Category: Blog

Just as much as it’s a clarion call for equality, International Women’s Day is also a reminder that many conversations are hard-won only by those who have tried to make space for them. For #IWD2024 on 8 March, we spent our Friday evening with Andeasyand and Griselda Gabriele, two of our creators who have spearheaded the kinds of conversations that Difference Engine wants to spotlight with the DE Shorts imprint.

A full house gathered at Book Bar in celebration of womanhood and all it’s messy and glorious parts. In discussing Andeasyand’s A Drip. A Drop. A Deluge: A Period Tragicomedy and Griselda Gabriele’s Bearing Witness (written by Vinita Ramani whose presence was missed) both depicting the lived experiences of woman, our speakers did not shy away from bold reflections, searing honesty, and candid humour.

Without any gentle tiptoeing, the conversation didn’t miss a beat as it opened with Andeasyand’s unhurried detailing of the awkward but relatable moments that arise while menstruating. Pains, stains, and pad wedgies were discussed in the same breath as her frustrations (of which many of us share) with upmarket pads and the period tax—the experience of unjustified shame being the most relatable point of all as nods and warm laughter rippled through the audience.

Just as Andeasyand isn’t afraid to turn period narratives on its head, Griselda spoke boldly about bringing authenticity to a difficult subject on Bearing Witness. Sharing about the process of translating Vinita’s grief for Mithra, her unborn child, into illustrations, Griselda reflected on the importance of drawing boundaries and respecting the “little things” that make up her story. Through open conversations with Vinita which eventually grew into a friendship, Griselda was able to observe and share in Vinita’s particular experience which lent itself to illustrations that captured the emotional layers without falling into the trap of painting overarching narratives of grief in broad strokes.

Griselda recalled noticing small, meaningful moments: how even amidst the sadness of losing Mithra, Vinita still thought of him with a lot of reverence; that even though it was a painful experience for Vinita, it was a spiritual one for her as well. Similarly, Griselda was able to sense how Vinita’s young daughter, Sahana, was a constant beacon of joy and love in the midst this tragedy. These nuances took visual form with the motif of the marigold flower as a callback to Hindu traditions and imagery and evocative moments between Sahana and Vinita that remain true to her emotional journey.

The subject of normalising experiences was also at the centre of the conversation that night. Working on A Drip. A Drop. A Deluge as both the writer and illustrator, Andeasyand initially took to drawing to articulate thoughts that she could not express in words. She envisioned it initially as a short zine, but realised that it needed to be told as separate stories. What eventually emerged was not only a story from one woman’s perspective, but a collage that saw the experience of menstruation as something as diverse as the kinds of bodies that bleed. 

For Griselda, it was also important to recognise pregnancy loss as a profoundly emotional experience that isn’t necessarily captured by medical diagnosis or physical symptoms. Her challenge was to paint a picture of the profound and ineffable loss, and she shared about the research she did to bring this much-needed perspective. She hopes Bearing Witness is not just a recollection but also a resource for women who might be going through the same thing. 

“I thought about Southeast Asian perspectives and how they were absent from existing comics and books about miscarriage… a lot of them were from western sources which were medical, but I wanted to bring the emotional perspective.” — Griselda Gabriele

Inevitably, the discussion about representation and incredibly personal experiences also brings to mind the question of what isn’t shared or what has been left off the page. Andeasyand spoke more about self-censorship and having to run up against the question of who A Drip. A Drop. A Deluge is written for.

“As a hijabi, can I write about this? Can I portray a cooch on the page?” — Andeasyand

In spite of her doubts, she shares that speaking to other women helps her to introspect and better understand the inclination to avoid certain topics. It is also a reminder that even though she’s found her stride as an adult, there are things that might loom scary and large in the mind of someone younger than her. She finally realises: “the book is written for the little girl who can’t get answers anywhere”.

