Sound: A Comics Anthology

by ISHANI ANWESHA JOSHI

Edited by Budjette Tan and Charis Loke, Sound: A Comics Anthology (2020) is published by Difference Engine, an independent Singapore-based comics publisher. Featuring thirteen comics by Southeast Asian comic artists, this anthology demonstrates the unique capacity of the verbal-visual medium to render the unseen visible on the page. As a faculty tied to one of our primary senses, sound has multiple levels of significance across various contexts, as explored in the stories depicted in the anthology. The anthology examines themes such as bonding through shared music and language, the positive and negative impact of words, recorded sounds, words and sounds that resonate emotionally, questions of voice and whose voices are heard, the use of voice to effect change, oral storytelling traditions that transmit wisdom and warnings about real-world issues and events, and sounds associated with different imageries, among others, thereby highlighting the multifaceted nature and function of sound.

Interestingly, many stories in the anthology are metaphorical or use fictional elements, yet they have hidden layers of meaning, which is characteristic of Asian and Southeast Asian storytelling traditions. In some stories, the structure of the English sentences echoes the character’s native language, while in others, it draws on colloquial speech. The cultural nuances of the societies these characters inhabit, which subtly shape the backdrop behind the issues discussed, are also brought into sharp focus, offering a refreshing entry point into Southeast Asia. Along with the text and interviews with comic artists and editors, the publishers invite readers to listen to selected sound clips on their website, meditate on them, and draw how these sounds appear to them.

For graphic medicine practitioners, two stories/chapters in the book are of particular interest. The first comic, “On : Off,” written by Xie Shi Min and Richard Phua and illustrated by Xiao Yan, follows Zhen Ni, who wears headphones from the moment she wakes up as a means of escaping both internal negative self-talk and external criticism. By physically shutting out external auditory stimuli, she attempts to avoid hearing hurtful or judgmental remarks. However, this coping mechanism ultimately proves ineffective, as her mind continues to generate self-deprecating thoughts and convinces her that both the familiar and unfamiliar people around her are thinking or saying negative things about her. The parallel movement of Zhen Ni’s physical and mental landscape signifies the quietly unassuming nature of psychological distress plaguing people even as they navigate their daily schedules. Zhen Ni’s psychological distress is represented visually in the comic through her inability to neutrally perceive faces without projecting her thoughts onto them.  Instead, she sees words inscribed on the faces of people and even on the idols to whom she prays. At the level of form, these faces predominantly function as speech bubbles, thereby embedding the comic’s central thematic concern within its very stylistic architecture. Towards the end of the narrative, however, she is confronted by a mental image of the Buddha, who encourages her to be less critical and more compassionate toward herself. In essence, the Singapore-based creators use this narrative to foreground the psychological impact of negative language and self-perception on mental health.

The second comic, “Out of Sight,” written by Jingwei Wong and illustrated by Soefara Jafney, explores the complex and evolving relationship Sarah, a young girl with hearing impairment, develops with sound. Sarah acquires the unusual ability to perceive sound through visual manifestations, which initially appear as terrifying, malevolent creatures that relentlessly pursue and overwhelm her. As the narrative unfolds, however, these ominous figures gradually transform into benign, even endearing, entities that accompany and surround the protagonist, signaling a radical shift in her perception of both sound and selfhood. This visual motif functions as an extended metaphor for Sarah’s psychological journey from denial and resistance to acceptance. This acceptance, however, is born out of repeated confrontation with reality, which Sarah dubs a “merciless teacher” (144). The Malaysian creators portray this process with considerable sensitivity, capturing not only the initial fear, panic, and disorientation associated with sudden sensory loss, but also the stabilizing support provided by family and the gradual process of readjustment that follows. In so doing, the comic foregrounds what it describes as “the joy of seeing things anew” (151), suggesting that acceptance can spark the possibility of perceiving and inhabiting the world in fundamentally transformative ways.

Apart from these two chapters, the rest of the anthology does not engage with health-related themes while still exploring important aspects of negotiating with sound, highlighting the complex, layered, yet deeply personal ways in which sound is experienced.

Ishani Anwesha Joshi is an Assistant Professor of English in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, India. She received her Ph.D. from the National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, India, and specializes in Graphic Medicine, Health Humanities, and Comic Studies. Her research articles have been published in various indexed journals. Published by Palgrave Macmillan, Joshi’s first book, Drawing the Pandemic: COVID-19 and Graphic Medicine (2026), offers a critical analysis of how COVID comics document the new normal and the sociopolitical structures of lived experience beyond mere biological pathology.