Funky Winkerbean creator Tom Batuik is well into this book signing tour to promote his new book “Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe” and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. According to the Akron Beakon Journal, his first book signing in Akron brought out over 400 people. The book, which is printed by a small press company, Kent State University Press, printed 10,000 copies and will probably need to do a second run. The book as also risen to 353 on Amazon.com.
In the meantime, Batiuk will speak and sign books at the Gathering Place, a nonprofit support center for cancer patients in Beachwood, on Monday. But don’t think about going if you haven’t already made a reservation. All the seats have been reserved. Then Batiuk’s on to Los Angeles, San Diego and more.
He said he hopes the book does some good. It includes information about cancer early detection, self-exam, etc. Perhaps more importantly, royalties from its sale go to the Lisa’s Legacy Fund, which has been newly established at the Ireland Cancer Center at University Hospitals in Cleveland.
“As a cartoonist, you try to connect with people. You try to get them invested,” he said. “For a cartoon character to step off the page and possibly do some real good, that’s amazing.”
And who says comics don’t matter? Wow. That’s really awesome!