The conversation ended with levity as Andeasyand spoke about the phrase that framed her comic: tragicomedy. The audience nodded in recognition of moments of shared awkwardness, mutual frustration, and collective indignation that gives way to a sense of found community that understands what it is to want to laugh and cry at the same time when someone readily offers a pad to you in a public toilet or when strangers offer help to someone crying on the street. The word “sisterhood” also resonated with Griselda who fostered an incredibly special bond with Vinita through the creation of Bearing Witness. “There’s a camaderie that happens and people that know will understand,” Griselda shared. “I don’t think Bearing Witness would be the way it is without our friendship because (Vinita) shared a lot of herself and the experience with me.”

“The thing about friendship is that they make you realise how deep that thing is because only with friendships is there trust… our experiences can be so lonely. It is a burden shared, a burden halved.” — Andeasyand

After many months of brainstorming, tinkering, and hopeful dreaming, we’re excited to finally have our 2024 catalogue out in the world! In the works are five new projects and titles which stretch from Southeast Asian fantasy to narratives couched in the chaos of everyday reality.

In the spirit of building new things and reaching new communities, we’ve also set our sights on our very first web and audio comics which we hope will expand our definition of comics and make our stories more accessible to fans out there.

Download our catalogue here or read on to find out more!

Tiger Girls

By Felicia Low-Jimenez and Claire Low
Category: Young Adult Fiction
Theme: Fantasy, Mythology
Release: Jul 2024 (webcomic) / 2025 (print)

Synopsis
Marked by their zodiac sign, the Tiger Girls live in constant fear and anxiety, mounting their resistance against impending attacks while living in the shadows.

Behind the scenes, young Suling resentfully toils as a record-keeper, while yearning to be on the frontlines, fighting alongside her sign sisters. However, an unexpected visitor arriving at their hidden location will upend her world entirely…

Chinese superstition would have us believe that girls born in the year of the tiger are bringers of bad luck. Tiger Girls turns that myth onto its head in an epic tale that features amphibious water warriors, mysterious islands, and an incredible cast of strong female characters. If you love stories that take place in a fantastical Southeast Asian setting brought to life by a manga-inspired art style, this is one you won’t want to miss.

Tiger Girls will be released episodically as a free eight-part webcomic beginning in July 2024. The print edition which includes never-before-seen bonus content will be released in 2025.

To the Last Gram

By: Shreya Davies and Vanessa Wong
Category: Young Adult Fiction
Theme: Eating Disorders, Mental Health
Release: Oct 2024 (print) / 2025 (audio comic)

Synopsis:
Through her school days, where she must negotiate a precarious balancing act between her culture and fitting in, to her teenage years where appetites must be managed to keep up appearances, to her early adulthood where responsibilities feel overwhelming, Divya journeys from feelings of emptiness to once again finding fulfilment within.

Combining evocative comics and expressive prose, To the Last Gram is an honest and hopeful story of feeling at odds with and finding a home in one’s community, family, and body, and of the yet-unfurling journey to embrace the fullness of life.

To the Last Gram is the fourth title in our DE Shorts imprint which spotlights stories of lived and shared experiences around a range of social issues. Shreya Davies offers a sensitive and nuanced take on the heavy subject of eating disorders in her depiction of Divya’s relationship with food, body image, and identity across various stages of her life. Accompanied by Vanessa Wong’s endearingly off-kilter illustrations, mundane moments are transformed into evocative scenes of modern anxiety as Divya navigates the struggles of cultural acceptance, growing up, and fitting in.

The October 2024 print release of the comic will be followed by an audio comic adaptation in 2025 – a growing audio format which not only translates the dialogue in comics, but uses sound effects, narration, and dialogue to capture all of its visual elements into an immersive narrative experience.

Unbecoming Maya

By Andeasyand
Category: Young Adult Fiction 13+
Theme: Menstruation, Coming-of-Age
Release: 2026

Synopsis:
For as long as Maya can remember, she has meandered through life at the same rhythm: Waking up at 6.30AM. Putting the kettle on. Making oatmeal for breakfast and leaving it to cool to the perfect temperature. Straightening her bed. Getting into her school uniform. Gobbling said breakfast down to rush out of the house to meet her best friend Jacob.

