A couple weeks back I reported that Karen Ellis of the autobiographical diary comic Planet Karen had lost just about everything in a fire in the apartment building where she lived (which took the life of her upstairs neighbor). Fortunately, word has gotten out on a number of blogs, along with a fund-raising benefit auction started at Girl-Wonder.org, and donations have fortunately been coming in. (A web search of “Planet Karen Fire” reveals pages of articles concerning the fire and Karen; it’s rather uplifting to see people care this much, and that word has spread as far as it has; indeed, several of her fellow cartoonists have mentioned Karen’s plight on their own sites and encouraged donations from their readers.) While Karen doesn’t have the money to replace everything lost, she has enough to find a new apartment and replace some of her belongings, and that’s a good start. And unlike other such tragedies shown on television news and the like, Karen’s plight seems far more immediate and personal.

Part of this lies with Karen’s comics describing what happened… and what she’s still going through. While she lost her computer and scanner and her art supplies, that hasn’t stopped Karen from putting out her comic. Instead, she is using up to three different computers around the city to put together the comic. This is in addition to sketching the comic and putting the words in her head on paper. She finds it therapeutic to talk about what happened, and what’s happening, and to share it with her readers. When you consider the fact Planet Karen has been struggling with hiatus for the last year, it would have been far too easy for Karen to just give up and let the comic fade. A number of comics have ended when equipment failures provided the final catalyst to discourage overworked cartoonists from telling their stories.

Karen has persevered despite this, and struggled to overcome adversity. Indeed, in some ways her comic is stronger for it. While the artwork may lack the refined inking and shading that had become a key aspect of her art (and also part of what was dragging it down with the increase of artistic complexity making it difficult to put out a timely comic), the rawness and immediacy of the art helps reveal a heart and soul that wasn’t always visible with her more refined work. Often Planet Karen gave us brief glimpses into Karen’s life. Now, we’re seeing a narrative, and watching Karen’s journey as she overcomes the obstacles that life has placed in her path. Undoubtedly when this part of Karen’s journey is done, we’ll return to what has worked so well before. But for now, I’m grateful that a cartoonist I consider highly of has landed on her feet, and is sharing these moments with the rest of us.