I just wanted to note this - Lynn Johnston ended the storylines of her long-running (29 years) strip For Better or For Worse today. The strip will continue running, but it will start from the beginning. You can catch up on it here.

And here's the final strip if anyone wants to read it.

That's a great way to end it.

However, I thought she was going to continue with the life of "Michael" and use previous strips for flashbacks.

According to a Wikipedia article, what Johnston plans to do is "what she calls 'new-runs', starting her storyline back at the very beginning, but with new art and jokes. This new material will occasionally be interspliced with strips from her original run." This will all begin with tomorrow's (Sunday, August 31st, 2008) strip.

"Good grief!"

However, I thought she was going to continue with the life of "Michael" and use previous strips for flashbacks.

That was the plan last year, to concentrate on Mike and Deanna moving into his parents' house and telling his kids stories about when he and his sister were growing up. There would be an average of two new strips, two totally flashback strips, and two flashback strips with a "framing sequence" in the first or last panel. She followed this plan for most of the year.

But part of the framing included finding things long forgotten in the attic and basement. One of the things found was Lynn's mother's wedding gown. When trying it on, Elizabeth realized that she wanted to marry Anthony in it. The last two or three months have concentrated on the wedding preparations and on Elizabeth's concerns about Grandpa Jim's health.

The current time storyline has just gotten too "serious" for her to continue with the old plan. So the new plan is that old and new strips alike will be set entirely back in Mike's and Elizabeth's childhood.

This was unique in that it progressed with real time.

Gasoline Alley did that several decades earlier, so rare, but not unique.

I see.