World Famous Comics: My Name is Funky... and I'm An Alcoholic: A Story About Alcoholism and Recovery
My Name is Funky... and I'm An Alcoholic: A Story About Alcoholism and Recovery
By: Tom Batiuk Publisher: Hazelden Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Hazelden Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 152 Publication Date: August 15, 2007
Product Description: In 1972, Tom Batiuk created a comic strip about high school student, Funky Winkerbean, and his pals. Today the characters are adults and the comic strip explores sensitive, real-life issues such as breast cancer, teen pregnancy, and addiction. My Name is Funky … and I'm an Alcoholic chronicles the three-year plot line of Funky Winkerbean's slide into alcoholism and his eventual recovery. Readers see how Funky's marriage, friendships, and work begin to suffer as drinking takes center stage in his life. Readers also learn about how an intervention works when Funky's friends confront him and urge him to seek addiction treatment. Readers also get a glimpse into what happens in a treatment program, how Twelve Step meetings work, and just how easy it is to relapse. In the end, readers experience the promise of recovery by witnessing Funky's commitment to living one day at a time.
A postscript teaches readers about the basics of alcohol addiction and offers real-world references My Name is Funky ...and I'm an Alcoholic: A Story about Alcoholism and Recovery is not a typical newspaper comic strip collection. Instead of the usual gaggle of lighthearted laughs, My Name is Funky collects a series of strips in which the title character confronts some literally life-changing obstacles - troubles in his marriage to Cindy Summers, and a drinking problem that gets worse and worse, exacerbated by his tendency to drive while drunk, until it threatens to completely destroy him. With the help of friends and professionals, he finally has to confront his addiction to alcohol. Even after months of sobriety, he learns the hard way that staying on the wagon is no small feat. "'Why didn't you call when you wanted to have that first drink?' 'I dunno... I guess I thought I could deal with it. I thought that by now I was tough enough.' 'Tough guy, huh? We tend to bury a lot of those.'" My Name is Funky also touches upon other serious matters, such as the soul-searching, and the question of what higher power one can believe in. Yet despite the profound subject matter, My Name is Funky spins everything with humorous edge that makes reading every panel enjoyable, even poignantly bittersweet. A postscript teaches readers about the basics of alcohol addiction and offers real-world references one can contact if one needs help. Highly recommended.
an important pictorial rendition of alcoholism Tom Batiuk has never been afraid to tackle big issues in his comic strips, framing serious problems like teen pregnancies, Alzheimer's Disease, cancer, and now alcoholism within a gently humorous context. In addition to being entertaining, he is both informative and accurate when dealing with the kinds of problems faced by every one of us at one point or another in our lives. His daily comic strips, when rendered into book form, are as good as any graphic novel out there.
Look for the drawing of Bill W's house inside this book I've been a Funky fan since the 1970's. I had always thought it would be cool for the storyline of Funky's alcoholism to be published in a book like Lisa's Story. Humor is a key to healing from addiction. What better format than a comic strip?
It's especially fitting that Tom Batiuk is from Akron Ohio, the birthplace of AA. In one panel there's a street scene where readers who are AA members will recognize Bill W.'s house. Overall, the story is sensitive, respectful, realistic, and has the rare ability to make you laugh with a catch in your throat. Read it for yourself or if you're concerned about someone you love.
My Name is FunkyAnd Im An Alcoholic: A Story About Alcoholism and Recovery Disappointing that the book was all cartoons...which I didn't realize it was going to be.
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