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'Funky' cartoonist finds crowds at book signings
By Carol Biliczky Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Oct 14, 2007
When Tom Batiuk held his first book signing for Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe at Luigi's restaurant in Akron recently, he dragged along family to ensure he'd have someone to talk to.
Not to worry.
About 400 people turned out. And the response continued to be overwhelming last week as the Medina cartoonist crossed the country on the first leg of a book tour.
The book is a collection of comic strips about Funky Winkerbean character Lisa Moore's initial battle with breast cancer in 1999 and the return of the disease this year. It has struck a nerve.
''People cried,'' said David Winship, a sales associate at Brazo's Bookstore in Houston, where Batiuk spoke to about 100 people last week. ''It was touching. So many people have had
cancer themselves or had a family member or friend with cancer. It affects us all.''
Many fans hoped a miracle would save the young mother and wife, but when Batiuk, 60, returned to her story this year, he ended it on a grim note she died.
By that time, he had a deeper appreciation for his imaginary character's battle with cancer. He had fought and beaten prostate cancer himself.
''I knew where all the exits are,'' Batiuk said, paraphrasing a Funky character who said airline passengers don't listen to flight attendants' instructions about the location of exits. ''I wanted to see if Lisa could take me to the most challenging place of all.''
Since the strip became syndicated in 1972 with King Features Syndicate, Batiuk has tackled other kinds of controversy teen suicide, teen pregnancy, book bannings and guns in school. Akron artist Chuck Ayers helps to draw the Funky cartoons along Batiuk's storyline. The two work together on a second popular strip, Crankshaft.
It's in Lisa that Batiuk has done his best work, he said. Still, he's surprised that her story is receiving so much attention.
Initially, his hopes were modest, especially as public interest in his first Lisa's Story, a chronicle of her initial battle with cancer that was published in 2000 by Penguin Putnam, fizzled.
When Batiuk chose to update her story, he selected the Kent State University Press. He had a link he graduated from Kent State in 1969 with a degree in fine art and education. But he also wanted more artistic control than he felt he could receive with a national publisher.
The scholarly press typically publishes works like American Historians and the Atlantic Alliance, Zoar in the Civil War and The Peace Corps in Cameroon.
While Lisa's Story is the 12th of 13 titles in its medicine and literature series, marketing manager Susan Cash said she was unprepared for the onslaught of media attention.
''Every time I turn around, six more e-mails come in,'' she said.
The KSU Press printed 10,000 copies of Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe and probably will print more a huge run for a small publisher. The book has risen to 353 on the amazon.com book list. That is high, given there are millions of books on the list.
In the meantime, Batiuk will speak and sign books at the Gathering Place, a nonprofit support center for cancer patients in Beachwood, on Monday. But don't think about going if you haven't already made a reservation. All the seats have been reserved. Then Batiuk's on to Los Angeles, San Diego and more.
He said he hopes the book does some good. It includes information about cancer early detection, self-exam, etc. Perhaps more importantly, royalties from its sale go to the Lisa's Legacy Fund, which has been newly established at the Ireland Cancer Center at University Hospitals in Cleveland.
The cost is $27.95 hardcover, $18.95 softcover.
''As a cartoonist, you try to connect with people. You try to get them invested,'' he said. ''For a cartoon character to step off the page and possibly do some real good, that's amazing.''
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
When Tom Batiuk held his first book signing for Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe at Luigi's restaurant in Akron recently, he dragged along family to ensure he'd have someone to talk to.
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