn a little about our neighbors to the north while reading the funnies.

This strip has too much of Canada for my tastes.

The fact that it is one of the few strips in which the characters age (and die) keeps it fresh. Not exactly uproarious, it provides more of a musing sort of humour.

As funny as a Jet Li kick square into my testes.

Crap!

Awful. Just awful. A sanctimonious liberal soap opera-from Canada, no less- involving an uber-bourgeois clan and their loathesome offspring. Wimpazoid Michael and his brood-mare wife. Goody-two-shoes Elizabeth falling asleep in the college library during exams. Wretched, whiny, obnoxious little April. Plus side lectures on tolerance for butt-pirates and, most recently, retards. Time to send this nag to the glue factory.

Okay. So maybe the strip's been getting bland the past few years. Maybe the branching paths the characters take is making it impossible for the author to focus on a concentrated storyline. But dang it! This is still one of the best strips out there today.

No where what it used to be. Kids are do-gooders and seem incapible of a harsh thought or deed. Parents worries are simple and not as real as when Lynn truly had the wolf living at the door. Definitely time to hang this one up.

For Better or for Worse has got it all: funny but never tries too hard, affecting but never schmaltzy, engrossing but never too much of a reach. The only continuous story line comic I even try to enjoy (I mean, cmon, Mary Worth?). Johnston has a sure touch with difficult story lines (for example the twin problems of growing up and growing old), sugaring them with affection and understanding. That she manages to extract comedy, albeit whimsical, from many of them is a tribute to her intelligence and perceptiveness. Nothing except excellence in this strip.

The characters age. That is a nice little twist. The characters are also pretentious and overwrought. It does not appeal to males, for the most part.

This strip is somewhat Canadian, but it certainly does appeal to readers because it nearly pertains to a family in real life. It does involve both young and old in the strip and it is good for any reader at any age. Great one, Ms. Johnston!

This is the best comic strip going now. I sometimes think she is taking my life and putting it in front of me. I love it and look at it first in the newspaper before anything else. It puts a smile on my face or tear in my eye before having to read the real drama's we face in the news. Thank you for the opportunity to rate this GREAT comic and writer, Lynn Johnston.

I always get the feeling that the artist is producing a strip for people to cut out and put on the refrigerator, rather than something to read and enjoy. It tends to be preachy, smug and full of pseudo-profundities; most enjoyed by the sort of people who follow Oprah's Book Club, I suspect.

This is one of the best comic strips of all time. I love the meaningful story lines. Johnston never avoids controversial topics. (Like when Lawerance disclosed he was gay) Johnston also does a great job in displaying the everyday normal family. The only criticism I would have is that the Johnston family seems way to functional (Most familes are dis-functional to a point.)

One of my favorites, witty, charming and I like that this family is going through the normal age process, and not stuck in some time warp or era where they never age or change.

different from other comic strips, has a very nice tone. Watching everyone grow and go through what we all do is nice. I still remember when their first dog died... (Farley?) I think it's still funny, not too preachy (but anytime you want to say something serious, or semi-serious, some will always say you are being preachy).

One of my favorites! I love looking back and seeing how the characters have progressed! ~Erg!

Boring, sappy garbage. It's a real waste of time (more so that other comics ;)

This still breaks all the rules and is successful. Apart from Doonesbury it's the only successful storyline strip. I give it a hearty 4 stars.

This strip, has always been one of my favorites. I love how the characters grow older.

If you don't "get" this comic strip, you must be living your life in a bubble, because Lynn does one of the best jobs of portraying real-life that I have ever seen. She is touching at moments and also comical at moments--life isn't always roses and sunshine.

When it's funny, it's really funny. That's rare tho. It's a bit to preachy now. and did we really need a week of strips devoted to breastfeeding?

A weak imitation of "Gasoline Alley" (which Lynn Johnson admits as being her inspiration), but it does have its moments.

I equivocate with my feelings about FBOW. First, I enjoy any strip that is so carefully crafted, with supurb character development and a complicated micro-world in which they all live. It is a challenge to "age" a set of characters and keep up with their lives. Elly gets under my skin--frequently tiresome and nagging; John is undervalued. But, Lynn pulled a good one a while back: she showed Elly suffering one of her aggressive hot flashes in bed, pulling up her gown to reveal her butt crack just a little as she sat on the mattress, John looking on helplessly. Hilarious and heart-warming; it made me want to hug my old menopausal wife. I have heard that Lynn plans to wind FBOW down someday--I wonder how it will end-?

So real life!!

Most realistic humor stsrip.

I loved this strip for years...but nowadays there are more characters that I roll my eyes at than I smile at. Mike and Liz are the most realistic, and the ones I like to read the most. John's turned into the stereotypical dull father/husband. And lately, the plotlines have me saying 'huh??' -- and not in a good way. Full of gaping holes and developments that make you groan. (One word -- harmonica) I'm not a FBOFW hater. Six years ago, this was my favorite strip. I'm just tired of the preachy tone of the last few years.

Not as high on humor as it once was, but every bit as sentimental.

It was always fun to read and I liked how the characters age, unlike in most other comic strips. However, I think For Better or for Worse has really gotten stale in the past few years. It doesn't seem to have the fun and humor that it had in the older strips. I guess it's just like the TV shows that grow stale as the kids get older.

Ugh! Lynn Johnston's sanctimonious, treacly, awful sermonizing. Ranks right down there with Marmaduke.

Familiar places, familiar people,thank you lynn Johnston for teaching me to read, and allowing me to grow with your "family"!

I like it because they are not the perfect cookie cutter family (Family Circus). They show their dysfunctions and their quirks and they show how they get through with it and at the end they show their love for each other, which is cool. They're kind of like the G-rated version of The Osbournes, really.

I love this comic. I feel like i am growing up while they grow up. It's like being part of the family. Great work. Not all comics need to be funny.

Too loaded with heavy questions to be even slightly funny.

This comic strip is my favorite comic strip of all time- I love for better or for worse I am absolutely addicted to this comic strip- I hope you are too because this strip is awesome

The title of this strip is quickly becoming ironic, because we're now in the latter phase. The problem is that we, as readers, didn't say "I do." There was a "Fox Trot" strip a while back that was serious for a moment, and the character "Jason" said "Aaah! I'm in 'For Better or Worse!'" That pretty much sums it up. The characters aren't fun anymore and there's always a depressing problem brewing.

Consistently high quality. Realistic, yet humourous. Makes you care about the characters and their lives. A masterful, mature comic strip.

A very good strip by Lynn Johnston who takes her real life experiences and serializes them for us in "For Better Or For Worse". I have loved it since I first read it in about 1983.

I don't really like this comic strip because it is not very funny unlike others. There is plenty others that I would much rather read. I wouldnt waste my time reading this with the other funny comic strips out like "Garfield", etc. It needs more humor is what it is.

Next to The Family Circus, it's my favorite comic book strip.

Ever have an old car that was wearing out? And no matter how hard you work on it, and how much you love it, it is slowing down. Nothing is wrong with this strip, but not much is right with it either. Used to be one of my favorites.

really love this one

This is a pretty funny comic. What's particularly interesting about this strip is that it allows its children to get older. Most comic strip children are forced to remain the same age for all eternity.

Real Family issuses

So full of family values it makes me a little nauseous.