A NEW HERO
Thanks to a post on the Evidence of Harm Board that pointed it out, I now have a new comic to read.
I have always been a fan of comics in all forms: comic books, editorial cartoons, and the “funny pages.” My new favorite, though, is a free strip on the internet called The Chelation Kid. Written by Robert Tinnell, with art by Craig Taillefer, a press release describes it as “a strip which documents the efforts of Tinnell and his wife as they attempt to recover their son from autism.”
If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you click on the “Archive” link to start from the beginning. Like so many of our kids, young Jack was hitting all the developmental milestones, and then regressed into autism.
As the title implies, this strip has a biomedical slant. That means it won’t be to everyone’s taste. But I like it.
What there is of scientific and medical discussion is somewhat oversimplified, but I’m not going there for education in those areas. It’s a comic strip.
Undeniably, there is a bit of anger directed at the government and Big Pharma, particularly in a fantasy sequence in episodes 12 through 15. I understand that the creators are not advocating violence of the sort implied in those panels. It’s a comic strip.
Comics often take on serious subjects. It helps us to place things in perspective, provided it stays within the bounds of propriety. The Chelation Kid does that well.
Although the story is told from a father’s viewpoint, it is not a pity party. The hero is young Jack, and the story is about his transformation from Autism Lad into the Chelation Kid. And his story is told with humor and hope, two things we too often forget to inject into our lives.
I have always been a fan of comics in all forms: comic books, editorial cartoons, and the “funny pages.” My new favorite, though, is a free strip on the internet called The Chelation Kid. Written by Robert Tinnell, with art by Craig Taillefer, a press release describes it as “a strip which documents the efforts of Tinnell and his wife as they attempt to recover their son from autism.”
If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you click on the “Archive” link to start from the beginning. Like so many of our kids, young Jack was hitting all the developmental milestones, and then regressed into autism.
As the title implies, this strip has a biomedical slant. That means it won’t be to everyone’s taste. But I like it.
What there is of scientific and medical discussion is somewhat oversimplified, but I’m not going there for education in those areas. It’s a comic strip.
Undeniably, there is a bit of anger directed at the government and Big Pharma, particularly in a fantasy sequence in episodes 12 through 15. I understand that the creators are not advocating violence of the sort implied in those panels. It’s a comic strip.
Comics often take on serious subjects. It helps us to place things in perspective, provided it stays within the bounds of propriety. The Chelation Kid does that well.
Although the story is told from a father’s viewpoint, it is not a pity party. The hero is young Jack, and the story is about his transformation from Autism Lad into the Chelation Kid. And his story is told with humor and hope, two things we too often forget to inject into our lives.
posted by Wade Rankin at 8/12/2006 02:37:00 PM
3 Comments:
(Laughing)
(Wanting to see frames of the parents cleaning up after said messy incident as I did tonight.....)
So true it is: If I can laugh, things will be all right.
Episode 23 - I can relate
I had the pleasure of a phone conversation with Mr. Tinnell, the author. Nice man. Did you know he was a filmmaker as well? He directed "Surf Nazis Must Die" and more recently, a horror film called "Believe."
I love his comic strip and that he's sharing the biomed-parent experience. I hope it gains a wider audience.
-Erik
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