Funky Winkerbean's Lisa Moore to die of Breast Cancer.

[LynneSin]

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=71761&provider=gnews

MEDINA COUNTY -- Cartoonist Tom Batiuk says beloved character Lisa will die in October.
Breast cancer isn't a subject usually found in the funny pages, but Tom Batiuk drew new lines when one of his main characters, "Lisa", was diagnosed in 1999.

Seven years later readers learn her cancer has returned and this time it's fatal.

"I think funny is important and I like doing funny but I also think there are times when you should get to the heart of things." Batiuk says.

In a cozy studio above his garage on the same easel he's used since junior high, Batiuk let Lisa die.

"I try to challenge myself and at the same time I challenge my readers so I know it's going to be difficult for a lot of them to come along on this journey."

Lisa's entire breast cancer experience will be available in a book due out in October.

After Lisa's death "Funky Winkerbean" will fast forward ten years and start over with some new characters. "Les" and "Funky" will age to 46 and Les and Lisa's daughter "Summer" will be 16. And while she may be gone, Lisa certainly won't be forgotten.


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I think Funky Winkerbean is the best daily comic strip out there. I've never had a comic strip from the papers bring me to tears but this one has hit a spot in me like no others. Congrats to Tom Batiuk for this great story line (and many other great ones!)

[asthmaticeog]

1. Here's a pretty good article about that - a month old, but more in-depth.

http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/7/a-funkier-winkerbean

[Deep13]

2. Holy crap, we're neighbors!

Batiuk and me, that is.

[OzarkDem]

3. Batiuk's epiphany

"There's a huge void between sympathizing with someone with cancer and going through it yourself," says Batiuk. "I realized I could tell that story now."

People who've never had cancer have a tendency to want to always put a "positive" spin on it. It isn't very helpful for those actually going through the experience. We have to be able to say its ok to acknowledge that people die from breast cancer, hell over 40,000 women die from it every year. As many as one third of them could survive if they had access to affordable health care. Ignoring the fact that women die from breast cancer doesn't make it go away, it actually causes even more to die.