When fans of Tom Batiuk's "Funky Winkerbean" syndicated comic strip first met them in 1972, Funky and his friends were about 15 years old, attending the imaginary Westview High. Now Funky and his pals are about 35 and dealing with the challenges of adult life.

"I allowed my characters to grow up, which is not usually done in comic strips. I found out as they grew, the circumstances they encountered were more interesting to write about for me," said Batiuk. Lisa, one of his cartoon characters, got breast cancer in 1999, and now Funky is in recovery from alcoholism.

In his new book, My Name Is Funky. . .and I'm an Alcoholic, Batiuk has compiled the strips he published about Funky's journey with alcoholism. The result is an engaging and comprehensive look at how a popular young man sinks to the depth of despair as alcohol takes hold, and how he rises in the hope that recovery brings. Along the way, friends intervene, his marriage falls apart, he goes into treatment, relapses, and then emerges to embrace new possibilities and healthier relationships.

In about 100 pages of comic strips, Batiuk accomplishes what might take self-help writers many volumes and thousands of pages. His expressive art and likeable characters come to life on the page, drawing readers into the story as they come to care about what happens to Funky. As readers eagerly turn the pages, they are given an almost subliminal education about alcoholism, treatment and recovery. In writerly terms, Batiuk successfully "shows" how the disease evolves, rather than "tells" us about it.

He does not instruct or preach. Instead, he takes us into Funky's home and workplace. He shows us how addiction can infect families and friendships. We see how treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) work and why it's important to have a good sponsor. We come to understand how vulnerable those in recovery are to relapse, and why a Twelve Step program is lived one day at a time. Best of all, we learn while laughing. This is a comic strip after all.

In order to get Funky's story right, Batiuk did a lot of reading about alcoholism, AA, and Twelve Step recovery. He attended an AA meeting. "Eventually, I stood on the front lawn of the house in Akron, Ohio, where AA cofounder Dr. Bob had lived. In fact, Dr. Bob's house can be seen in the background as Funky and his sponsor walk past it on a chilly winter's evening."

Some of the best compliments Batiuk receives, he said, come from readers in recovery who tell him he is so on the mark in the telling of this tale that he must be a "friend of Bill W.'s." But he said the most rewarding feedback came recently in a letter he received from a woman who, seeing herself in Funky's story, finally got help for her own alcoholism.

--Cynthia Orange

Published in The Voice, Summer 2007