Rick Marschall on Johnny Hart, and on the Lynn Johnston interview in Hogan's Alley 1

On CompuServe and elsewhere lately there's been a lot of buzz about Johnny Hart's Christian messages that occasionally appear in B.C. It's interesting to see civil libertarians split on his right of free speech; interesting to see free-enterprisers split on the newspapers' right to give free rein or "edit" his points of view. It is indeed a multi-faceted issue. I commend readers to the interview with Johnny in this number; it now becomes timely as well as interesting, since he addresses his personal commitment and expression.
I was struck while conducting the interview what equanimity Johnny displayed in talking about the negative reactions he sometimes receives -- like when the Los Angeles Times dropped one of his Christian-content strips. His reactions range from humor to a simple blow-off -ー "withdraw the strip from them" -ー and I realize once again how comics are splendid mirrors of manners and mores. I was reminded of Lynn Johnston's interview in our previous issue.
In this view Lynn and Johnny are representatives of types, and their controversies reveal trends in society. Lynn spoke at length about reactions that greeted her storyline about Lawrence, the homosexual character in For Better or For Worse. Naturally she fashioned a positive portrayal; Lawrence's friends enveloped him in sympathy and support. Lynn agonized over the possible reaction, braced herself for the calls and interviews, and dealt with the emotional exhaustion after, indeed, a few papers suspended her popular strip.
One feels for Lynn's angst, but the overwhelming reaction to her sequence was favorable. Imagine the grief she would have faced -- or the courage she really would have had to summon in the 1990s -- if Lawrence were counseled by Michael to reconsider his "outing." What if he were told, in the strip, that his decision was not a lifestyle but a sin? And what if, after loving advice and caring counsel by characters in the strip, he declared himself straight?
That would be the more courageous -- and these days, more dangerous --and path for the cartoonist. If Lynn wanted letters of protest, picketing, cancelations (whichi of course she did not, that would have been the route. She wasn't asked, but I suspect she'd have to admit that there actually are things more sensitive in strips today than pre-approved PC atttudes. It didn't used to be. But the trend is that religious messages on religious holidays soon will be winning the Controversy Sweepstakes.

[Where to begin with this... First, it seems the right-wing martyr complex that we continue to see today was alive and well in the 90s. Second, it doesn't sound like Rick actually read the entire Johnston interview. If he did, he didn't pay much attention to what he was reading. In Marschall's worldview, it may have been more brave to do what he says here, but it wouldn't have been true. And that's what Johnston wanted to convey: a truth about people, that she has experienced in her own life. Further, not only was she not trying to be controversial, she says outright that when she first pitched the story she didn't think it would be controversial at all. She told Lee Salem that, though Salem knew better about what the newspaper market in the US is like. She didn't think she was being "brave" or "courageous." She was just writing what was in her heart. It's odd that Marschall does not show any respect for that here.]