“Thank you! Sincerely, thank you.
One of the most beautiful things about being human is that we’re born into a world full of characters. In my case I was born into a world full of comics that already existed. And I could travel in that world, every single day if I wanted to. I could go from Alley Oop’s world, to Brenda Tracy’s world, to Dick Tracy’s world. And what I love is that whatever may be missing in your own life, you might be able to find it in comics. That’s what happened to me.
I grew up in a troubled house, I think I might be the first recipient who can say, (in Tagalog)
“Hard is the head of Lynda, oh my.” I grew up with people from the Philippines. One of the things that is so beautiful about comics, is that what may be missing from your world, you might be able to find it in comics.
My favorite comic was Family Circus. I loved this comic when I was growing up and I would look through that little circle and feel completely welcomed into the world that Bill Keane made. And he’s someone I really want to thank. He had a direct influence on me as a cartoonist me as a human being because I felt that world loved me and welcomed me and there was something about love in that comic that really stuck with me. He’s also influenced me as a teacher because he taught me to really listen to how kids talk, and how people talk. So I want to thank him and his family for that world. And I also want to thank my teacher, Marilyn Frasca, who gave me the other side of how to look at images and writing.
And I want to thank my students.
The other thing about comics now is that they are really opening up. They are opening up to other people and other worlds that people bring with them. So for example, one of my students KC Councilor, who’s a transman, (shows Between You and Me) and now we can go into KC’s world and see what that world is like. The cartoonist Ebony Flowers (shows Hot Comb) who I worked with at the University of Wisconsin Madison is bringing another world to us, a whole other world.
And even Comics in Medicine. I’m super excited about the Graphic Medicine movement. Here’s a book of comics about menopause (Shows Menopause: A Comic Treatment). Here’s MK Czerwiec, a cartoonist who also worked as a nurse and teaches comics and medicine. So it’s exciting to be part of this world. It means everything to me to be included. These are the names of my students, we’re about to begin our semester together and I’m looking forward to finding out what’s in their world too. Thank you, thank you, thank you (repeats a million times, fade to black).”