For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 13, 2024

Wrong place, wrong time….

And this is how April will back up her “dog ate my homework” excuse at school. “My mom can tell you he’s eaten books before.”

Poor Edgar!

April is a bit old for this kind of behavior imo. Licking a scratch & sniff book seems like something a one or two year old might do.

Another April / Edgar comparison where the dog appears to be more advanced.

Poor Puppy….

Back when my youngest was three, he ate a large part of one page out of a picture book. If we had a dog, I’m sure he would have been blamed. :P :)

Poor dog gets blamed for everything.

i still wish she hadn’t murdered farley this time around.

As usual, big-mouth Elly jumps to the wrong conclusion! She was like that with the late Farley, too.

What’s a maple tart?

Don’t assume and jump to conclusions, Elly!

What? It was a good book!

Same old story, blame the dog first.

Ask a Canadian, we sure know.

Well Edgar is definitely following in Farley’s paw steps – getting blamed for something he didn’t do. Hopefully his love is the same – unconditional.

poor Edgar. :J

Poor Edgar is getting blamed for everything! The next thing you know he’ll be blamed for someone else’s gas!!!

Pen-is headed Farley killer!

Edgar didn’t do it Elly — follow up on April!

Was anyone else reminded of Willy Wonka’s “Lickable Wallpaper”?

Elly needs to control her anger and prejudicial conclusions. Sometimes, I thought someone else did something only to realize that it was me and I was sorry to jump to conclusions. At least I didn’t vocalize it!

One idea for a strip, where a child Michael orders a spy camera from the back of a comic book:

John sees a ruined cake

John: Darn it! yelling at Farley Bad dog, bad, bad dog!

Michael: Sir, before you make accusations, may I recommend you take a look at these surveillance photos?

Michael hands pictures to John. One picture shows Elly in kitchen. A second picture shows Elly eating cake with bare hands. A third picture shows Elly using both hands to shove cake in mouth like a feral animal

John Good God Almighty. Oh well, I married a dropout!

Blame it on the defenseless dog… LOL

She really does need a new hairstyle.

Do they still make scratch and sniff books for kids?

You never discipline a dog unless you catch it in the act of doing something bad. It won’t understand otherwise and you’re simply abusing it.

Even if the dog had eaten the book, yelling at the dog isn’t going to help. Better to talk to the child – calmly! – about putting the book away after reading it, and get the dog some better teethers.

No one EVER said about a plate of solidified snot “that Flan is Fabulous”.

Poor Rockin’ Edgar…..

And don’t forget the Nanaimo Bars or the Beaver Tails.

You’d think Ellie would know better by now.

Poor Edgar

What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

No way does licking the scratch and sniff part of the book taste good. Also, it’s not a new book, Jon took it down from the shelf, and the scents of those things wear out very, very quickly.

At least it wasn’t a library book that was destroyed!

Elly is also hung up about books. It could be from when she worked in a library. I remember a strip from the B.A. era (Before April) when Elizabeth was maybe a few years older than April is now. Elly reams Elizabeth about leaving a book open.

Elly{enraged}: Elizabeth! We do not leave books lying open on the table! That ruins the book. Oooh, just wait until you father gets here. Oh there he is. John, talk to her about this!

John{calmly}: Elizabeth, if you have not yet finished reading the book, you should use a bookmark. Here is one.

Elizabeth: OK, thanks Daddy.

Elizabeth departs room

Elly: John, why are you casual about this, In my day, we treated books like fine china. Why, my mother would have never accepted this! Why did you not present a united front on this and come down on Elizabeth like an iceberg hitting an ocean liner?

Final strip shows music albums, the television and videos behind them

John: Elly, she is reading!

Thank goodness those “perfume insert” ads seem to have run their course

The dog always gets the blame!

Dogs always get the blame!