Boobs, Mammograms and Between Friends

Remember  last winter I mentioned that I was working on something cool?  Well this is it:

To coincide with Mother's Day, the  Canadian Cancer Society  has launched a campaign to promote the importance of having regular mammograms in the early detection of breast cancer.

I was very pleased to assist with this campaign by creating a series of three Between Friends comic strips that address some of the concerns that women have about getting a mammogram.

    

You can see the series by visiting the Thing-a-ma-boob web site here.  (What's a Thing-a-ma-boob, you ask?  It's a little key-chain type gadget that explains very simply how having regular mammograms can detect lumps at an early stage. )  The cartoons are flash-animated and were voiced by volunteers from Actra.

  

When I was approached to help out with this campaign, I was excited for a couple of reasons.  One, of course, was because I thought it was a valuable message.  Secondly, I thought the fit was perfect.  Between Friends is very women-focused and I felt the targeted audience would relate very well to my characters.  And lastly, because it was an opportunity to stretch a bit and do something a bit new and challenging ... all within the comfort zone of my "area of expertise."

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about coming up with the little story line for the Mammogram message.  It was very important to me to do a good job for the Canadian Cancer Society.  As it turned out, it wasn't really all that difficult because it wasn't that much of a stretch from the way I normally work.

I was given a variety of images to help me with the art.  (The mammogram machine...hmm...that's probably not what a technician would call it, was a little tough to draw)  I was also given written information about breast cancer and mammograms in the form of previously published magazine articles, health info, women's stories, etc.  Most important was the time I spent chatting with Jane who coordinated the campaign between me and the Cancer Society.  We spent a good deal of time chatting on the phone and just generally discussing a myriad of points that the Cancer Society wanted to get across.  We also discussed the concerns that women generally have about going for a mammogram.  They gave me a general outline of how the strips would be used and the sizes and format they would need.  This was important because it helped me decide just how much art and how many words I could use to make the strip work visually.  Then I was given a free rein to put something together.  Gathering information, points, ideas and then sitting down and writing a little story is pretty  much how I write my Between Friends strips every week.  Something must have worked because everyone seemed to be happy with the strips I came up with.

  Helen is the star of the show in these strips.  I picked her as the protagonist because she's older than Susan, Maeve or Kim and the campaign is focused on women ages 50-69.  Of course, that meant that Maeve was the friend who encourages and provides moral support because Helen and Maeve work together.  Maeve is also the type to be a driving force.

I think the absolute coolest thing for me was attending the recording session in Toronto where volunteers from Actra did the voice-overs for my characters.  The actors and the technical people were amazing.  They worked so fast.  It was particulary interesting to me to hear the actors being given guidance on the inflection in their voices...and how different they could make things sound by changing their tone or where they would accent points.  The actors brought copies of the poster* into the recording area so they could see the expression of my characters in my artwork.  The actor who voiced Helen completely cracked me up in the second strip series where Helen actually has a mammogram.  It's a good thing they were in a sound-proof room or I would have ruined the recording.

* In addition to the online flash-animated series, the strips have been printed on a poster as well as on a display case of  Thing-a-ma-boobs that are being distributed to doctors' offices in Ontario.

  

Cool or what, eh?

Go and visit http://Thingamaboob.ca and watch the animated strips . . . and then send them to a friend to remind them about the importance of having regular mammograms.  Pass it on!

Comments

[Air Force Ones]

Dear，how are you today? I wish you a happy day!

[Breast cancer Brachytherapy]

Marvelous cartoon just from real life. It should strike any woman.

[Mike Peterson]

Agree with StriderGirl ... a perfect match with your characters, nothing forced. Most "public service" campaigns are extremely artificial, but this flows very nicely. Good work!

[sandra]

Sharvani...email me @ sandralundy@aol.com about my book.

[sandra]

Thanks for the kind words! I was very pleased to be part of this campaign and had a great time creating the comics.

Margaret, maybe we should get all the women cartoonists together and do a mammogram-off. :)

[Margaret Shulock]

Darn, my one and only mammogram cartoon ran in late April; I wish I'd thought about choosing a more appropriate time. But I'm not sure mine was all that funny, unless you fall in the "less-than-well-endowed" category.

[Mary Ann]

Way to go, Sandra! You can bet I forwarded this on to all my family and friends too! Funny to hear that voice coming out of Maeve instead of my head.

[StriderGirl]

Wow! So this was the big news you mentioned back in the winter... that is extremely cool. Yes, Between Friends is definitely the perfect medium for this collaboration - and I love the way the conversation between Maeve and Helen flows naturally out of their friendship and doesn't sound forced or scripted. Congratulations, Sandra, that they thought of you for the job... and you did a totally awesome job of it!!!

[Sharvani Sachidanand]

Hi Ms.Lundy, This is Sharvani from Bangalore, India. :) am 32 and I regularly follow your comic strips that figure in the Times of India (though we get the old ones). We are set of three friends who are so similar to Maeve, Susan and Kim and I can easily see ourselves being that way in a decade.I have one request to make. I have been looking to buy your compliations "Coffee, tea and Reality" and "Hello Daughter" but unfortunately they are not available online even on Amazon (says out of print). Is there anyway you could help me with this please. Would appreciate it greatly :) Thanks in advance

[Benita]

That's just so excellent, Sandra. I'm proud of you, too! You'll never know how much good you just did, but I can guess it will be a lot. Fabulous!

[patricia]

Sandra, I'm so proud of you, I could just implode right now! You did a fantastic job. And what a wonderful contribution to make towards the Canadian Cancer Society. I'm gonna tell all my girlfriends to take care of their boobs!

[Swati]

That was really cool; thanks Sandra.