Okay, this was the For Better or for Worse collection where I thought the strip was supposed to start going downhill. Well, I guess I was a bit premature. April is starting to become a more interesting character, and while Michael the grown-up is less interesting than Michael the student, his relationship with Deanna is stil a bit interesting. (The twist it takes is something I still don't understand, but then, if all characters acted logically, we would be left with very few stories worth reading.) I found the biggest tale, Elly's unique solution to her employer's business woes, to be lacking. Ms. Johnston didn't manage to bring a lot of humor out of the concept. Ah, well. As I think about it, the collection itself is fine. The only reason I think of it as part of the decline, is that I now read the collected strips in light of the plot twists I know are coming. It seems like in the years to come, the Patterson clan become more like victims to various evils out there, and that trend seems to start here.
--J. ( )

My favorite strip continues its growth, as April is bullied by Jeremy Jones, who suffers his just desserts, Grandpa teaches April the guitar and gives her one of her own, John sets up a model railroad in the front yard, and it is vandalized Halloween Night. Elly buys "Lilliputs", the toy and book store she works at, and discovers a treasure trove of old toys in the original boxes in the basement. Jim moves into the Patterson's bedroom, Liz and Anthony break up amicably, and later Liz meets Eric in a charming fashion which I had thought at the time was the harbinger of good things to come. Just shows what I know about love. And Michael and Deanna are so overwhelmed with her mothers' plans for an extravagant wedding that they get secretly married in a simple ceremony, with Gordon and Amy as the only witnesses. And Jim has a mild heart attack, after an argument with Elly. My favorite comic strip family never bores me; it's like being interested in the doings of my own family. ( )