"For Better or For Worse" indeed

I just came across this January 11th gocomics blog entry regarding changes coming to the comic strip "For Better Or For Worse" in 2007. Of course, they spin the changes as a good thing, but I think that's debatable—although I suppose it can be seen as better than a sundays-only format (a la "Fox Trot" recently) or discontinuing the strip altogether (a la "The Boondocks").

One change will be a shift of focus more to the son, Michael, and his family. Another—and I'm not quite sure exactly how it will work—is that there will be a sort of updated rerun appearing at times:

...previously published strips/scenes with new lead-in panels, and in some cases, retouched art.

The third significant change will actually be no change. By that I mean that FBOFW has been one of the very few comic strips (with actual comic intent) in which the characters have grown and aged, yet now:

The characters will no longer age. Johnston says the gradual aging of the characters was not planned when the strip began, and after 30 years, she's ready to freeze the Pattersons at their current ages.

I think a lot of readers probably liked this "old" feature of the strip, especially anyone who happened to share some family situations or life experiences with certain characters. To me this was one of the key features that made FBOFW stand out among other strips.