U of M Family Journal · October 17, 2026
Cartoon Alley:
Newspaper Clippings
U of M Patient Journal Experience · Cartoon Alley
Hi, I’m Al Timberlane, and you are reading a journal for The Al Timberlane Show.
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Good morning, everybody! Here is a different way to turn the pages of our family journal: a few newspaper-style comic strips, gathered like clippings in a scrapbook.
These are samples of our cartoon concepts. This first collection brings together the four strips we used in the published articles. We also developed unused studies along the way; this page focuses on the four published strips. I’m sharing these four because this is a journal, and the pictures are part of how we explored and told the story.
A little humor can help us pause, listen, and remember the person behind a complicated conversation. The articles carry the fuller story; these clippings give each idea a small place of its own.
Hospital Wagon Wheel Cartoon Alley™ · Independent editorial cartoons by Al Timberlane, featuring imagined characters and dialogue. These concept illustrations are not transcripts or photographs of actual clinical encounters.
Looking for the earliest full-story comics? Meet superhero Lori T. and her friend, the Taubman building—read all seven original comic stories.
Published concept sample · Newspaper clippings · U of M Family Journal
1. Remember the people inside
A playful reminder of the people whose lives give a hospital’s buildings and gifts their purpose.
Read the cartoon’s words
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Donor. Donor who? Donor forget what matters most: the people inside. Who matters most? A name on a wall—or a patient in a bed?
Published concept sample · Newspaper clippings · U of M Family Journal
2. The doctor who kept looking
An imagined conversation celebrating persistence, attention, and a doctor’s dedication.
Read the cartoon’s words
Knock, knock! Who’s there? Dose. Dose who? Dose matter how long it takes, I will find the right treatment for you!
Published concept sample · Newspaper clippings · U of M Family Journal
3. Bring the two wheels together
The hospital’s resources and the patient’s own history meet in one conversation.
Read the cartoon’s words
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Wagon wheel. Wagon wheel who? Wagon Wheel Cartoon Alley! Where my primary doctor and hospital doctor sit down together to discuss my reassessment. Let’s compare your wheel with the hospital care wheel. My history. My voice. My health. Let’s reassess together.
Published concept sample · Newspaper clippings · U of M Family Journal
4. Listen to me, and I’ll listen to you
A little knock-knock joke about a serious ingredient in caring for one another: listening both ways.
Read the cartoon’s words
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Listen. Listen who? Listen to me, and I’ll listen to you!
For this first journal collection, I’ve kept the strips that accompanied the articles together. The earlier full-story studies now have their own linked collection. Each clipping has its own caption and a path back to the story that gave it meaning.
We believe. We care. And sometimes a little knock-knock joke helps us begin the conversation.
— Al Timberlane