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'Daddy's Home' has a new home

Herald-Leader Staff Report

A big change is coming to our comics pages next week.

For Better or for Worse, one of the most popular comic strips in the country, will no longer occupy a spot in the Herald-Leader.

Here's why: On Sunday, For Better or for Worse's story line will end, and creator Lynn Johnston will start at the beginning of the strip, which began in 1979. She will redraw some of the original strips about the Patterson family and ­rewrite some of the punch lines. She's calling these comics "new-runs."

Johnston said that about half of the first year's worth of strips will be newly drawn and written.

At the Herald-Leader, we have decided to let the Pattersons' story end and not publish the "new-runs."

We know this won't sit well with some readers, but we have decided to go with a new comic strip.

In place of For Better or for Worse, we will run Daddy's Home by Anthony Rubino Jr. and Gary Markstein, about a stay-at-home dad. We ran Daddy's Home for ­several weeks ­earlier this year, while Doonesbury was on a hiatus, and it generated positive reader response.

It's been a bumpy year for For Better or for Worse. In August 2007, Johnston announced that she would not draw a new strip every day. Instead, she and ­Universal Press Syndicate reran some of the earliest strips for a few days or a few weeks between new strips.

Earlier this month, Johnston and Universal ­announced the end of the story line and her plan to start "new-runs."

The strip itself has been ­dominated during the past year by daughter Elizabeth's wedding, which wrapped up this week, and Grandpa's diminishing health.

We'd like to hear what you think about our comics. E-mail comics@herald-leader.com or call (859) 231-1368.