Can comics be serious

Once again, "Funky Winkerbean" is tackling a serious topic - cancer - and once again there are complaints this isn't something we should read about on the "funny pages." All I can wonder, when I get these calls is: How long have you been reading the comics??

In an interview with Diane O'Donnell of Newhouse News Service, creator Tom Batiuk shrugged off naysayers, noting fans were "voting" 3-to-1 in favor of the tory line so far.

For the second time, "Funky" character Lisa Moore is battling cancer. She fought breast cancer in 1999 and the series, "Lisa's Story," which followed the character through diagnosis, mastectomy, chemotheraphy and recovery, was later released as a book. In recent days, Lisa has accepted her time is short - the cancer has returned.

This second bout also will be bound into book form, with the majority of royalties going to the American Cancer Society.

Like many real people, "Funky's" Lisa is becoming a champion for research, treatment and for the rights of people fighting cancer. “Those are nice strips because they allow me to deal with talking about chemo, but not make it so stark. It allows me to deflect it a little bit by just picturing her as a superhero,” Batiuk, who battled prostate cancer a few years ago, told O'Donnell.

Sometimes, yes, the comics make us laugh. Sometimes they make us think. Sometimes they make us cry. This one is doing all of them. And why not?