Funny Gods Will Cancer Comic Strip

Newspapers periodically print narratives of patients' struggles with cancer. Until June, readers of more than 400 newspapers can follow one woman's story in a rather unusual place — the comic pages.

The series, called "Lisa's Story," appears in the comic strip Funky Winkerbean and began in January when one of the characters, Lisa Moore, took a hard fall on her chest while playing football. She felt something odd when she fell, and the discomfort prompted her to do a self-breast exam. Finding a lump, she went to the doctor for a mammogram. After a biopsy, Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the series will follow her through a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and recovery.

Tom Batiuk, the Ohio-based artist who created Funky Winkerbean, had been considering doing such a series for quite a while before beginning serious research for it.

"My wife and I know people who have gone through this, and I started thinking that this could have potential for something," Batiuk said. Over the course of 4 years, Batiuk read anecdotal accounts of cancer survivors and read medical literature to learn some of the terminology to help him create and revise the series.

Batiuk has been drawing Funky Winkerbean since 1972. Its cast of characters include a young generation of high school students who are linked to the original generation of characters through Les Moore, Lisa's husband, who teaches at the high school. Batiuk has never shied away from tough issues. As a teenager in the strip in 1986, Lisa had a baby and gave it up for adoption. Batiuk has also addressed learning disabilities, guns in the classroom, and suicide.

When Batiuk finished the breast cancer series, he sought feedback from several organizations, including the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization.

One of the people who reviewed the series was Leslie Schover, Ph.D., staff psychologist with the Cleveland (Ohio) Clinic Foundation. Batiuk had read her book, Sexuality and Fertility After Cancer, while preparing the series. Schover was impressed with the story of Lisa and Les, who are about 28 years old.

"Many people know someone with cancer — either friends, family, or coworkers — and the series stresses that cancer is not just an elderly person's disease," she said. "That can be a useful message."

(Although this strip might contribute to the erroneous perception that breast cancer is common in younger women, a majority of breast cancer cases occur in women over 45 years of age — about 86%. Only 2.2% of breast cancer cases are in women between the ages of 20 and 34.)

Batiuk also tackles the emotional side of relationships with friends and family as Lisa goes through treatment. Les does some research of his own on breast cancer, and has to face his own anxieties.

Fears, Concerns

"I tried to express [Les's] fears and concerns and tried to portray it honestly," Batiuk said. "They are dealing with things at a certain stage in life that hadn't been considered before."

Reaction to the breast cancer series has been positive, said Claudia Smith, assistant director of advertising and public relations for King Features, which distributes Funky Winkerbean. In fact, some newspapers that only run the strip on Sundays have begun running the comic strip daily so readers can see the whole series.

"[Batiuk's] strip over time has evolved into a different type of comic," Smith said. "His characters have taken on a life of their own and are essentially doing what any good art form does."

Is cancer suitable subject material for the comic page? Batiuk said it is.

Not Just for Kids

"There are certain people who think comics are only supposed to be funny, but not all of them are for kids," Batiuk said. "Comics are capable of dealing with much more mature themes."

Another comic strip called Luann recently finished a series on cancer. One of the teenage characters, Delta, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in October. Luann artist Greg Evans, based in southern California, pointed out that while comics are mainly viewed as children's entertainment, they began as social commentaries aimed at adults.

"If you deal with these things well and carefully, it can provide a real public service," Evans said. "Some of the most heartwarming humor comes from hardship."

The Luann strip focuses on seven teenagers and deals with the joy and torture of high school. Delta is an ambitious overachiever and did not let cancer treatment slow her down.

Evans used the storyline to show some of the difficulties a teenager with cancer would face — staying in school, undergoing chemotherapy, and maintaining friendships. He centered his story more on the attitudes and emotions than the treatment itself.

"I've always focused on issues that relate to teenagers because being a teen these days is a challenge," Evans said. "All too often cancer is a frightening disease and people don't know how to deal with it."

Delta went into remission in December, and "Lisa's Story" will continue in the Funky Winkerbean comic strip through June. Despite the attention to the breast cancer series, Batiuk said it is part of the evolution of the strip and a function of Batiuk himself getting older.

"Some people promote things like this as issue-oriented," Batiuk said. " I approach it more as simple storytelling."

FUNKY WINKERBEAN is reprinted by permission of King Features Syndicate, Inc.

FUNKY WINKERBEAN is reprinted by permission of King Features Syndicate, Inc.

LUANN is reprinted by permission of United Features Syndicate, Inc.

LUANN is reprinted by permission of United Features Syndicate, Inc.

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Source: https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/91/6/500/2549349

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