I’ve been working on this for a little while but I’ve been too swamped to post any advance art or write about it. Here is the press release, which I cribbed from Newserama, plus the first days strip. Enjoy!

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ROBERT TINNELL, CRAIG TAILLEFER LAUNCH AUTISM WEBCOMIC
Press Release

Robert Tinnell, writer of the Eisner-nominated graphic album FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES, has teamed up with artist Craig Taillefer (WAHOO MORRIS) to launch THE CHELATION KID – a strip which documents the efforts of Tinnell and his wife as they attempt to recover their son from autism. The strip can be seen at www.SunnyFunDays.com and updates every weekday.

“It’s the toughest thing I’ve ever done. My son was a normal kid until he was two years old and then he just – went away. Writing this has forced me to relive this whole nightmare. But we believe he was poisoned by the mercury present in his vaccinations and that people need to be aware of what happened – and what continues to happen. The strip will chronicle our efforts – some successful, some not – to try and get him back.”

Chelation (pronounced “key-lay-shun” refers to the process of attempting to remove heavy metals – such as mercury – from the body. With the tidal wave of autism being likened to an epidemic, and public figures like Don Imus and Robert Kennedy, Jr., fighting to bring the issue to the public’s attention, Tinnell felt the time was right to tell his son’s story – but not in maudlin fashion. “Look, there’s no way we were going to do this and be all whiny and self-pitying. We’re making every effort to create something that, while it’s honest and
thought-provoking and sometimes painful, is also funny and entertaining. And Craig’s art is simply superb.”

THE CHELATION KID is available, for free, to anyone who would like to carry it on their site through ‘tooncasting. All one must do is simply paste in this code:

A working screenwriter, Tinnell is best known to comics fans as a writer of horror graphic novels such as THE BLACK FOREST (co-written with Todd Livingston and drawn by Neil Vokes) and the recently-released SIGHT UNSEEN (with artist Bo Hampton). A visit to www.TheBlackForest.net covers Tinnell’s comic output in greater detail.

Taillefer has branched out from comics to work in TV animation, although he continues to produce his popular WAHOO MORRIS webcomic among other projects. For more information visit www.CraigTaillefer.com