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Show ee ee Ee ee HORIZONS er STANDARD-EXAMINER SUNDAY, OCT. 10, 1993 FEATURESEDITOR:625-4270 S$ cartoonists, ee WEDDINGS early 1900s, Robbins says in her book. Their work includes the Kewpies Cathy Guisewite and Lynn Johnston have different worlds to draw. From Guisewite’s of Rose O'Neill, the flappers of Nell Brinkley, and the adventures of Brenda Starr, originally created hand, Cathy — thesin- by Dale Messick. gle career woman — Nowadays, Guisewite and John- comes to life, along with her perennial boyfriend Irving, her devoted ston add their own distinctive flourishes to the face of modern pup Electra, her doting parents and an assortment of quirky co-workers and friends. Johnston is the life force behind Elly Patterson, the sometimes-harried, often-perplexed 22d alwaysloving mother of For Better or For Worse. Her brood includes three kids, one hubby, one dog and all manner of school, business and neighborly associates. Yet even if their comic creations differ, these artists share some common ground as well — as Worse, Brenda Starr (now drawn Of Universal Press Syndicate’s women cartoonists, a rare breed on by Ramona Fradon) and Pogo (drawn by Carolyn Kelly, the late Walt Kelly’s daughter), says author Trina Robbins in the new book “A Century of Women Cartoonists” 25 strips, only three are created by the funny pages of America’s news- papers. Today’s daily newspapers feature only four strips drawn by women, including Cathy, For Better or For beth Andersen. Besides Guisewite and Johnston, the syndicate also distributes a once-a-week strip, “Where I’m papers, women have been writing and drawing comic strips since the Nawcsa eee Cathy Guisewite takes on guilt and the single working woman ye $8.95). Lynn Johnston tries to mirror e realities of family life Lynn Johnston By BECKY CAIRNS By BECKY CAIRNS TT's GETTING IMPOSSIBLE TO COME UP WITH A DIET PHILOSOPHY THAT DOESN'T HURL ME RIGHT BACK TO THE MEM STASH. Standard-Examiner staff Standard-Examiner staff ne day, Elly Patterson is biting her nails over her teenage son’s first spin with the familycar. Food ay in and day out, on comic pages across the land, Cathy picks up the gauntlet to do battle yet again with the “four basic guilt groups.” Food: See her rejoice over getting in and out The next, she may be fuming — face in a scowl, shoulders hunched — overthe latest antics of Farley, the familydog. You mayfind her caught up in a poignant moment — such as moving her aging parents Fami of the office break room without touching a doughnut. Love: Witness her insightful realization that her dog knows more about what's going on in her romantic relationship than her boyfriend does. Mother: Listen to her explain, “I love her... I need her .. | UN QUOHET au tac time... But when Pm finally out of their home — or an absurd one,like making a mad dash through the mall — clad in a bathing suit, no less — to chase down her runawaytoddler. As the central character of For Better or For Worse — recently voted the most popular daily strip in the KNOWS MORE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE RELATIONSHIP THAN MY BOYFRIEND DOES. «AND 1S BETTER EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH THE Standard-Examiner — Elly definitely brings a woman’s Career: Commiserate with her as she wonders ifall that stuff she hauls home from the office every night — stuff she never touches butfeels lost without — is really a point of view to the funnies. But the person who knows her best — her creator and alter ego Lynn Johnston — says she didn’t go into this comic strip with any agenda for briefcase or a “blankey.” women. For all her wranglings with these and other issues of the day, Cathy has been dubbed the “Evervwoman”of the 90s. Animal antics Love with her, I’m defensive, cranky and impossible to be with.” Yet this ever-frazzled, ever-optimistic character didn’t set O out to be the mouthpiece for women everywhere. “I had no intention of doing a comic strip about anything,” says Cathy’s creator, Cathy Guisewite, during a phone interview from her Los Angeles office. Whatshe was doing before the strip was born was simply writing hometo her parents, enclosing little quips and scribblings that related the ups and downsofher life come THe very public audience. At the time, Universal Press was looking for a comic strip that dealt with the changing role of women, Guisewite says. It was 1976 and every newspaper, every i TF You WANT ME TO GLANCE | THIS OVER AT HOME, YOU'LL NEED TO BUY ME A BIGGER CAR. th permession Ali t ghts reserved. magazine, every book talked about “the liberated woman” and “the new woman,” sherecalls. “It sounds so outdated now,” she says, but back then, it 9!0n. All nights reserved. Tuc © Cathy Gi ewe. Dist. by Universal Pross Syndicate * Mother MN LIFE WHEN THEY'RE BOTH Absurd says, and were something she never imagined anyone but Mom and Dad would see. But at her mother’s insistence — “She forced me,” she says Guisewite cont camniec of her work to Universal Press Syndicate. Before long, she received an offer to write a comic strip and those once private scribblings now had a IT'S HARD TO SEPARATE my CAREER FROM THE REST OF moments as a writer at a Detroit advertising agency. The doodles were a way of working out her anxieties on paper, she Career A STOTT (Kitchen Sink Press, $16.95). women,says associate editor Eliza- Coming From,” by Barbara Brandon, thefirst nationally-syndicated black woman cartoonist. While these artists may stand out in today’s realm of the funny cartooning, as they discuss in recent interviews with the StandardExaminer. Both womenare recipients of the National Cartoonist