Thursday, May 3, 2012

Terminally Illin’: A 20-somethings Comic Book Look at Battling Cancer


You might remember Kaylin Andres and her Cancer is Hilarious blog from my blog last year’s posting about “Sexy, fun, sardonic brain tumor bloggers.” (See http://johnstumor.blogspot.com/2011/12/sexy-fun-sardonic-brain-tumor-blog.html)

 

If you don’t remember, Kaylin was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma and has fought the disease with tenacity, wit, anger and a certain Joie de vivre.

 

While it seems from her postings that she still has some lingering wrestling matches with the disease, she’s not the kind to sit around and mope. Last year, she and her partner published their first cancer-based comic, targeted to 20-somethings, and donated copies to cancer patients all over the world.  She also gives fair warning, “the book isn't for everyone. Our humor is sometimes dark and we aim for complete honesty - giving you both the raw emotion of a cancer diagnosis, and the ridiculously humorous situations a cancer patient goes through.”

I can relate to that. I felt pretty raw myself during the heat of my brain tumor battle. 

Energized by their initial success, she and her partner are in the midst of tackling a larger project entitled “Terminally Illin’.”  According to their website, "’Terminally Illin’ is a candid look into the life of a young adult battling cancer, but with a psychedelic, sci-fi twist! It’s more than a comic book: It’s provocative, educational, entertaining, and totally original.  Think of "Terminally Illin" as a chemo-induced "Alice in Wonderland' meets campy 'Hollywood' action-adventure.” Here's a look at the cover to the comic:



Well now, who can resist that?

On the website where you can learn more about this project, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kaylinmarie/terminally-illin-the-comic-book?ref=history, where she goes on to explain that, “We're not only offering up cute images and humor in our book, we're diving headfirst into the cancer experience to bring you the roller coaster of emotions that a young adult deals with.   We'd like to relate to others going through the experience and offer them insight, as well as provide them with the satisfaction of seeing cancer personified and conquered!! It's such a strong image - literally beating cancer - it's something that needs to be illustrated & come to life!”

I love the initial work I’ve seen and I love their effort to send free copies to cancer victims.  I’ve personally kicked in $ for the project and invite you to do so to.

At the same time, when Kalin says “raw”, expect this to look and read like a contemporary adult comic (or Manga if you’re familiar with those).  Said differently, it’s “R” rated.

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