I think the main problem with the new-runs is, once again, Lynn's divorce. She worked the new-runs with an overriding paradigm that Elly must be shown to be even more put-upon and John even more of an asshole. Even if Lynn had planned to expand on the characters and their background, her inability to let go of her anger and her desire for public revenge on Rod through her strip took over. This negative aspect affected everything, up-to-and including the return of Farley, where much of the humour for Farley involved his being abused by members of the Patterson family.
What going to reprints really did was to remind everyone, even long-term fans, that Lynn Johnston had a lot of hate directed at her husband through the strip, even back in 1979-80. Comparing the new-runs to the reprints often means that the readers have come to realize that Lynn's use of her strip to seek revenge against Rod has been going on for 30 years. When it comes to anger of the author, the new-runs are shockingly similar to the reprints.
Lynn would have been much better off showing strips from the time period after she moved away from Lynn Lake, when she was not nearly so angry. That is the strip people remember fondly.
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What going to reprints really did was to remind everyone, even long-term fans, that Lynn Johnston had a lot of hate directed at her husband through the strip, even back in 1979-80. Comparing the new-runs to the reprints often means that the readers have come to realize that Lynn's use of her strip to seek revenge against Rod has been going on for 30 years. When it comes to anger of the author, the new-runs are shockingly similar to the reprints.
Lynn would have been much better off showing strips from the time period after she moved away from Lynn Lake, when she was not nearly so angry. That is the strip people remember fondly.