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November 13, 2007

Templar: In case you haven't already been hit over the head with it...

KABONG.

This page might be a little illegal. I don't know. I hope not.

So, yeah. In case you didn't know, Ben's a foreign adoptee. The hotspot for that these days is China, but when Ben was a baby, South Korea was the gold standard of imported kids. That has its roots in American G.I.s sowing their collective oats during the Korean War, and fathering a lot of interracial, illegitimate kids; a knockout double-whammy of taboos, at the time. (Until the 1980s, this was a country that denied citizenship to people who couldn't trace their paternal ancestry.) An Episcopalian missionary group drummed up some noise about the plight of these kids, the news did some stories, and the next thing you know... well, South Korea still exports thousands of children a year. The adoption agencies run their own safehouses for unmarried mothers and orphanages; at least one has its own maternity hospital.

Babies. Serious business.

I don't disapprove of this, by the way. There are people who want babies they don't have and people who have babies they don't want, and I believe those people should meet up as often as possible. There are much, much worse fates out there for a Korean orphan than being adopted by a couple of rich old white people. But I also don't think the process is composed of fairydust, sunshine, and rainbow jimmie sprinkles.

As a matter of fact, some people are really pissed off about it. But that's neither here nor there.

Got emails to answer, so I'll leave it at that. Today's vote sketches, they're some of the commissions i did this weekend. And the fourth round of Webcomic Idol is underway; Please vote.

Bye!

Posted by Spike at November 13, 2007 11:52 AM

Comments

"But I also don't think the process is composed of fairydust, sunshine, and rainbow jimmie sprinkles."

That line is SO priceless.

Posted by Liz at November 13, 2007 11:56 AM
71.242.94.75

Aww! Ben was quite a cute little babe.

Would it be safe to assume that maybe Ben is moving out because he doesn't feel like he deserves the luxury of living in a Queen Anne in the middle of Richland, Washington? Or is there something else going on here?

Anyone who names their cat Patton is either a crazy fool or the most brilliant human.

Posted by Alan Tyson at November 13, 2007 12:31 PM
69.41.110.91

i was wondering why his last name sounded somewhat jewish.

Posted by eliza at November 13, 2007 01:33 PM
69.105.118.217

Whoo-hoo! My Spike commission (Harvey) is up on your DA space. At least I think it's mine based on the comment underneath it. Does this mean I should start camping by the mailbox to keep that overworked civil servant from bending my book? (Yay, yay, yay!!)

Oh, and a couple thoughts on today's comic:
I notice the year is obscured/not present on that fairly legit looking gov doc. Are you placing the Korean war closer to present day or is 'present day' a little back in time? I ask because Patton as the cat's name implies an older generation veteran living in the house.

Posted by Cailin at November 13, 2007 02:29 PM
72.145.94.190

That is one realistic document there.

...

**signs Ben up for a credit card**

Posted by Arsnof at November 13, 2007 07:22 PM
71.213.162.103

Random little factoid: my little brother's name is Benjamin, we adopted him from South Korea in 1995 (he was naturalized as well), and he looks a lot like Templar's Ben. He was even born in August! O_o (Also, we have a European last name.)

Eerie.

Posted by Emmalyn at November 14, 2007 12:52 AM
149.169.86.165

It looks like from the photo that Ben was an older child when he was adopted (4-6ish). That must have been a harder transition for him than coming over as a little baby. He looks frightened in the photo—like he doesn't have any idea what is happening.

Posted by Spookie at November 14, 2007 05:16 AM
68.166.70.86

Ach! It's so close! I love the cat, btw!

Posted by MissusHow at November 14, 2007 02:35 PM
72.225.13.70

Baby Ben! Aw!

I remember the Villiage Voice doing a story of the generation of Chinese kids adopted by Jewish Americans coming of Bar/Bat Mitzvah age.

Posted by millie at November 14, 2007 04:36 PM
72.79.9.39

EL KABONG!

KABONG!

Posted by Jesus Jones at November 14, 2007 10:22 PM
75.118.195.65

Wow, politics!

My first thought wasn't really about Ben's origins. My first thought was about the cat.

Holy damn, that cat is /incredible/.

Posted by Jessica at November 15, 2007 06:45 PM
65.34.81.104

Have you been spying in my windows?

'Cause that is exactly how I talk to my dog.

"Rrmhrmm."
"Is that right."

"Rrruur."
"Really? What did she say?"

"Rrruumph!"
"Amazing! And then what happened?"

"ROWF! *whine*"

And we all know it's actually about the turkey sandwich I'm holding. She knows when she's being played with.

Posted by stacey at November 15, 2007 10:56 PM
69.216.115.43

I went to the site for the Transracial Abductees and I can't even begin to put the sheer WTF factor into words. I understand their point of view in some instances, but it just seems like they're living with so much negativity, focusing on something that should've been joyous. And the Abductee Speaks section has a kid who believes the world harbors some conspiracy of hatred directed at him for having magical powers. Craziness. I just don't understand that sort of anger dominating a person's life.
Anyhoo, the comic is fantastic and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.

Posted by kelly at November 16, 2007 09:48 AM
76.106.39.149

Having skimmed the other entries it appears Alien is schizophrenic. As in, actually schizophrenic, not just slang or whatever.

The anger doesn't bother me so much as the lack of any description of what initally caused the anger. Feeling alienated because of race and adoption issues is covered, but it doesn't seem to explain the hatred and complete disowning of the adoptive family described in the site.

Posted by Kerlyssa at November 16, 2007 11:24 AM
72.95.101.174

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