But one day, everything changes.

First she sees it in the little things. Then it comes all at once.

As Maya seeks to hold onto her sense of self in a changing body, she must also navigate the unspoken expectations and traditions of her community as they start to reveal themselves.

Unbecoming Maya is a coming-of-age story that explores the intricacies of adolescence, friendship, and bodily changes — and that sometimes, help can be found in the most unlikely places.

After the overwhelming response for A Drip. A Drop. A Deluge: A Period Tragicomedy, Andeasyand returns with her first full-length comic, Unbecoming Maya. Colourful musings on adolescence, friendship, and bodily changes are captured in this coming-of-age story illustrated in her signature whimsical style as she continues the conversation about menstruation and periods in an even bigger way.

Magical Sweet Gula 2 & 3

By Johanes Park & Jessica Leman
Category: Children’s Fiction
Theme: Fantasy, Friendship
Release: 2025 & 2026

Synopsis:
The adventures of Gula and her friends continue! Stay tuned for the next two instalments in the Magical Sweet Gula trilogy, which will see more spellbinding showdowns, adventures spanning both the Terran and magical worlds, unexpected encounters with new characters, and a whole lot more delicious treats!

If you haven’t had enough of Gula Gulali, the sweet-toothed magi returns for more inter-dimensional hijinks across the decadently illustrated worlds of magic and non-magic in Magical Sweet Gula 2 & 3! See Gula continue to turn more things into dessert with her magi powers in the final two instalments of their Magical Sweet Gula trilogy.

DELAY: A Comics Anthology

Co-editors: Charis Loke and Paolo Chikiamco
Category: Adult Fiction
Theme: Anthology
Release: 2025

Synopsis:
Looming milestones, and missed connections. Resisting mainstream expectations, and doing life at your own pace. What does DELAY mean to you? Writers and illustrators from all around Southeast Asia take on this theme in an anthology curated by guest editors Charis Loke and Paolo Chikiamco, telling stories close to their hearts while exploring the potential of the comics medium to depict the passage of time.

We had such a blast with SOUND: A Comic Anthology that we’re launching a second collection of short comic fiction, DELAY: A Comics Anthology! We’re inviting Southeast Asian creators to submit story pitches that interpret the theme of “delay” in unexpected ways. Creators whose pitches are chosen will get a chance to work with the powerhouse editorial team made up of Malaysian illustrator and educator Charis Loke as well as Filipino prose and comics writer Paolo Chikiamco who was previously a contributor to SOUND. Click here for more details on how to submit your pitch!

Creator Bios

Felicia Low-Jimenez believes that stories have the power to change the world. She’s also one half of the writing team behind the best-selling Sherlock Sam series of children’s books. Find her at www.sherlocksam.wordpress.com.

Claire Low is a highly visual individual with an interest in telling stories. Her works range from illustrations and graphic design to filmmaking and scriptwriting. In her spare time, she draws fantasy-inspired works on her art account on Instagram: @comatomato.

Shreya Davies has edited comics, literary fiction, and non-fiction publications. Her short stories have appeared in The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singaporean Short Stories (Vol 4) and Mahogany Journal. She never leaves home without a book in tow.

Vanessa Wong is an illustrator and graphic designer who finds beauty in mundanity. Drawing inspiration from people and interactions in her daily life, she hopes to use her art to find humour in and celebrate such moments. When she isn’t drawing, you can find her somewhere, staring at nothing. Instagram: @tradervans.

Andeasyand is a Nurulhuda Izyan who wrote and illustrated A Drip. A Drop. A Deluge: A Period Tragicomedy. She peddles puns and observations surrounding mental health, the period cycle, and everything in between through illustrations and long captions. When she isn’t, she is making a crafty mess.

Johanes Park and Jessica Leman are an artist-writer couple based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Inspired by Johanes’ childhood experiences growing up with both Korean and Indonesian identities, the duo first created Magical Sweet Gula together in 2015, to share a story of acceptance and friendship with young people who feel “different”.

