One of my regular-read webcomics finished up not long ago, to much (albeit largely internet-based) applause. The comic I’m talking about is Swedish cartoonist Rene Engström’s Anders Loves Maria. I felt an urge to do something to commemorate the end of the comic, so I made this bit of fan art. But after I scanned it, I was annoyed that there wasn’t anything special or funny about it—it’s just the two main characters standing there. So I drew Anders a big bulge in Photoshop. Better than nothing.

Toward the end of the story, Engström began to update less regularly. I wondered a little about that, but dismissed it as “oh, I’m sure she has a busy life/she’s not really getting paid for this anyway.”

Then on August 26, on her livejournal, Engström began posting a four-part (1, 2, 3, 4) comic about her summer. The comic details the painful, emotionally draining experience Engström and her boyfriend went through after she accidentally became pregnant. Ultimately, she had an abortion. Yes, she already has children from a previous relationship, as does her boyfriend, and yes, they both recognized that it was not the right moment for them to have a baby. If you don’t understand why an abortion could still be a painful and emotionally draining experience under those circumstances, then get thee away from my website.

The terrible irony beneath all of this is, Anders Loves Maria is the story of an unexpected pregnancy. The title characters decide to go through with it. The story lasts the length of Maria’s pregnancy. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Engström to finish up her comic after going through her abortion. When I think about all the whiny emails she must’ve gotten from fans demanding more updates…man. I think she is extremely brave.

Her summer comic also reminded me, for the millionth time, how often the art is quite secondary in comics. True, Engström is an incredible artist, as any page of Anders Loves Maria proves, but her diary comics are very fast and sketchy, and yet I love them just as dearly. Pictures are pretty, but words = information, and that (to me) is what’s most important.

I’m sad that Anders Loves Maria has concluded, but so glad that it was created in the first place. There are so many stories of unexpected pregnancy in the media today (“Juno,” “Knocked Up,” “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” not to mention all the reality stuff like “Sixteen And Pregnant,” etc.). I’m tired of it. There’s no mystery: America is still way too afraid to show stories about abortion, so you know the chick’s not gonna do that. She’ll either go through with the pregnancy, and it will be a heartwarming lesson for all, or she’ll have a miscarriage, and everyone will shed a tear and then sigh with relief. Engström’s take on unplanned pregnancy had more twists than the American stuff.

Without giving away spoilers, I will say that the end of the story is a bit sad. Engström freely identifies a feminist; I’m curious about what she’d say about the connection between that and the rather somber endings for two of her main female characters. I’m curious what the rest of you think too, if you’ve read it.