Rejected Strips

In 1979, Lynn began to draw For Better or For Worse®. Some of her earliest strips didn't make it to publication for a variety of reasons. We thought you'd like to see some of these rejected drawings, so we've collected them here!

In Lynn’s words, “Rejections made me work harder—both for my editor and for myself. It was always a good idea to keep the duds...in case I came up with a better punch line.”

Baby Elizabeth:

Lynn drew these two panels on a piece of card as a sample to send to Universal Press Syndicate—these didn’t make it into the newspapers. The syndicate asked her to come up with a series of "strips" so that the editors could see if she could produce consistently, on time, under pressure, and deliver good work. You can see that Lynn spent a lot of time on crosshatching and details here—doing her best to impress the editors. This is one of about 15 samples that Lynn submitted to the syndicate. By this point, she had settled on a family-based strip, but she hadn’t come up with the name yet! The first of these panels shows John and a pregnant Elly explaining to Michael that he was about to have a baby sister! When For Better or For Worse® was first published in the fall of 1979, Elizabeth had already joined the family and we saw her as a young baby.

Michael guessed he was getting a baby sister.

This strip was rejected because the topic was "off colour." Later, when FBorFW was in more papers and the audience was used Lynn’s irreverent style, she was able to cover some of the "realities" of life.

The adults pass Lizzie around between themselves because her diaper is dirty

This would have worked as an animated clip...it's hard to imagine "the stuff and scrape technique" without actually seeing it in action!

John tries to feed Lizzie but keeps missing her mouth.

Lynn can’t recall why this strip one was cut. The editors may have passed this one if Lynn had submitted it a little later into her career, but we’ll never know!

Elly tries to stop Lizzie from eating something off the ground.

Perhaps this one was too negative for the fledgling strip.

Elly reminisces about the days when they had romance in their lives.
Anne can see Lizzie is standing because of the handprints everywhere. Elizabeth tries to walk and suck her thumb at the same time. An unfinished strip.

Young Michael:

When a strip was rejected by Lynn’s editors, she would usually make the changes that the editors had requested. Often it was quicker for Lynn to redraw a strip than to edit what she had previously drawn. Below are a number of samples where the rejected strip was reworked, approved and then published.

Michael asks what mess Elly is talking about, in his messy room. Michael asks what mess Elly is talking about, in his messy room. Michael manipulates John into playing with him so he doesn't have to clean up. Michael manipulates John into playing with him so he doesn't have to clean up. Michael and Lawrence argue over who gets to be Batman or Superman. Michael and Lawrence argue over who gets to be Batman or Superman. Elly follows Michael after saying he could walk to Lawrence's alone. Elly follows Michael after saying he could walk to Lawrence's alone. Michael happily plays in the rain, but doesn't want a bath. Michael happily plays in the rain, but doesn't want a bath. Michael made naked snowmen after visiting the art gallery. Michael made naked snowmen after visiting the art gallery.

According to Lynn, "The position of the adults is less 'cozy' in the second effort."

Michael barges in on John and Elly in bed. Michael barges in on John and Elly in bed.

This gag merited being reworked as a Sunday strip.

Michael uses physics to stick a glass of water to his face with suction. Michael uses physics to stick a glass of water to his face with suction.

Over the years, Lynn included many "fight" panels in the strip; for her, they are visually interesting and fun to draw!

John tries to cut Michael's toenails. John tries to cut Michael's toenails.

Michael would eventually marry Deanna Sobinski, a girl he had known in elementary school. These strips below show Michael’s first attempts at getting Deanna’s attention. Lynn doesn’t recall why these strips were rejected, unless they were leading into a storyline and her editors wanted more "gag-a-day" strips. Storylines don't work too well in the early stages of a comic strip—the readers need time to familiarize themselves with the characters. Hopefully they will care enough about them to want to read what happens the next day!

Michael wishes he could get Deanna's attention. Michael tells John he's in like with Deanna. Michael tells Deanna about himself but she doesn't care.