Charis Loke is a Malaysian illustrator and educator telling stories with images. Her work takes root in both fictional and real-world cultures, whether she’s making fantasy maps or board games about Malaysian markets and kaki lima. She has an MA in Visual Sociology from Goldsmiths and has an interest in drawing and mapping as arts research. She also edits and curates non-fiction comics and visuals for Southeast Asian nonprofits and publishers, including co-editing SOUND: A Comics Anthology, published by Difference Engine. Visit her website here: www.charisloke.com.

Paolo Chikiamco, from the Philippines, is a lawyer and writer of prose, comics, and interactive fiction. His prose has been published in anthologies such as The Sea is Ours and The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction, and his interactive wrestling novel Slammed! was released by Choice of Games. As an editor, he put together Alternative Alamat, an anthology of stories that reimagine Philippine myth and folklore. As a comics writer, he has collaborated with some of the country’s most talented artists.

*Titles and illustrations are not final.

For updates on these titles and more, sign up for our e-newsletter.

If you have a story you’d like to tell, click here to find out more details on submitting your pitch or manuscript to us. We’d love to hear from you!

1 March 2024, Singapore — Difference Engine is proud to announce its 2024 catalogue which includes five new projects and titles across the adult, young adult, and children’s categories. In line with the independent publisher’s mission of putting Southeast Asian voices on the map, this upcoming slate of projects includes works by creators from Singapore and Indonesia as well as a comics anthology featuring writers and illustrators across the region. 

2024–2025 marks a series of firsts for Difference Engine with its debut webcomic and audio comic accompanying the print release of upcoming titles Tiger Girls and To the Last Gram respectively. Tiger Girls, a young adult fantasy comic written by Felicia Low-Jimenez and illustrated by Claire Low, is the graphic adaptation of Low-Jimenez’s short story first published in Singaporean speculative fiction anthology Fish Eats Lion Redux. Against the backdrop of a tropical Southeast Asian island made fantastical by Low’s manga-inspired art style, a restless young record-keeper, Suling, reckons with the Chinese superstition that casts girls born in her zodiac year, the tiger, as bringers of bad luck. From July 2024 onwards, readers can follow Suling’s ensuing quest to find her place amongst the island’s Water Tiger warriors as Tiger Girls gets released episodically as a free eight-part webcomic. Future fans of the series can also expect the subsequent print edition in 2025 to include never-before-seen bonus content.

Expanding on Difference Engine’s DE Shorts imprint, To the Last Gram is the fourth in this series of short comics that spotlight stories of lived and shared experiences around a range of social issues. Shreya Davies’ lyrical prose provides a gentle touch to the heavy subject of eating disorders in her depiction of Divya’s tumultuous relationship with food and body image. it is underscored by Vanessa Wong’s endearingly off-kilter illustrations which transform typically mundane moments into evocative scenes of modern anxiety. Young adult readers will find familiarity with Divya’s struggles of cultural acceptance, growing up, and fitting in as the narrative traverses between various stages of her life. The October 2024 print release of the comic will be followed by an audio comic adaptation in 2025 – a growing format for graphic narratives that translates the immensely visual medium of comics and its illustrative features into immersive experiences through sound effects, narration, and dialogue.

Low-Jimenez, also the Co-Founder and Publisher of Difference Engine, shared, “Venturing into the world of web and audio comics is a chance to reach out to a wider audience than ever before. Any opportunity to make comics more accessible is worth the challenge, and we are also interested to see how we can foster new communities and fandoms around our works.”

Young adult readers can also look forward to Andeasyand’s Unbecoming Maya, slated for release in 2026. Following the success of her 2021 DE Short A Drip. A Drop. A Deluge: A Period Tragicomedy, Andeasyand continues her colourful musings on adolescence, friendship, and bodily changes in this coming-of-age story illustrated in her signature whimsical style. Exploring the topic in a full-length comic this time, Unbecoming Maya might be a departure from the short vignette-style format of A Drip. A Drop. A Deluge, but still centres the conversation about menstruation and periods in an even bigger way.

