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Description
TBT- Yet another Yenny story.
Needless to say, Yenny Lopez became a big part of me during my first years as a comic artist so her stories are endless.
When it finally reached digital syndication under the GoComics umbrella I started getting a lot of feedback from readers.
One day I got an email from a woman saying that she discover her true sexuality thanks to Yenny. She was married and had kids but after reading the recent Sunday strip she decided to run away with her partner and start a new life by leaving her family behind. She said that she hoped that her 9 year old daughter would understand that.
I was so shocked by this that I stopped making the strip for a week.
An editor contacted me and I explained what happened. I told him that I felt guilty for inspiring a woman to leave a family behind. I was recently divorced and was doing the impossible to get my kids back. I couldn't bare to think about abandoning a child without any explanation. He told me this: "You can control what happens in Yenny's ficticious world but you cannot control what happens in the real one. Specially what's inside people's minds.

He was right. It was her decision. I couldn't control that. Yenny was just the trigger for something that was already inside her mind.
Now what I couldn't agree with was the part about not having control.
I had a syndicated comic that was being followed by a fair quantity of readers, so in some way, I had some power.
I changed the storylines from an independent clueless girl to a family loving Yenny. I created a whole family for her. The Lopez. They would gather on holidays and on special ocassions. They were crazy but they were always there for each other.
More feedback came. People seemed to dig the new added family and friends and how they interacted with each other.
The woman wrote back to me a couple of years later. She reunited with her daughter and things were going well for them. I was so glad and happy.
Now, understand this. My issue wasn't her sudden sexual orientation change. I would never judge a person because of that. My issue was because a small girl was left behind alone and she didn't know why.
Cartoonist friends, a giant power has been given to you through your talents. Don't let them to waste. You never know who might need you today.

Description
TBT- Yet another Yenny story.
Needless to say, Yenny Lopez became a big part of me during my first years as a comic artist so her stories are endless.
When it finally reached digital syndication under the GoComics umbrella I started getting a lot of feedback from readers.
One day I got an email from a woman saying that she discover her true sexuality thanks to Yenny. She was married and had kids but after reading the recent Sunday strip she decided to run away with her partner and start a new life by leaving her family behind. She said that she hoped that her 9 year old daughter would understand that.
I was so shocked by this that I stopped making the strip for a week.
An editor contacted me and I explained what happened. I told him that I felt guilty for inspiring a woman to leave a family behind. I was recently divorced and was doing the impossible to get my kids back. I couldn't bare to think about abandoning a child without any explanation. He told me this: "You can control what happens in Yenny's ficticious world but you cannot control what happens in the real one. Specially what's inside people's minds.

He was right. It was her decision. I couldn't control that. Yenny was just the trigger for something that was already inside her mind.
Now what I couldn't agree with was the part about not having control.
I had a syndicated comic that was being followed by a fair quantity of readers, so in some way, I had some power.
I changed the storylines from an independent clueless girl to a family loving Yenny. I created a whole family for her. The Lopez. They would gather on holidays and on special ocassions. They were crazy but they were always there for each other.
More feedback came. People seemed to dig the new added family and friends and how they interacted with each other.
The woman wrote back to me a couple of years later. She reunited with her daughter and things were going well for them. I was so glad and happy.
Now, understand this. My issue wasn't her sudden sexual orientation change. I would never judge a person because of that. My issue was because a small girl was left behind alone and she didn't know why.
Cartoonist friends, a giant power has been given to you through your talents. Don't let them to waste. You never know who might need you today.