Our latest Spotlight on projects and people within the Graphic Medicine international community focuses on Jojo’s Not So Great Day,a new comic from clinical cartoonist Brian Narelle.
About the Work
Jojo’s Not So Great Day is the tale of a young firefly who misinterprets a friend’s indifference and starts down a negative spiral of beliefs, emotions and behavior…until she meets a Thinkafeeladoo who guides her to three islands, the Island of Think, the Island of Feel and the island of Do. It turns out all three islands are connected on the back of an angry dragon whose parents are getting divorced. Through her new understanding and their mutual support they both turn their spirals into a positive direction.
I began writing for children straight out of USC Cinema, starting with Sesame Street in their 3rd season. As a screenwriter, puppeteer, cartoonist and actor I have taken many approaches to education. In between Sesame Street contracts I helped produce national emergency medical training (52 hours of video) for firefighters. I asked the doctor I worked for to fund a Muppet-like character and thus was born Code 3, the dumbest firefighter to ever become an EMT and bring comic relief to firefighters nationwide. Years before this I would accompany my girlfriend to classes at Columbia P&S. I came to the opinion at that time that medical education could use some humor. Code 3 gave me a my first opportunity. The firemen loved it.
After a stint with Lucasfilm as Supervising Animator/Sequence Director on an animated feature I returned to writing films for children, combining live action, animation and puppets in order help kids deal with child abuse, alcoholism, emotional trauma as well as understanding AIDS. Through these dozens of films I was backed up my Dr. Eliana Gil, renowned therapist and author in the field of child abuse recovery. A few years back Eliana contacted me with a specific request to create something to help her young clients in their recovery from sexual abuse. The idea was to merely give them a grounding that would aid in their process of Trauma-Focussed Cognitive Behavior Therapy. That’s when I gave birth to the Thinkafeeladoo and the book JOJO’S NOT SO GREAT DAY. I designed it to be generic in content and avoid re-traumatizing anyone while at the same time giving them an understanding of the relationships between their thoughts and beliefs and how those affect their emotions which in turn drive behavior.
About the Creator
A cartoonist since the age of 8 and an actor since the 4th grade, my intentions to become a wildlife cinematographer were derailed when I hit Hollywood and began writing for Sesame Street. Along the way I am well known for starring in John Carpenter’s cult classic sci-fi comedy Dark Star. I followed that up by creating the San Diego Chicken who went on to national fame. My educational films and PBS Special for kids have won many awards including several Emmys. My hands-on work with children include being a volunteer lay therapist with L.A. Psychiatric Services and as a group facilitator at Dr. Gerald Jampolski’s Center for Attitudinal Healing.
More recently I have spent years teaching cartooning to kids at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Inspired by getting to know Dr. Patch Adams years ago I declared myself a Clinical Cartoonist and became official within Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Branching out to San Francisco hospitals as well, I created cartoons for patients in a variety of wards, including dementia and psyche wards. You can read about those adventures in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone. Currently you can find my wife Robin Goodrow and I co-starring as bunny rabbits on the Discovery Channel’s Bingo & Molly, currently streaming on Amazon Prime and other outlets.
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