Keeping up with the Pattersons & the McPhersons

Categories: Entertainment , Graphic Novels , Staff Picks

One of my favorite morning rituals is to open up the morning newspaper and jump right into the comics and read the Baby Blues and the For Better or For Worse comic strips.  I just can't start the day without 'em.   

The McPherson family (Darryl, Wanda, Zoe, Hammie and baby Wren), of Baby Blues, remind me of my family when my brother and I were younger.  Darryl even looks like my dad.  Most of the time I could swear that Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott (who also co-authors Zits with Cincinnati's own Jim Borgman) were keeping a very close eye on my childhood, just waiting to turn it into a comic strip. 

The Patterson family (John, Elly, Michael, Elizabeth and April), of For Better or For Worse, have been around forever (ok, the 1970s) and I've been reading them forever.  Lynn Johnston based the fictional Pattersons around her own family and most of the world has watched and read as Ms. Johnston has layered this Canadian family's journey through life.  It's unreal to think that a fictional family could entertain for so long.  A visit to the strip's website reveals up-to-date information on the comic strip and has letters from each of the main characters, so you can get their perspective on the events going on in their life.   

Much to my delight, I can catch up with the McPhersons and the Pattersons with the books of their collected adventures. For the Pattersons, start with I've Got the One-More-Washload Blues by Lynn Johnston.  And for the McPherson family, start with One More and We're Outnumbered by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott.  Both families will keep you in stitches!