Laugh 'Till I'd Cry

http://www.kingsfeatures.com/features/comics/fwinker

http://www.fbofw.com/timetravel

"A good cartoonist is one who can make people laugh. A great cartoonist is one who can make people laugh in the midst of fear, sadness, and uncertainty."

— Regina Brett, breast cancer survivor
and president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Without apologies, I will confess my daily scan of the paper always includes a quick skim of the front page for headlines, a little check to the obits, a look inside the sports section for box scores of my favorite teams (Go Red Sox – great game! Go Indians-annihilate the Yankees!) It takes all of 4 minutes, to see what is there, what will require my attention later, and then what I love – the comics. I love reading the comics, and like anyone have my favs. I usually use the Sunday funnies, since they are in color, as birthday giftwrap. So many different ones have come and gone, yet I am still a devoted Prince Valient reader every Sunday. I miss my Far Side fix - it isn’t printed anymore. I used to decorate my covered textbooks in high school with different Far Side scenes – there was always so much in them. And Calvin and Hobbes, they could make me bah-hah outloud, hilarious in the investigation of a sarcastic little boy handling subjetcs like atheism, creation, life as we know it and the depth of friendship as life's deepest treasure. The Wizard of Id and Family Circus, Blondie’s curvy girl figures and Beetle Bailey’s antagonistic Sarge, Cathy’s power struggles with her mother, Ziggy and Charlie Brown – they are all small windows of wisdom, silliness, poignant frames of philosophy and thought-filled introspection.

Some have had a different importance at different times in my life than others, like identifying with a sleep-deprived again-pregnant mother in Baby Blues who is desparately seeking a bathroom with her baby and toddler in tow, and a sales clerk generously offers the staff bathroom “because its important to help a little one get to a potty”…but it the Mommy who’s bladder was ready to explode! How true, how true – I knew every bathroom in town when pregnant with K, and the other three helped me get extra understanding for the “little ones” as trying so hard to change that diaper as fast as I could so I could use the potty myself. Crankshaft shows a cantankerous side of aging, with humor, understanding and defense for some of the details that younger people often don’t see. Garfield and Jon never seem to ever get past the same power struggles, but they are always cute.

Do you have any favorite comics, the ones you are always looking for first?

In the 1970s there were two strips that started out new, and as a very young reader they caught me in their stories right away with the fact that they passed in what you were able to gauge as “real time”. Unlike the perpetually young Charles Schultz characters or Family Circle toddler family, Funky Winkerbean (1972) and For Better or For Worse (1978), these characters went to the next grade in school, celebrated a next birthday. The kids grew up, got jobs, got married; people took promotions, moved away, came back. I really liked how life marched on in the comic strips, young girls became young women, boys developed into men, moms and dads struggled with holding on and letting go. They became a set of 2 dimensional friends who sometimes expressed exactly how I felt about war or children or balancing justice with mercy, the impact of forgiveness and the complete need for love. For Better or For Worse has addressed within the multi-generational Patterson family the necessity for courage – for the things you want (a true love) and for the things you fear (retirement) all the while mixing in the beauty of watching mom brush her hair in the wind or the perils of living with a large dog. But those subjects were not the only ones – Funky Winderbean may have brought us all Harry L. Dinkle, The World’s Greatest Band Leader of Westview High, but he also brought out the subjects of teen pregnancy, gang peer pressure, dyslexia, teen dating abuse, and breast cancer.

This morning, both strips are facing new ground. For Better or For Worse has included the additional stroke of Elly’s elderly father. Simultaneously the characters find themselves hoping for returned health and facing the reality of impending death. Lisa Moore, in Funky Winkerbean, died within her many-years struggle with cancer. Lisa as a cartoon character was diagnosed with cancer the first time at the same time my best friend was diagnosed with lung cancer – and Tom Batiuk’s insight was profound during that very angst-filled time. His poignancy brought profound understanding within a subject that frequently wasn’t discussed. I miss my friend who lost her battle with cancer in mid 2005. My tears have been present every morning for months as Tom Batiuk, cartoonist and cancer survivor, has shown within the framework of "Lisa's story".

The return of Lisa's aggressive breast cancer after a long remission. Chemotherapy. Surgery. The dark thoughts a person has when facing the death of someone they love. Not a depressing story, but one which includes depression of the caregiver. The cartoonist does not abrasively gloss over important issues, but carefully shines a light on important concepts: although Lisa was the one who was dying, it was her husband who was sick. He was in need of help, attention, someone to remove the alcohol from his hands, to talk straight to his heart in his hurt.

Though painful in their subject content, their stories are hopeful, showing how loving couples treat each other under all circumstances. So this morning with my coffee, my tears are there, recognizing the hurt that envelopes a family in the face of cancer, and knowing the future posssibilities these hand drawn friends may face within their next storyboards in the future.

Goodbye Lisa and thank you. You've made me laugh until I'd cry.