Miriam Engelberg was diagnosed as having breast cancer at the age of 43. She was a computer programmer working in the non profit sector and loved comics, in fact, influenced by Peter Kuper and Harvey Pekar, she drew strip cartoons about her work and published them on line. Obviously a creative and introspective individual, she had previously written monologues and plays about various interests and aspects of her life. When cancer was diagnosed she started to draw cartoon strips about her experiences. A couple of things set this work apart from Cancer Vixen: unlike Marissa Marchetto, Engelberg was not a trained… Read More
Our Cancer Year
Our Cancer Year portrays the diagnosis and treatment of Harvey Pekar’s lymphoma against a backdrop of domestic upheaval and the momentous political and social events of the first gulf war. Frank Stack’s scratchy monochrome brush and pen work lend the panels an air of anxiety and disorder. A real-life file clerk in a Cleveland hospital, Pekar has been documenting the day-to-day idiosyncracsies of his life and work since 1976 in the cult comic series American Splendour. One of the first writers to think that everyday life could provide the basis for comic book stories, he hired various cartoonists (most notably… Read More