COVID Comics And Me

As the COVID-19 Pandemic progresses, the uncertainties its brought has created a significant need for effective communication that will engage the public in behavioral change on a mass scale (Kearns, 2020) Visual communication has now become crucial for disseminating information during this time (feigenbaum,  2021); hence, comics have inadvertently become a vehicle  for projecting current narratives of the pandemic through its visuals, texts and storytelling in an engaging manner. These narratives can facilitate “emotional contagion” where the reader catches the emotional state of the character(s) or situation (Simpson, 2018) to encourage a particular response as well as clearly communicate factual information and ideas.

The COVID, Comic and Me workshop significantly highlighted the importance of comics in conveying public health messages,  up-to-date statistical data as well as stories about the COVID-19 Pandemic. The workshop worked through a process of identifying  key comic elements for a successful comic story such as storyboarding, scripting identifying the characters and settings and sketching the narrative arc. which provides structure and shape for the story. Freytag’s Pyramid

There are various concepts and dimensions that could be incorporated and applied into the comic creation workflow to tell its story. Comics is a whole different area of territory where pictures and words are used to do things inside the head of the reader that you might not be possible in a prose or in film. (Gaiman, 2021).

“Ashley Chopra“, the artist of the comic below shows that comics can use dramatically illustrated thoughts through thought bubbles to show unspoken thoughts.

Another example from the artist, ‘pristinethinpen’ on Instagram illustrates the new realities the public had to face due to the pandemic to find some solitude. It also highlights new coping mechanisms people had to come to terms with in order to survive albeit mentally and physically.

Comics can also allow for explanations and reflections on data, offering readers more by giving deeper context to health messages through credible sources with references.

This is a comic by  weimankow which includes references to a public health information. She has done this after her graphical illustrations to add to the story, hence backing up the information she highlights in her comic up.

During the workshop session I was requested to relive an experience or situation I observed from the impact of COVID-19 through comics. I then created one making references to Tik Tok and how I found temporary escape through this medium during the lockdown especially when the COVID-19 news came on.

Dance challenges on Tik Tok were a popular phenomena during this time to which I also indulged myself in as a means to forget the pandemic, if only “temporarily”. The fact that its a situation I was familiar with aided my creative process.

Comic Storyboard First Draft
COMIC FINAL DRAFT

The comic used a story board to evolve the storyline idea. It incorporated characters and monologue to convey its narrative to the public with references to a credible source. Evidently the advent of the pandemic brought a lot of uncertainties and caused mental health challenges across the globe. However creating and posting contents on Tik Tok had a positive impact on mental well-being (Situmorang, David 2021).

References

Bournemouth University, 2021 Sharing our AHRC #Covidcomics project around the UK and beyond. [Online] Available From: https://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/author/afeigenbaum/ [Accessed 24 January 2021].

Kearns, C., and Kearns, N., 2020.The role of comics in public health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine [Online], P.139-149.

Situmorang, and Biondi, D.D., 2021 Using TikTok App for Therapy and Sharing Happiness in COVID-19 Outbreak. Addictive Disorders & Their Treatment [Online], 20 (4).

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