Medical Mentions are a group of graphic works. The graphic works reviewed here are books whose primary topics are not medical, and yet they cover a medical topic with some depth at some point in the work. The rest of the work might be fictional or nonfictional, while the medical portion is often technical and five pages or more. The reviewer will usually neither recommend nor discourage reading the work, except when the rest of the work is deemed outstanding or terrible, respectively. Typically, six graphic works will be part of the review with one paragraph for each. Prior Medical Mentions can be… Read More
Captain America Meets the Asthma Monster and Captain America: Return of the Asthma Monster
by Matt Peters One of the weirdest villains to appear in Marvel comics was a character who looked like a muscular humanoid covered in boogers. Known as the Asthma Monster, the mucoid miscreant had a pressurized tank on his back and a handheld spraying device that he called his Aller-Gun. He used his gear to spread a synthetic allergen that could cause asthma attacks, even among people with no history of asthma. The Asthma Monster wasn’t the most compelling character Marvel introduced in the 1980s, but the publisher wasn’t aiming for its usual audience when it created him. The… Read More
Work-Life Balance
by Kevin Wolf Fraud, manipulation, crossing ethical lines, self-interest, younger generation, dishonesty, and casually ignoring serious events are only some of the themes occurring in Work-Life Balance by Aisha Franz (translated from the German by Nicholas Houde). Don’t get me wrong. With all this seeming negativity, I’m recommending this book for its almost anthropological study of half a dozen characters in their work/home environments. There are plenty of medical topics including psychotherapy, unnamed psychotropic drugs, virtual reality therapy, mental breakdowns, sexual harassment/assault, anxiety, asthma, alcoholic self-medication, and a bike accident. The characters include Dr. Sharifi (unhelpful therapist), Anita (potter making… Read More
Chunky
by Paul Mitchell Published by Katherine Tegen Books/HarperAlley, imprints of HarperCollins that are aimed at younger readers, Chunky describes the high school experiences of Yehudi (‘Hudi’) Mercado whilst living in Texas with his Mexican Jewish family. When not playing with his sister’s Barbie dolls, Hudi spends his time daydreaming about being a famous comedian on Saturday Night Live. Accident prone and overweight, an asthmatic kid with only one lung, Hudi has a hard time fitting in with the culture of athletic excellence that is encouraged by his school and embodied by his father. As we are told at the outset,… Read More
Booster Shot Comics Take on Pediatric Pain!
Booster Shot Comics consists of cartoonist and board certified pediatric allergist Alex Thomas and health communication specialist Gary Ashwal. In this week’s episode of the Graphic Medicine Podcast, you’ll hear them discuss their comics project the Stoplight Pain Scale. This project is a great model for how to make a research-based comics-format health intervention. Keep an eye on your screens because images are dropped paired with the audio. Graphic Medicine News This week my work was focused on a presentation called “Teaching Science with Comics” I gave to the Chicago Council on Science & Technology last night. In the course of… Read More
Iggy and The Inhalers: asthma education through comics
Longtime collaborators in Graphic Medicine, Alex Thomas and Gary Ashwal have had their asthma education comic, Iggy and The Inhalers, printed. Graphic Medicine is eagerly awaiting a copy. In the mean time, the collaborative duo have put the whole thing online here. The website teaches kids with asthma about asthma symptoms, asthma treatment, and asthma medications using comics, videos, and free downloads. Considering he is a board-certified pediatric allergist, and has spent a good deal of his adult life treating sick children, Alex Thomas, MD is a ridiculously good draughtsman. I’m jealous of his drawing skills. Gary and Alex… Read More
New Podcast: An Interview with Alex Thomas & Gary Ashwal
Alex Thomas and Gary Ashwal are the creators of Iggy & The Inhalers. Their collaborative work helps kids (and adults) learn about the pathophysiology of asthma and how to properly use their inhalers. Alex and Gary sat down with me recently to discuss their past, present and future collaborative work. You can listen to their presentation at the Toronto Comics & Medicine conference here. Their work appears on their website, Booster Shot Comics. And here is the asthma education video that Alex and Gary were making the morning of our conversation. It’s great, check it out!
Graphic Medicine at ASBH
The theme of this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities was “Tradition, Innovation, and Moral Courage.” The meeting was held October 24-27 in Atlanta, GA. (Photos by Michael Green.) From the abstract for the panel “Graphic Medicine @ Work: Outcomes When the Intervention is a Comic” : The last several years have seen a rise in graphic novels depicting medical experiences and graphic stories used for patient education purposes. A handful of preliminary studies suggest that the use of illustrations on health instructions increase patient engagement with and recollection of the information presented. Three studies further… Read More
New Podcast Wednesday: Lydia Gregg and Iggy & The Inhalers
Use the Quicktime player above to view images along with the audio. If you don’t have Quicktime, you can listen to the audio-only version below. This is the second half of the “Comics in Patient Education” panel from this year’s Graphic Medicine conference in Toronto. If you are able, be sure to check out the images that accompany both the talks as they are quite impressive! First up is Lydia Gregg with her paper, “Interpreting the unfamiliar: comics as a tool for improving care of pediatric patients with retinoblastoma.” The comic and treatment diary Lydia discusses can be viewed on the study… Read More
Iggy and the Inhalers
guest review and response illustration by Northwestern medical student Colin Joseph Abbott The Iggy and the Inhalers Program is a superb example of a multifaceted approach to health education for children. Dr. Thomas, a pediatric allergist, designed a story in comic form to educate children on the pathophysiology of asthma, proper inhaler use, and environmental triggers of asthma. His work extended beyond the primary comic book titled “The Adventures of Iggy and the Inhalers” to include complimentary videos, trading cards, posters, and stickers. Three of the primary strengths of the Iggy and the Inhaler comic program are its engagement of… Read More