Kitty Hollingshead Mancil
HUMN 341
Assignment 2-1
Cancer and Comics
Assignment 2-1: Weekly Analysis
Comics have been, for decades, mostly associated with those that you see on the “funny pages” (as the comic page is often referred to): little snippets of humor that brighten your day. This is not always the case however, as exemplified by the recent death of the character Lisa from breast cancer in the comic, “Funky Winkerbean,” by Tom Batiuk.
Comics are not the medium that you would expect to see such decidedly bleak subject matter, and there were certainly complaints to the Columbus Dispatch for running the strip on the “funny pages.” However, Batiuk felt that it was an important story to tell, as he himself is a survivor of cancer. There was positive reaction as well. Chris Beale said, “We all want a happy ending, I guess. But the fact of the matter is, people who get cancer sometimes die. So Batik surprised me and impressed me with the way the strip ended.” (Eichenberger)
Comics are a media that have a large reach, and this discussion of cancer is one that affects everyone in our society, be it directly or indirectly. According to the National Cancer Institute, “12.28% of women born today will be diagnosed with cancer of the breast at some time during their lifetime.” Considering how many types of cancer there are, the odds are good that someone you know, if not you yourself, will be diagnosed with cancer. It is because of this that this is an important subject for discussion.
Comics are an interesting way to have that discussion. Although the characters in the strip are not real, they still have a way of connecting with their readers on a personal level. The reality that cancer is not always survivable is something that can make us as a society extremely uncomfortable, and we are not always sure how to react to the announcement of cancer, or the announcement that a friend or loved one will not survive the disease. This is what makes Lisa so important: since the reader doesn’t directly interact with her and Les (her husband), the reader is able to see how cancer affects the victims from a distance. If the reader should then find out a friend or relative has cancer, at least the situation isn’t completely foreign.
Perhaps the method by which the message is conveyed is not the largest concern, as long as the message arrives intact. I think that the sensitivity and respect in which Tom Batiuk has treated the issue in the comic strip certainly broadcasts a strong message, and gives the readers an opportunity to discuss something very important.
Eichenberger, B. (2007, November 8). No laughing matter. The Columbus Dispatch, pp. D1, D3.
Eichenberger, B. (2007, November 8). No laughing matter. The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2007/11/08/1_TOM_BATIUK.ART_ART_11-08-07_D1_EP8D4VJ.html?sid=101
National Cancer Institute, Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results. (2007). Cancer of the breast. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html
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1 comment:
I very much enojyed your post and never thought about the use of comics as a method to convey to children hard facts of life, death, and sickness. At first I was a bit repulsed by the idea but after completely digesting what you wrote, I would say it is a novel and safe way to disseminate that kind of information.
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