I was a kid growing up in a troubled household. We didn’t have books in the house but we did have the daily paper and I remember picking out Family Circus before I could really read.
There was something about the life on the other side of that circle that looked pretty good. For kids like me there was a map and a compass hidden in Family Circus. The parents in that comic strip really loved their children. Their home was stable. It put that image in my head and I kept it.
I’d always heard that great art will cause people to burst into tears but the only time it ever happened to me was when I was introduced to Bil Keane’s son, Jeff. As soon as I shook his hand I just started bawling my face off because I realized I had climbed through the circle.
And how I did it was by making pictures and writing stories. To me the Family Circus has always been my wished for family. My soul family in the image world.
That’s why if you say a word against Family Circus to me if I’ve had a few drinks I will slug you so hard.
You have heard me talk about the importance of comics for kids, and the kind of unexpected and sometimes lifesaving difference they can make— for me it was the comic “Family Circus”.
I’ve seen that world through my side of the circle for over 50 years. This weekend at the 71st annual National Cartoonist’s Society Conference, I found out that Jeff Keane inked me into life INSIDE that circle.
COMICS ARE MIRACULOUS!!! They are IMMUNE SYSTEMS! They are TRANSPORT SYSTEMS!!! They are TIME TRAVELING DEVICES!!
Jeff asked a friend of mine why I was so in love with Family Circus.
He said,“It’s not a ‘cool’ comic strip.
Know this: Love is ALWAYS cool.
READ MORE FAMILY CIRCUS HERE!
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