I've been reading this for years. The direction it's going now, with Elizabeth being pushed, without subtlety by the author, towards her first boyfriend, the bland Anthony. No one seems to be enjoying this storyline.
Last week, the unstoppable train wreck that was the reunification of eldest For Better of For Worse daughter Elizabeth with her childhood boyfriend, the extremely creepy and formerly mustachioed Anthony, finally reached its nauseating nadir. The online reaction has not been kind, to put it charitably.
Here's a good
reason, among many:
About a year and a half ago, Johnston tried to butch Anthony up with what may be the most misguided storyline in the history of FBOFW, in which Anthony saved Liz from a would-be rapist down at Lawrence’s landscaping business. (At the time, I was desperately hoping that Lawrence would be the one to save Liz, because how cool would that be, the strip’s resident gay guy breaking stereotypes and kicking rapist ass?) After playing out this literal rape-and-rescue scenario, Anthony proceeded to ruin any veneer of heroism he might have earned by breaking down in front of the still-shocked Liz, crying to her that his marriage wasn’t working and he needed her to “wait for me!” When Liz replied that she wasn’t a “homewrecker,” Anthony wailed, “I have no home!” Liz, who does have a home, went there and filed a police report with the help of her parents, Anthony being useful only for punching and whining. (And, yes, Liz’s parents used the opportunity to muse on what an incredible person Anthony was and what a pity it was that Liz wasn’t dating him.)
More recently, Liz and Anthony were summoned to testify in court against the rapist, a situation requiring them to spend plenty of time sequestered together while John and Elly speculated about whether romantic sparks might fly. The attempted rape has thus brought them closer together, ramping the courtship up from uncomfortable to outright icky.
I'm just resigning myself to this. There are other strips.
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