Archive for the ‘health’ Category

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Out and About: Alternative Press Expo 2010

Friday, October 15th, 2010

This weekend is Alternative Press Expo, and while we won’t be attending due to being on the opposite coast, there are two panels of interest to nonfiction fans:

Saturday, October 16

4:00-5:00 Spotlight on Lynda Barry—One of the most influential cartoonists of the past 30 years, APE special guest Lynda Barry has worked as a painter, cartoonist, writer, illustrator, playwright, editor, commentator, and teacher and has found they are all very much alike. With her publisher, Drawn & Quarterly, she launches her brand new book, the how-to/memoir/graphic novel Picture This, at APE. This uncategorizable book is the “how-to-draw” companion to the bestselling and Eisner Award–winning “how-to-write” book What It Is. At this panel, Barry will explore Picture This in an engaging slide show that is sure to be standing room only, thanks to Barry’s wildly enigmatic, popular, and hilarious stage presence, which not only commands the attention of every attendee but leaves them crying, laughing, and floored with inspiration. Seeing Barry in person is life changing!

6:00-7:00 Spotlight on Renée French—A conversation between APE special guest Renée French and publisher/comics historian Dan Nadel about Renée’s new book, H Day. How does a cartoonist translate something as abstract as a migraine into the concrete form of a book? And why? Renée will talk about this challenge, her drawing process, and will briefly look back at her extraordinary career.

Other special guests at this year’s APE include Daniel Clowes, Megan Kelso, Rich Koslowski, Tommy Kovac, and Tony Millionaire. Alternative Press Expo 2010 will be held on October 16–17 at  the Concourse Exhibition Center (635 8th Street) in San Francisco, California.

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World Comics Power

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Comics are a great communications tool for people in impoverished areas because of their highly visual nature and ease of access; even people who don’t know how to read can still enjoy a comic, and they don’t need complex or expensive equipment to make one. With that in mind, the World Comics Network conducts a series of workshops teaching local peoples how to make “grassroots comics,” focusing on topics that matter to them and hopefully encouraging discussion and debate. Starting in India, the program has spread to nearby Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and even further abroad to Africa (Mozambique, Benin, Tanzania), Latin America (Brazil), and Europe (United Kingdom, Finland).

The program has also began to touch upon comics journalism, using the medium not just to encourage debate, but to disseminate information in the first place. Programs are currently being set up at various universities throughout India.

Most of the comics created by the World Comics Network are intended for local distribution only, photocopies that are passed around, or in some cases, put on exhibition by the roadside for passersby to view. However, a handful of professionally printed compilations are available, including Understanding Gandhi Through Comics and Whose Development (about development projects in India).

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Beyond Hicksville

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Dylan Horrocks might be best known for his mainstream work as the writer of Hunter: The Age of Magic for DC/Vertigo, or for his Harvey and Ignatz Award-nominated graphic novel, Hicksville. But his body of work is rather diverse, from contributions to various indie and small press anthologies, to a handful of nonfiction comics of an educational or political bent.

Back in 1998 he worked on Spin, a comic about dealing with emotional stress, created at the bequest of the Ministry of Youth Development and the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. Though the SPINZ (Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand) program is still ongoing, the comic does not appear to be available on their website at this time. You can view a few sample images on Horrocks’ site.

Also in the public interest is Red Hot, which was commissioned by the Hepatitis C Resource Centre and deals with—you guessed it—Hepatitis C, namely how it’s transmitted and how to prevent it. A guy named Ben meets an old friend named Jenny who’s been afflicted by hep C, and though wary at first, he learns to accept her condition. It conveys all the necessary information quickly and without being preachy. The entire thing is available to read online.

In a more artistic bent, he’s done a few comics as music columns, talking about his relationship with “Tabula Rasa” by Avro Part, and an interview with Brazilian musician Egberto Gismonti (conducted by Graham Reid).

One interesting project that may never see the light of day is A Pocket History of New Zealand. Horrocks calls it a “work in progress” but also gives no anticipated completion date, uploading one page for us to gaze at and wonder:

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Hey Ladies,

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Even though comics are still fighting a public misconception that they are “just for boys,” that hasn’t stopped marketers from aiming their laser sights at girls using comics.

It’s certainly not a new trend—as evidenced by this 1974 ad for Pursettes Tampons. They might lean on the overdramatic side, but using a comic format isn’t a bad way to illustrate why a woman might need them.

