Taking Humor To New Places

A young woman finds a lump in her breast during a self-examination. It's not exactly the kind of story you expect to see in the funny pages. But that's what fans of the syndicated comic strip Funky Winkerbean have been reading about for a month. Creater Tom Batiuk talks about his strip on CBS This Morning.

As Lisa and her husband, Les, leave to see the surgeon, Lisa asks, "How do we know that the surgeon we're going to see is a good one?" As they get in the car her husband reassures her, "I'm sure he is. Besides, didn't Dr. Parks say that Dr. Ral is the surgeon he'd want his wife to see?" Lisa says, "Maybe we should have asked how he and his wife are getting along."

If you think cancer isn't something we should ever laugh about or laugh with, read what some breast cancer survivors had to say about the comic strip and the healing effects of humor.

"I think humor is the only way to get through breast cancer," said one. Another commented, "I think this is the most important ingredient in recovery - being able to laugh at yourself, being able to make people who love you and were concerned about you laugh about it with you."

Tom Batiuk, the creator of Funky Winkerbean, says the story line is not literally autobiographical: "Like a lot of people, my wife and I know people who have experienced this, who have gone through it. You tend to internalize those things and it becomes part of an emotional autobiography you carry with you...I saw the potential of taking humor to places that I've never been before."

Batiuk says some people have objected to the story line. "There is a feeling things like this shouldn't be done on the comic page," he admits. "You can do it in writing or art, but when you add words and pictures together, it's for kids." But, he adds, "There is a place for this on the comic page. It's getting a good response."

The most difficult part of the story line for Batiuk concerned chemotherapy. During this part of the strip, he says, he struggled to write about the frustration that Lisa and her husband Les were feeling and to maintain a humorous tone.

While Batiuk hopes strips that take on serious subjects can attract new readers, he doesn't want to alienate his core readership. He feels his readers trust him to handle such topics and remain true to the characters.

Of the 400 newspapers that carry Finky Winkerbean, only two refused to print the cancer series.

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