In this strip, Lynn slips and calls Michael "Aaron"—the name of her real-life son (Aaron's middle name is Michael, and Katie's middle name is Elizabeth). You can tell that Lynn didn’t notice her error here as she would have drawn this strip in pencil first and then inked it!

John and Deanna's mom talk about his crush on her.

The following strips were consigned to the back of a drawer to be rediscovered by Lynn’s studio staff years later. What do you think? Should they have made the papers?

Michael gets a trumpet for Christmas from Aunt Charlene. Michael asks Elly about her legs and being busted. Michael sees a smile in the sky. Michael and Lawrence talk about the nicknames they hate. Michael scrapes gum off the bottom of a table for Lawrence.

Dentistry Strips:

Dentists particularly enjoyed seeing strips about John's dental practice; there's something about knowing other people share your professional tribulations. These strips didn’t make the grade for publication, but Lynn kept them anyway in case she thought of a way to rework them—her deadlines weighed heavily on her, so every bit of time saved was certainly appreciated.

John wants to quit dentistry and drive a truck.

Lynn’s husband at the time nixed this one as it was too negative—dentists need all the positive press they can get!

John had a hard day at the orifice. John and Jean talk about having Elly assist at the clinic.

Lynn decided not to submit this one because it gave the wrong impression of sedation.

A patient is really enjoying the laughing gas. Miss Thrip wonders if her dentures will improve her love life.

Despite being based on a real-life experience at the clinic, this one was just too provocative to print.

Jean covers up a patient's cleavage.

Parenting Strips:

Parenting is not for the faint of heart! Thankfully, Lynn’s own experiences with parenting provided a lot of material that she could incorporate into her comic strip.

Michael helped with dinner by eating the burned bits. Michael is mad that Lizzie gets to stay up for the party. Michael teases Lizzie. Michael asks Lawrence if his mom goes on dates. An unfinished strip.

In June of 1980, Elly decided to take the kids to Vancouver to visit their grandparents. Here are two strips that were dropped from the series:

Elly tries to get Elizabeth her own seat on the plane. Michael and Lawrence talk about their grandparents.

Here's a strip that eventually received the editor's approval.

John tells Michael to respect spiders, but then crushes one. John tells Michael to respect spiders, but then crushes one.

Here's another strip that didn't make the cut. It's interesting to see how Lynn's drawing style had changed by the time she re-drew this art.

John doesn't want to finish Michael's leftovers. John doesn't want to finish Michael's leftovers.

Lynn transformed this idea into a Sunday strip.

Michael messes up John's leaf pile. Michael messes up John's leaf pile.

Marriage Strips:

Another source of endless material for Lynn was marriage; many true-to-life situations (both from Lynn’s personal experience or stories from friends) made it into FBorFW. Some subjects were either too sensitive or too negative to publish.

Elly thinks John is counting her fat rolls. Elly asks if John would trade her. Elly doesn't want to be just another dentist's wife, and John misses the point.

This was too strong a subject for a fairly new strip. Lynn wasn't able to focus on serious topics until the readership was sufficiently comfortable with her work to trust her to do the job well.

Lawrence asks when Michael and Deanna are going to play divorce.

This really happened. Lynn’s mom washed her dad's and brother's underwear with the fibreglass drapes and they scratched themselves raw! All the clothing in that load had to be thrown out—the microscopic glass fibres were impossible to remove. Lynn is not sure why this didn't get published; either fibreglass drapes had gone out of style, or the suggestion that the guys were scratching unmentionable body parts was too hot to handle.

Elly washed the fibreglass curtains with the clothes.

This wasn't an original gag. Lynn saw it on an old sit-com, remembered it, and took it as her own. Lynn claims that she got cold feet before she sent it in. Even if nobody else knew it was someone else's gag—she did. There's nothing good about plagiarism!

John is doing paperwork. Elly asks if they're bills and John says no, they're ours.

An important element of writing is to have some conflict between the characters, but sometimes Lynn was too hard on John, so she would choose to delete a strip or two from a storyline.