If that wasn’t enough feminine protection for you, more Pursettes ads can be found on the web, including:

In more recent years, the now-defunct CosmoGIRL magazine had The Adventures of CG! by Yishan Li and  Svetlana Chmakova, and Alloy Media has a “comix” section on their gURL website (which we’ve mentioned before). What all of these have in common is that they mine a specific and stereotypical subset of the female gender: the girly-girl.

There’s nothing wrong with that, as these companies are trying to market to the largest audience of women possible, and most women do have their girly-girl moments. And gURL does do a lot of health comics, to which every girl can relate. They even have a series of “boy’s perspective” comics by Andrew Lin.

New comics have appeared since we last talked about the site, and new comics continue to be added, but to tie this post together and wrap it up I refer you to this story: “Grossest. Story. Ever.“ by Adriana Yugovich.

That’s not an exaggeration; if you don’t want to be squicked out at the end, don’t read it. I was trying to figure out if guys would find it less or more gross than a girl would, and ultimately decided it doesn’t matter. It’s just gross. But I liked reading it anyway, and so I’m linking it. You’ve been warned.

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To the Moon and Back

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Some people, despite all evidence to the contrary, will still believe what they believe. That includes conspiracies, usually involving the government in way, like 9/11 or the Kennedy assassination. Another favorite of conspiracy theorists is the moon landing—forty-one years later, some people maintain that the entire thing was a hoax, filmed on some sound stage in Hollywood.

But as Darryl Cunningham, author of Psychiatric Tales, asserts, these claims are easily refuted. And then he clearly lays it out in comic format, using photography and his unique art style to create a comic that is simple to follow.

One of the things I appreciated was how he indicates who is talking—him or the conspiracy theorists—via the background color of the caption, using a lighter azure for the theorist questions and a darker slate blue for his answers.

The moon landing isn’t Cunningham’s first or only target; you can also read his investigations of homeopathy and Dr. Andrew Wakefield (source of most of the vaccine-autism controversy). All of these are intended as chapters of an ongoing book about science, so there will definitely be more, and most likely will appear in an eventual collection.

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Working Characters, Smiling Politely

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Japan has a very visual culture—not only in the prevalence of manga, which makes up almost half of all publishing sales in Japan—but also in their language, where kanji often resemble the actions or objects they are intended to symbolize, and also in the cartoon characters that permeate many aspects of life in Japan.

Hello, Please! seeks to provide a chronicle, a catalog of these characters as they appear on signs, packages, and brochures. Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda divide the characters by who/what they represent: Official Characters, which represent organizations like police departments, the military, and transportation systems; Instructional Characters, which offer how-to inside instructional manuals and the like; Warning Characters, which tell people what NOT to do in public and life; Advertising Characters, which appear on posters and product packaging; and Food Characters, which appear on food packaging  but could also promote healthy eating habits and other food-related issues.

Each of these categories is explained in a brief introduction, which ties the cartoon characters to Shinto animism and other traditional Japanese cultural beliefs. But aside from the introduction the text inside is minimal, with each page taken up entirely by the photos of these characters in the wild, with a small caption in the corner to explain what it is we’re looking at.

The design of the book isn’t perfect; there are no page numbers for most of the book, making the individual sections hard to locate, and a few of the captions encompass more than one page but that isn’t always clear at a first glance. The book also feels as if its going to detach from the spine, though on closer inspection of the binding I don’t think it will.

Overall this book is highly informative in different ways: it can be an intriguing look into the Japanese mindset and culture (I for one, did not know that it is believed that catfish can predict earthquakes), or a good primer on advertising and character design. While it is not comprehensive, it does provide a good starting point.

Hello, Please!
written and photographed by Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda
designed by Alice Chau
published by Chronicle Books (San Francisco, 2007)
ISBN 978-0-8118-5674-4

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The Curious Art of Science

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

If Mary Roach created comics, they would be exactly the kind of comics we cover on this blog. But she is not a comic creator, merely a writer of prose works, though her topics are far from “mere”—like in her newest book, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, she details the extraordinary details of the ordinary bits of life in outer space, from eating and sleeping to hygiene and waste management.

On the comics front, Ariyana Suvarnasuddhi has picked up the baton, illustrating key scenes from two of Mary Roach’s books. The first, about an epidemic of penis dismemberments in Thailand in the 70′s, is inspired by a chapter from Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.

The second comic is inspired by Roach’s book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, which in addition to being the only one of her books that I’ve actually read, is a humorous look as to all the others places (besides the grave) our bodies can end up when we die, from organ donation to crash test dummies. Instead of detailing one of those, though, Suvarnasuddhi has chosen to focus on the actual process of human decomposition.

