The crime-fighting comic strip Dick Tracy will promote anti-bullying at the end of the month thanks to the efforts of a Greenbrier student.
Comic writer Mike Curtis of Greenbrier attends church with Collin Engler, 11, and his mother, Millie Engler. Curtis was seeking information about anti-bullying efforts and how to best portray those in Dick Tracy when he met Collin.
"It's been so long since I've been in school, and at the time there were different procedures [to address bullying]" Curtis said. "I try to find out what other people around me do, so that way … if I need to know about any subject, I've got somebody I know to talk to about it."
Millie Engler said Curtis asked her son questions about being bullied, as well as Collin's anti-bullying efforts, to gather information for the comic strip.
After being bullied in the fourth grade in the Greenbrier School District, Collin decided to start an unofficial anti-bullying "task force" at his school, his mother said. Engler and his group of friends come to the aid of victims and even confront bullies on the playground.
"I'm so extremely proud of him," Millie Engler said of her son. "It's very hard to stick up for yourself in a public-school setting."
As a teacher in the Greenbrier School District, Millie Engler said she admires elementary teachers and understands how difficult it can be to catch bullying on the playground.
"It warms my heart to know that he's there [to help others who have been bullied] because not everybody knows how to deal with that," she said.
The anti-bullying sequence of the comic will feature Dick Tracy's young granddaughter Honeymoon, who is bullied by former friends. Collin and his mother will appear in the comic as advisers to Tracy, along with Little Orphan Annie and The Cardinal.
Curtis and artist Joe Staton started co-writing the Dick Tracy strip in 2011. The comic is distributed by Tribune Media Services and was created in 1931.
The anti-bullying sequence featuring Collin Engler and his mother will begin appearing in newspapers and online June 21.
"It's not something we expected, but we're very excited about it," Millie Engler said about appearing in the comic strip.
As Collin Engler prepares to go into the sixth grade next year, his mother hopes the comic strip will inspire others.
"I hope [the comic] reaches other people and they know that everybody has a voice," Millie Engler said. "I've always taught Collin that trials and tribulations can always be your testimony."