Adding to Difference Engine’s children’s titles is Indonesian artist-writer couple Johanes Park and Jessica Leman with The Magical Sweet Gula 2 & 3, the final two instalments of their Magical Sweet Gula trilogy coming out in 2025 and 2026. Gula Gulali returns for more inter-dimensional hijinks across the decadently illustrated worlds of magic and non-magic as she continues to turn more things into dessert with her magi powers.

Rounding off Difference Engine’s forthcoming titles is DELAY: A Comics Anthology, the publisher’s second collection of short comic fiction following SOUND: A Comic Anthology. As part of the anthology, Southeast Asian creators are invited to submit story pitches that interpret the theme of “delay” in unexpected ways. Creators whose pitches are chosen will get a chance to work with a veteran editorial team comprising Malaysian illustrator and educator Charis Loke in a reprisal of her role as co-editor of SOUND, as well as Filipino prose and comics writer Paolo Chikiamco who was previously a contributor to SOUND.

“It’s the beginning of a milestone year for Difference Engine as we make room for more ambitious projects that push the boundaries of how stories can be told,” added Low-Jimenez. “Especially with our first foray into the US and international markets together with Diamond Book Distributors, it’s an exciting year of growing and learning for us while still staying true to our core of creating space for lesser-known stories.”

Check out Difference Engine’s 2024 Catalogue here.

Follow Difference Engine on:

For enquiries, contact:

Olivia Djawoto
Marketing and Communications Manager
Difference Engine
olivia@differenceengine.sg

1 March 2024, Singapore — Difference Engine is excited to launch its open call for Southeast Asian illustrators and writers to submit story pitches for DELAY: A Comics Anthology, the Singapore-based comics publisher’s second collection of short comic fiction. The anthology is slated for publication in 2025. 

From 1 March – 26 April 2024, creators can submit their ideas for Southeast Asian inspired narratives that interpret the theme of “delay” in unexpected ways. With the one-word prompt as a broad canvas from which a multitude of angles can be explored, creators are encouraged to put their own spin on the subject whether it is about looming milestones, resisting mainstream expectations, or doing life at one’s own pace.

Following the success of Difference Engine’s first anthology SOUND: A Comics Anthology (2020), Malaysian illustrator and educator Charis Loke reprises her role as co-editor of the anthology alongside Filipino prose and comics writer Paolo Chikiamco who was previously one of the contributing creators for SOUND. Both veterans in the Southeast Asian comics industry, Loke and Chikiamco’s combined experience in editorial direction, comics creation, and visual storytelling speak to their capability as an editorial team guided by creative collaboration and a strong sense of identity. 

Speaking in anticipation of the forthcoming submissions, Loke commented, “I’m excited for stories that use relationships between text and visuals to craft specific sensations of time on the page. Make us feel! Make us wonder! Make us see the world differently without being didactic about it.”

Chikiamco added: “I’d like to see stories that are comics stories first and foremost, submissions that are created with an eye to the strengths and capabilities of comics as a medium, with modes of expression that simply wouldn’t work anywhere else”.

The open call anthology format has been crucial in Difference Engine’s initiative to discover, develop and showcase the talents of local and regional creators. Difference Engine Co-Founder and Publisher Felicia Low-Jimenez remarked: “As a young independent press, SOUND was pivotal in establishing Difference Engine within the regional comics scene. The anthology helped to connect us to so many talented creators across Southeast Asia, many of whom we’re excited to potentially work with in the future. Particularly with our new foothold in the US and international markets through our partnership with Diamond Book Distributors, we hope DELAY will present new opportunities for us to grow and amplify Southeast Asian voices”.

Echoing Low-Jimenez’s sentiments, Chikiamco also concluded: “Difference Engine is proudly Southeast Asian, this anthology is proudly Southeast Asian, and we want (the) stories to be as well”.