These comics were brought to public attention by Mary Roach herself, who had some very kind words for Ms. Suvarnasuddhi:

Ariyana zeroed in on food images and references in the chapter, using a visit to a sushi bar to illustrate phenomena like “skin slip” and end-stage soupiness (not a technical term). Her work just floors me.

(via Boing Boing)

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Don’t Risk Your Health for Cigarettes, Go Surfing Instead

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Looking at the comic ads in my previous post reminded me of this anti-smoking ad from 1966, featuring art by the late Frank Frazetta:

It’s got everything you could ever want, including squinty-eyed teenagers, one of Frazetta’s trademark buxom ladies, and a simple financially-driven reason not to smoke. First you stop smoking, then you get the long board, then you get the women.

(via copyranter)

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A Kaleidoscope of Images in My Mind

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

Generally anyone who reads comics has probably come across a Chick tract at least once in their life. Heck, even people who don’t read comics might across one, as they’re distributed in churches, Christian bookstores, and evangelical folding tables set out in public places (like the one in the Times Square subway station, in the 7 train passageway leading to the Port Authority). They’re ubiquitous and controversial (especially if you’re Catholic). For that reason, Chick tracts are some of the most parodied publications on the Internet, especially the Dark Dungeons installment, in which we find out that Dungeons & Dragons is a gateway to occult worship.

A panel from Dark Dungeons, and the corresponding parody from Darque Dungeon, in which role-playing is a gateway to the goth scene.

Less of a parody and maybe somewhat of a homage is Chemical Salvation?, which uses the Chick tract format to tell the story of Lysergic acid diethylamide—popularly known as LSD.

The comic is fairly straightforward, outlining the origins of LSD in a lab, the early research, and the initial positive reaction to the compound—including the more religious applications of LSD usage. However, the comic is somewhat biased, as it briefly skims over the “casualties” of psychedelics and pretty much condemns the anti-drug movement without the same careful deconstruction that it gave to the drug’s positive effects.

However, that makes it even more of a spot-on parody, all the down to the final page, where it proudly displays the logo of “Trick Publications.”

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Spider-Man’s Biggest Challenge

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Breaking away a bit from our usual fare here at Nonfiction Comics, Web comic artist Andrew Farago provides us with a gem via his LiveJournal; yup, a comic book featuring a mainstream hero facing a mainstream issue. “Spider-Man Vs. The Prodigy” was put out in the 1970′s in a partnership with The Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Yup, after tackling drug addiction and adultery (depending on who you ask, Peter Parker might have slept with a married Betty Brant), Spider-Man takes on planned parenthood!

The main plot of the issue centers around an alien villain by the name of The Prodigy, who is looking to bring thousands of babies back to his home planet of Intellectia! With that plot, I can see why writer Ann Robinson didn’t have much of a career outside of being a Marvel Executive for a few years. Anyway, to achieve his vicious scheme, The Prodigy intends on telling teenagers that they don’t have to worry about having babies through sex. His lies include things like, “You can’t have babies before the age of fourteen” and, “Pregnancy is good for you. It clears up acne!” Had he simply given the kids Power Thirst, he would have received as many babies as he desired without hassle.

Prodigy has a magic voice that makes teens everywhere believe every word he says, so off to the radio station he goes to spread the word. Of course, Spider-Man tries everything in his arsenal to stop The Prodigy before he can spread his baby-making magic to the masses. Yes, this includes trying to pose as a gargoyle to avoid detection from guards. Ever see a red and blue clad gargoyle with webbing under his arms? Yeah, I thought so. Out of the pages posted by Farago, one panel stood out to me as particularly amusing considering the status quo of Spider-Man comics after the recent One More Day storyline. There is Spider-Man, lamenting on how he is ridiculously lucky to be single and without child. I mean, can you imagine what Peter Parker’s life would be with a child? Neither can he! Spidey would much rather have Twinkies and jive turkey for dinner. Mmmm…

Once the world is safe from Prodigy’s influence, we get a page reviewing facts about pregnancy and human sexuality. I’m pleased to see Marvel touch on homosexuality, making clear that the way someone acts, sounds or dresses does not make them gay. That’s somewhat proactive for the time, even for the 1970′s.

Even with the hoaky storyline I’ll admit I dug the art, which was done by Spider-Man veterans Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. And hey, the comic did manage to be somewhat informative. All I really want to know is one statistic: how many unwanted pregnancies were stopped from happening by Spider-Man? The world may never know.

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