'The comics pages have no shortage of family strips, but For Better or For Worse distinguished itself from the start. . . . This success can be attributed to Johnston's uncanny ability to see into the heart of daily life so accurately that readers feel she is speaking directly to them."Art imitating life. That's what happens in Lynn Johnston's perennially popular comic strip, For Better or For Worse. By reflecting on her own family and experiences, she created the Pattersons: Elly, John, Michael, Elizabeth, and April, along with grandparents, grandchildren, friends, and coworkers and the everyday situations they deal with.

In Never Wink at a Worried Woman, life is progressing for each character. Elly and John tenuously think of retirement while still being preoccupied parents of a preteen. Michael and Deanna grow into their roles as new parents while Michael's career gets a new boost. Elizabeth takes more steps to adulthood, by beginning her student teaching and facing the fact that Anthony is marrying another. April is racing to turn 13, busy with her band and also helping out at Lilliput's, where she makes a painful discovery about a coworker. Add in Grampa Jim's quest to maintain his aging dignity and baby Meredith's burgeoning curiosity, and you get a full dose of life.

For Better or For Worse has appealed to readers for more than 25 years. It runs in more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S., Canada, and 20 other countries and is translated into eight languages besides English.

Never Wink at a Worried Woman

$12.99

"When things go wrong and life throws you a curve, and some curves are a little larger than others, Ziggy handles it. He takes it on the chin and keeps on going." --Cincinnati Magazine

Ziggy has appeared in far more places than the newspapers that enthusiastically carry his visage. The lovable loser is taped to computers, pinned on office bulletin boards, and magnetized to refrigerator doors. He's carried in wallets, sent to friends and relatives, and stuck to bathroom mirrors. In a word, Ziggy is everywhere!

Such is the appeal of one of America's favorite pop icons. And Ziggy fans worldwide have the chance to see their old friend through the pages of The First 25 Years Are the Hardest! , a retrospective of some of Ziggy's best moments.

There's a confused little guy talking with his psychiatrist, ruminating at the bathroom mirror, and commiserating with his talking parrot. There's Ziggy at Mom's Diner, Ziggy addressing the heavens, and very often, Ziggy looking straight into the eye of his reader while dispensing such wisdom as, "Today is a first; That's why it's called 'The Present.'"

Ziggy speaks to everyone who's suffered a bad day, slipped up now and then, or spent time slogging through the rain showers of life. This book, commemorating Ziggy's 25th anniversary in the hearts and minds of the world, is filled with Tom Wilson's hand-picked favorite frames, those "you-can-say-that-again" triggers that always bring Ziggy fans back for more.

The First 25 Years Are the Hardest

$12.95