Follow Difference Engine on:

For enquiries, contact:

Olivia Djawoto
Marketing and Communications Manager
Difference Engine
olivia@differenceengine.sg

During these pandemic times, you have probably encountered short comics or infographics on social media about COVID-19, such as illustrator Kow Wei Man’s viral infocomics on staying safe during the pandemic, or The COVID-19 Chronicles, an ongoing educational comic series by NUS Yoo Loo Lin School of Medicine.

These comics may differ in style and presentation, and they may be created by artists with different backgrounds, but they do have one thing in common: They inform and engage the audience on medical topics through a confluence of art and science.

You may wonder, in a field dominated by hard science and numbers, what role can art play?

Say hello to graphic medicine.

Graphic medicine covers a berth of medical conditions written from various perspectives. Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me talks about mental illnesses, Mom’s Cancer delves into a cancer narrative, and Epileptic discusses the stigma of epilepsy.

What is graphic medicine?

Graphic medicine draws its meaning from its two halves: It is the union between graphic novels, and medical education and patient care.

It is a great example of how art reconciles science with humanity, where you don’t merely treat the ailment; you treat the person behind the illness too.

This pandemic is not the first time comics has collaborated with medicine – comics have explored medicine-related topics since the early 1800s!

Despite that, the term “graphic medicine” was only created in 2007 by Dr. Ian Williams. Following this, multiple universities have started including graphic medicine in their curriculum.

Not restricted to factual and informational pieces, these graphic novels often draw upon lived experiences of all parties involved – patients, medical professionals, and caregivers – to offer audiences personal glimpses into perspectives and situations they might not otherwise have.

Graphic medicine can help reconnect medical science and illnesses with the people who have those conditions. Graphic Medicine Manifesto serves as a primer for anyone interested in graphic medicine.

Why graphic medicine?

Conventionally, medicine tends to endorse an isolated biomedical approach almost exclusively. Diagnose patients, pinpoint treatments, monitor recovery processes, and send patients on their merry way. Rinse and repeat. The replicability of this cut-and-dried approach makes it highly efficient.

However, today’s practitioners are increasingly aware of how this approach ignores the human and emotional aspects of medicine of patients’ recovery experiences. When you atomise and delineate patients into body systems, it is no surprise that they feel disconnected and less satisfied with the care received.

Pivoting to a human-centric medical approach, graphic medicine reconnects humans with science: medical professionals with patients; pathology with empathy; biology with biography.

Dementia is the cognitive decline of the brain outside the realm of normal ageing. (Panels from Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma)

What is dementia?

While almost any medical case can benefit from graphic medicine. Two characteristics in particular make a condition a good candidate for graphic medicine: stigmatisation or marginalisation, and a chronic or devastating nature.

Dementia meets both these criteria.

Dementia refers to the cognitive decline of the brain outside the realm of normal ageing. Persons with Dementia (PWD) gradually lose their ability to perform day-to-day activities. Dementia does not refer to a specific condition, and is instead an umbrella term covering specific types of decline, including Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Dementia.

As the global ageing population increases, so does the incidence of dementia. In 2018, the WHO reported that there were 50 million people affected by dementia. That’s the equivalent of a person developing dementia every 3 seconds! This explains why there is growing interest in using the arts – including graphic medicine! – to help foster a positive living experience with dementia.

Graphic medicine can help fight against the stigmatisation of dementia by humanising the people behind the condition. (Panels from All That Remains; part of project Forget Us Not)

How does graphic medicine help PWD?

Despite its growing prevalence, and due to its irreversible nature and cumulatively debilitating impact, dementia remains a taboo subject in many places.

One of the biggest barriers PWD face is stigmatisation stemming from a lack of information and understanding of the condition. Dementia is more than just its biomedical dimension – it is indelibly linked to the person experiencing the condition: physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The impact of this stigma is multifold – PWD might be left feeling dehumanised not only by outsiders, but also by some medical professionals. When discrimination underpins social cultures of shame and embarrassment, it can create resistance for people to seek medical attention, even if they are already experiencing symptoms. Moreover, those who support PWD are affected by the stigma as well.

All these make graphic medicine especially pertinent in improving the welfare of PWD and those around them.

