Elly Patterson

Elly Patterson is the warm, harried mother and wife at the center of Lynn Johnston's long-running newspaper strip For Better or For Worse, navigating suburban Canadian family life with humor and heart alongside husband John and their children.

Elly Patterson made her comics debut in 1979 within the pages of The Calgary Herald Comic Book, a Bronze Age publication that placed her in lively company alongside the likes of Flo Capp, Buck Rogers, and Wilma Deering. With appearances spread across The Calgary Herald Comic Book and It's All Downhill from Here, she's a quietly distinctive figure in a regional Canadian comics tradition that deserves more attention from collectors. Her modest catalog footprint makes each of her six recorded appearances something of a find for anyone drawn to the offbeat corners of Bronze Age newspaper comics history.