Society’s Reuben Award, honoring the outstanding cartoonist of the year. And each has a new book in print: “There Goes MyBaby,” by Johnston, and “Revelations From a 45-Pound Purse,” by Guisewite (both by Andrews and McMeel, wasthe “big talk.” Mostofthe potential strips the syndicate had looked at were done by men, says Gulsewite. Hers, she was ivid, was the only one with “a real honesty ... about the angst of the times.” And so Cathy took up residence in the four-panel homes of the funny pages, a working woman and a single woman to boot. “In retrospect it was kind of radical,” her creator concedes. Before, women “never really had a voice of their own in the comics,” Guisewite says. Certainly there were female characters in the strips, but they were typically portrayed as “the ditzy housewife or the buxom secretary,” she says. One exception was reporter Brenda Starr, but she was not part OI a humor SUI. “All you really want to do is to be funny, to drawwell and to be worthy of someone’s time,” says Johnston in a phone interview from her home in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. As for Elly being a role model for women today, the cartoonist says simply, “She’s herself.” Johnston explains that because she is just as insecure a parent, an artist, or a person as anyoneelse, “I’m not about to preach to anybody howtolive.” And besides, she adds, “You can’t change anybody with a comic strip — you can simply connect with them.” Role model or not, Elly is very much a woman ofthe *90s. She’s a working motherfor one thing, although the strip focuses more on herrelationships with family and friends than her part-time job at the library. Also, says Johnston, Elly has strong opinions. “I think her opinions are ilstened 10 by Der Nusband, she adds. “i think they share an equalrole; I think they respect each other.” Johnston has been drawing Elly and the rest ofthe Patterson clan since 1979. The one-time commercial artist was approached by Universal Press Syndicate about doing a family comic strip after a representative sawthree rather “irreverent” books she had written on pregnancyand child-rearing. “I was not one of those cartoonists who develop strong ideas and had characters ready to go and wanted this,” savs Iohnston_ who came up with 20samolestrins for Universal — and found herself signing a 20-year contract. When the syndicate asked herto start the strip as soon as possible, Johnston found her cast of characters close to home — her home. “I came up with our own family because I knew I could drawus over and over again.” In real life — just as in the strip — Johnston’s husband is a dentist. Her son, 21, and daughter, almost 16, are three years older than their comic strip counterparts, Michael and Elizabeth (who were christened with the Johnston kids’ middle names). The family once owned an Old English sheepdog, but nowtheir petis a little black spaniel named Willie. There is. however. no baby April pattering around the See LYNN on 6E See CATHY on 6E LT Columnist tests his ‘acting’ talent in TV situation comedy’s role of lifetime The reason I agreed to be in an episode of a TV situation comedywasthat the role was perfect for me. You want to choose yourroles carefully, as an actor. You want fo look for roles in which you can display the range, the depth, the infinitely subtle fuances of your acting talent. “It's just one word,” the director said. “You say. “Howdy.” ~ “Tl do it,” I-said. A role like that comes along once in a lifetime. The TV show — which might even still be on the air as you read this — is called “Dave's World.” It’s loosely based on a book and some columnsI wrote. I use the DAVE BARRY Knight-Ridder Newspapers term “loosely~ very loosely. There’s no way they could just take my columns and turn them directly into a TV series; every episode would last four minutes, and end with all the major characters being killed by an exploding toilet. So they have pro- fessional writers supplying dramatic elements that are missing from mywriting, (“Hmpgh!”). such as plots, characters and jokes that do for the filming, the director called to tell me that they had changed my role. In my new role, I played a man in an appliance store who tries to buy the last air condi- not involve the term “toad mucus.” (Lest you think I have “sold out” as an artist, let me stress that I have retained total creative control over the show. in the sense that, when they send me a check, I can legally spend it however I want.) 1 worked: hard on “Howdy,” memorizing it in just days. Depending on the scene, I could deliver the line with various emotional subtexts, including happiness (“Howdy!"), sorrow (“Howdy!”), anger (“Howdy!*). and dental problems Then, just before I flew to Los Angeles tioner but gets into a bidding war for it with characters who are based, loosely, on me and my wife, played by Harry Anderson and DeLane Matthews. (Harry Anderson plays me. Only taller.) In mynewrole, I had to say 17 words, not ONE of which was “Howdy!” I was still memorizing my part when I got to the studio. It was swarming with people — camera people, light pcople, sound people, bagel people, cream-cheese people, people whose sole function — this is a coveted union job. passed down from father to son — is to go “SSHHH'"™You, theactor, have 10 Say yourlines withall these people constanily staring at you, PLUS the director and the writers keep changing the script. The actors will do a scene, andthe director will say. “OK. that was perfect, but this time, Bob. instead of saying “What's for dinner” you say, “Wait a minute! Benzene is actually a hydrocarbon! And sayit with a Norwegian accent. Also, we think maybe See BARRY on 6E- |