Because of the complex nature of dementia, graphic novels can blend the visual and textual to create layers of subtleties that go beyond the biomedical. (Panels from Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma)

Graphic medicine can address discrimination of PWD not only by providing information on the condition, but also by evoking a human-centred depiction of the medical experience. When readers engage with images of PWD, be it through factual or fictional means, they develop a multifaceted, holistic understanding of the condition beyond the biomedical.

Besides making topics more intellectually approachable, graphic novels offer another form of accessibility – emotional accessibility. By interweaving meaning and context to things typically invisible or difficult to describe in traditional text, emotional perspectives are added back into the equation.

This collective weaving of information – medical, social, cultural, and emotional – builds a living, breathing image of dementia rooted in our everyday lives. The knowledge this is a condition affecting people like us then becomes the foundation – not the exception – upon which new understandings are built.

Moments difficult to inscribe in the harshness of text – including the prejudice PWD face, difficulty in communication, or embarrassment felt when needing help for intimate daily activities – can be coded into the dance of words and images. The relational and temporal aspects of narratives can exist between the spatial and literal. During the reading process, graphic medicine engages the audience, and encourages reflection upon the realities of the characters.

Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma (Books 1 and 2)

We suggest you start your foray into graphic medicine with Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma – an accessible and heartwarming story about how Ash and her grandmother handle the challenges of ageing and dementia while leading an exciting double life as superheroes. Even as Ah Ma’s dementia progresses, she continues to take all her responsibilities seriously – taking care of her neighbourhood, and being a mentor figure to Ash.

The book explores how having a support structure of not merely the immediate family, but a wider social circle as well, can help alleviate some of the stresses of living with dementia. Through the support of her family and the community, Ah Ma is able to continue living comfortably in a familiar environment without hindrance to her well-being or independence. She is still Superhero Ah Ma – dementia is just one of many things she contends with in her day.

In recent years, graphic novels have become increasingly popular outlets for caregivers to navigate the psychosocial aspects of their responsibilities. Framed through a personal and emotional lens, works such as Bird in a Cage, Aliceheimer’s, Little Josephine: A Memory in Pieces, and Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me offer outsiders intimate glimpses into the realities of caring for PWD.

Caring for PWD can be a physically and emotionally challenging task: Beyond fatigue from helping with their everyday needs, caregivers need to deal with behavioural changes and the emotional impact of witnessing the deterioration of a loved one’s condition.

Some caregivers turn to writing as a form of catharsis. Dana Walrath’s journey in creating Aliceheimer’s is relatable to many caregivers: It is a healing process, and one that can hopefully be extended to changing wider societal stigma on the narrative of ageing and dementia.

Others lean in to graphic medicine’s ability to educate and inform. Little Josephine: A Memory in Pieces delves into the shared emotional connection between nurse-author Valérie Villieu and her elderly patient Josephine, and reminds fellow medical practitioners of the importance of compassion and empathy in their practice.

Regardless of the perspective, graphic medicine is an invaluable source of information, comfort, and empowerment for many individuals and communities.

More efforts have been made in recent years to amplify the voices of PWD in graphic medicine.

Efforts have also been made to fund projects covering dementia from the perspective of PWD. While stories by caregivers remain essential in creating public awareness and empathy, there is still a gap in understanding of how those who with the condition wish to be portrayed.

Working with a group of PWD, the Beth Johnson Foundation created There’s No Bus Map for Dementia, a graphic novel that focuses on the daily realities of living with dementia. More importantly, instead of relegating the voices of PWD to the background, this work amplifies the voices of those with the condition. The result is a tale of joy and hope; friendship and independence.

Over time, the project hopes more works of similar nature can be produced, and more stories of dementia can be told in the way PWD want: with respect, and as people with agency.

Graphic medicine resources

For a comprehensive list of other graphic novels and more information on graphic medicine, visit the Graphic Medicine International Collective. We have also handpicked some other reference sources for your foray into graphic medicine!

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/graphicmedicine/index.html

https://www.statnews.com/2018/04/26/using-comics-in-medicine/