My mother was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer.
I made a comic strip about it.
All content © 2003-2015 Brian Fies. Please do not use without permission. Just ask; I usually say "yes."
Mom's Cancer is the true tale of my mother's battle with metastatic lung cancer. The story describes how a serious illness affects patient and family, both practically and emotionally, in ways that I've discovered are very common. Many readers wrote to tell me how surprised and relieved they were to learn  they weren't alone.
 
Mom's Cancer began as a serialized Internet comic, with new installments added throughout 2004. Readership grew by word-of-mouth. People who needed the story found it and told their friends about it. Mom's Cancer won the comics industry's Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic, the Harvey Award, and the German Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (Youth Literature Prize).
 
In early 2006, publisher Harry N. Abrams released a hardcover edition of Mom's Cancer, which unfortunately meant removing it from the Web. I'm very gratified by the reviews and recognition the book has received, and happy that my family's story is being used by medical professionals and reaching people I wouldn't have thought possible when I began writing it.
 
In particular, the international Graphic Medicine movement is a group of physicians, nurses, academics, caregivers, writers, artists and cartoonists that I've been involved with for several years. They're developing interesting ways of using comics in healthcare to deliver information, tell stories (from both the patients' and healthcare providers' perspectives), and teach medical humanities to future doctors and nurses. It's an exciting, new and growing field full of good people.
News:
 
Mom's Cancer is back online! GoComics.com, the world's largest syndicator of print and online features, is posting
one page of the story every Monday. It's free to set up an account and subscribe! The full story is also available in print from Amazon.com.
 
Please check  my blog for the most up-to-date information about Mom's Cancer and my other projects.  
If you'd care to e-mail me, I'd be happy to hear from you.
 
For reviews, bibliography, photos, press releases and other information like that, please see  my Press Kit.