With This Ring

Okay, I was wrong. For Better or For Worse hasn't jumped the shark with this collection, either. I had failed to recollect just how much humor Ms. Johnston was able to conjure up out of a wedding. Michael and Deanna are tying the knot and the mother-in-law to be has a great many ideas of how things should go. So we get to journey with the Patterson clan through the trials and joys of one of the most momentous events in a person's life. Of course, life goes on outside of the nuptial planning, hence there are also strips featuring April's summertime antics, a blossoming romance for Grandpa Jim, a souring romance for Elizabeth and John's Hallowe'en decor. Good stuff.
--J.

This volume includes Lynn Johnston's flashback essay about how Mike and Deanna's romance grew. Lawrence and his partner decide to buy the landscaping business he works for. Deanna's mother, Mira, takes over the wedding preparations and becomes the monster bride mother. Ellie's father turns 80 and announces to his family that he and Iris are an item. April turns 10 and has a sleepover. Mike and Deanna tell Weed, then Mike's parents, about their secret wedding, and the news leaks to the rest of Mike's family. Liz moves in with Eric. John trades his sports car in to Gordon for a 1962 Bushwhacker 4X. Mira Sobinski raises a last-minute objection to Lawrence as Mike's best man, because of his being gay. Still, the wedding goes off without a show more hitch. Liz finds evidence of Eric's cheating, but he talks his way out of it. Mike and Deanna move into an apartment run by Mrs. Saltzman. show less