by Janet Chan No Ordinary Flu doubles as both a story of pandemics and public health guidance from the public health Center of Seattle and King County, Washington. Artists David Lasky and Lin Lucas use a limited color palette which succeeds in conveying both the sadness in the situations and the hope for the future. This short 12-page publication introduces a family on the brink of the 2020 Covid pandemic recounting their ancestors’ experiences during the 1918 flu pandemic. Through the story we see the events of the 1918 pandemic unfurl. The flu virus’ identification on the east coast and… Read More
Scenes from Isolation
awaiting review
The Rick Tremblee Weakly Dispatch
awaiting review
Living & Dying in America: A Daily Chronicle 2020-2022
awaiting review
Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American
awaiting review
The Lighthouse in the City series
awaiting review
Medical Mentions Book Reviews V
Book Review by Kevin Wolf Medical Mentions is 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… Read More
New Podcast Episode: Conversation with Maria Photinakis
Maria Photinakis talks to me, Alice Jaggers, about making comics during COVID and after the death of her father and about parenting as a cartoonist. We discuss her works, Extraordinary Times volume 1 and Liminal State. The interview was originally recorded in February 2021. Since the recording, Maria has published COVID19 Vaccination Campaign comics for CIC Health. Extraordinary Times volume 2 is available for preorder. Maria’s website is https://photinakis.com/, where you can order her comics and find her portfolio. This podcast is sponsored by:
Making the Impact of the Virus Accessible
Guest Post by Lucy Bergonzi Books Beyond Words is a publisher of picture-led books and resources for people with learning disabilities. These wordless stories, dealing with many of life’s issues, are designed for people who find it easier to read using pictures rather than words. I’ve been one of Books Beyond Words’ illustrators since 2015. The Covid pandemic has affected all of us to a greater or lesser extent, but for people with learning disabilities the crisis has been particularly difficult and damaging. The British Medical Journal says ‘the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect… Read More
Shot in the Arm
Book Review by Kevin Wolf A Shot in the Arm by Don Brown is a color non-fiction graphic work of vaccine development narrated by the historical figure, Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762). This work permits Ms. Montagu to be of her time during a deadly Smallpox epidemic in Europe, as well as, carrying her through our current COVID-19 times. She’s the key founder of vaccine distribution. Smallpox, being eradicated from Earth since 1977, is also one of the great success stories of vaccines. “Along with clean water and sanitation, vaccines rank as one of the greatest contributions to public health.”… Read More