John buys Elly a dishwasher so she's not angry anymore.

This was rejected as being weak.

Elly needs an inside husband and an outside husband for all the work.

Here is another example of a strip that Lynn redrew for publication.

John electrocutes himself with the toaster. John electrocutes himself with the toaster.

Elly Goes To Night School:

Lynn wanted to have Elly take a night-school class to introduce a little drama and temptation into the strip. Sadly, she didn't follow through and this storyline was scrapped.

Connie talks Elly into trying night school. Elly asks someone if he's mature because she's looking for the mature students.

Although Lynn scrapped this series, she did rework the idea of Elly taking extra courses. She also couldn’t resist using macramé in the gag, but this time, in a less demeaning way.

Elly studies fibre arts. Elly studies fibre arts. Connie doesn't like aviation but she keeps passing the exams. Elly has a crush on her professor. Elly and the professor start to flirt seriously.

Lynn quickly realized the she wasn't prepared to attempt a touchy subject like this one, so she ended it before it was inked.

Elly's professor tries to talk her into an affair. Connie tells Elly not to start an affair with her prof. Connie thinks the professor is feeding Elly a line. John tries to appreciate Elly's art without understanding it.

John Takes a Business Trip:

We're not sure why Lynn redrew the strips in this series, but you can see that her style of drawing had evolved between the time she drew the rejected strip to the time she drew the reworked and published strip.

Elly is mad that John gets to go away. Elly is mad that John gets to go away. Elly gets flirted with by the waiter. Elly gets flirted with by the waiter. Elly has trouble sleeping without John. Elly has trouble sleeping without John. Michael asks John what John brought him. Michael asks John what John brought him.

Miscellaneous Strips:

Marta was a new character Lynn attempted to introduce who never made it into publication.

Elly meets a new character. Marta takes pride in being married to a professional.

This strip was too convoluted and wordy, and would have required a follow-up story to give it any credence at all.

Elly talks about her soaps over the phone.

This was not only a poor gag...it was drawn without thought for height comparison and perspective. Lynn later learned to draw the whole scene before sketching in the principal characters.

John burns the BBQ.

Even the best ball players don't hit a home run every time! Here are some strips that Lynn simply didn't finish or submit for publication.

An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip. An unfinished strip.

Strips With Uncle Phil:

Phil, a favourite character among FBorFW fans, was based on Lynn’s brother—who is also a professional jazz musician.

Phil speaks jazz language and Michael tells him he can stop.

Readers may remember that Connie and Phil dated briefly. When the story originally ran in 1981, Lynn had Connie drive to Montreal to surprise Phil by returning the pipe he'd left at her house in Milborough. The following two strips were originally meant to be part of the series but were not published.

Connie finds herself on Phil's street. Connie knocks on Phil's door and a woman answers.

Lynn hadn't thought this story through when she started it. This series of strips sort of "died" with no follow up and no explanation.

In 2010, this storyline was due to run again in the newspapers. Lynn drew the following strip to fill the gap in the narrative that had been caused by the rejection of the two strips above:

Connie knocks on Phil's door and a woman answers.

Here's one more pair of strips from this sequence, originally rejected and unpublished in 1981 and later redone and published in 2010.

Connie is sad her fantasy didn't play out the way she wanted. Connie cried thinking that Phil was seeing someone else.

The second strip in this sequence wasn't published.

The family calls Elly a hippie. Elly agonizes over being referred to as an aging hippie.

Weight Control Strips:

Throughout the early days of FBorFW, Anne struggled with her weight. This never-published series shows Anne, Connie and Elly joining a support group.

Elly thinks John is counting her fat rolls. Anne thinks she and Elly should join a spa.

It was the cost of an expensive spa that shut down this series. Readers would wonder how any of these ladies could afford it—or even have the time. Spas were not as popular then as they are now.

Connie, Anne and Elly all decide to go to a weight control group. Connie, Anne and Elly all decide to go to a weight control group. Everyone makes confessions to the group Elly doesn't like being in groups of women.