There's a lot of well-reasoned thought here -- in particular, the discussions of Therese, of Anthony's relatively unambitious professional life, and of his not growing up to be handsome.

That said -- I don't hate Anthony. I agree that he's grown into a character who's distinctly unappealing in certain respects. I agree that as he's currently written, he's not a good candidate for an intimate relationship with Liz. But I don't think he's hate-worthy . . . and I think there's a decent chance that we will not see Anthony and Liz "hook up" by strip's end.

First: I'm not sure it's entirely fair to complain on the one hand that Johnston makes Anthony sound too attractive in one venue (Lives Behind the Lines), yet makes him too UNattractive in another (the strip itself). One can't have this argument both ways, at least not without mounting an equal harangue against the parallel evolution of Connie from one role to another.

Second: My recollection of the downward spiral of the Anthony/Therese relationship was that it seemed fairly clear at the time that however much evil Therese may have committed, Anthony did have issues, and bore some fault for the way the situation evolved -- most notably, he consistently failed to stand up to Therese when she was on a tear over something.

Which brings up a couple of odd points about Therese. One is the question of why she married Anthony in the first place; as strong-willed and independent as she is, it's hard to tell what she saw in him. The other is why in heaven's name she did in fact have Anthony's baby. Based on what we ultimately see of Therese's character -- utterly self-centered, emotionally detached from all around her -- and Anthony's generally anti-aggressive personality, it should have been flat-out impossible for Anthony to talk her into either action against her will. (I don't recall just now exactly how either of these matters was addressed in the strip, but it occurs to me to wonder if Francoise really is Anthony's biological daughter....)

Third: I agree that everybody around Liz and Anthony in the strip is rooting for them to get back together. And I agree that the two of them have Unresolved Issues in their relationship. I am not convinced, however, that Johnston is in fact planning to turn them into a couple.

My reading of Anthony is that his relationships with Liz and Therese have a common denominator -- he has had intimacy issues with both. He never had the nerve to press for a close physical relationship with Liz, and he never had the will (or, as events proved, any chance) to create an emotional bond with Therese. He has managed to detach himself from Therese, but his emotional issues with Liz remain basically unresolved. In that light, the rape/rescue incident with Liz is significant, because it marks the first time that Anthony did break through his pattern of inaction to fight for someone he (arguably, at least) loves. The situation has also brought Liz's and Anthony's old feelings for each other -- never fully resolved on either side -- to the surface.

Now absolutely, this is a setup for Liz and Anthony to confront those feelings together and resolve them -- but I think that the logical and likely consequence of that resolution is that the two of them will both take good hard looks at themselves and each other, see that they're in different places, and move on. Initial breakthrough notwithstanding, Anthony has too much growing to do yet to be an equal partner to Liz, and I think both characters are smart enough to know it. And although I think Johnston has yet to show us the real chemistry in the Liz/Paul relationship, I think she committed herself to it the moment she gave us his surname -- Wright, complete with a nudge-nudge-wink-wink to the readers.