MADreads

Letting Go

October 8th, 2008 Dennis - Central

Earlier this year Tom Batiuk was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his Funky Winkerbean comic strip. And, more specifically, for the story arc that concerned character Lisa Moore. In her story, she was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999, suffered a recurrence and recently died. The first part of the story was collected in the book Lisa’s Story and those strips, and the recent strips dealing with the recurrence are collected in a new volume: Lisa’s Story : The Other Shoe.

Given that it was originally published as a 3-panel daily comic strip (and some larger and in color Sunday strips), it’s somewhat surprising that Batiuk was able to attach so much emotional weight to a strip that started out as a “gag-a-day” comic strip focusing on high-school. You’ll still find humor here–but also fear, anger, deep friendships, hope and ultimately, grief. And of course there’s love. (So don’t be surprised if you find yourself reaching for a tissue or two.)

At the time it came out there were articles written in the New York Times and The Daily Cartoonist about readers’ reactions to the storyline and the appropriateness of the comic strip format for such an emotionally charged issue. And the online comments certainly showed the range of feelings. Some readers were angry and others were uplifted. Your mileage may vary.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Center for Disease Control says that breast cancer is the sixth leading cause of death among women. And yet this recent article by from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that women who find out they have breast cancer seem to have a tendency to take on a caregiver’s role and worry about others reactions to their announcement. (Women. Gotta love ‘em.)

So if breast cancer is an issue you feel deserves more attention, this book may inspire you. And if you find yourself diagnosed with a medical condition like character Lisa Moore has and don’t know quite how to break the news to your loved ones, loan them this book to read. Then tell them: “We need to talk.“

And if that’s not enough, here are some other graphic novels dealing with cancer:

Cancer Vixen: A True Story / by Marisa Acocella Marchetto. (breast cancer)

Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person : A Memoir in Comics / by Miriam Engleberg. (breast cancer)

Mom’s Cancer / by Brian Fies. (lung cancer and brain tumor)

Our Cancer Year / by Joyce Brabner and Harvey Pekar. (Harvey has lymphoma)

Live in hope.

Entry Filed under: Graphic Novel