Documenting pandemic through comics: COVID Chronicles

At the recent Graphic Medicine Conference in Chicago, I got myself COVID Chronicles: A Comics Anthology, which is a collection of more than sixty comics dealing with the pandemic experience.

The book is a response to the extraordinary circumstances in which we found ourselves. And it is usually during difficult times that we translate our fears into creativity in order to cope with negative events. The volume was put together over the period of six months, from April 2020 to October 2020, therefore it focuses on the beginning of the pandemic and how we responded to it without knowing how long it would all take. Reading those comics in 2022, when we've gotten used to the pandemic and most people have been vaccinated, was incredibly interesting.

Personal COVID struggles, working on the front lines or adjusting to working from home, loss of jobs and loved ones, or the politics of the pandemic can all be found in the stories. There are so many different perspectives and styles, and we're all affected by the same pandemic. I especially appreciate the inclusion of diverse voices, such as native communities, LGBTQ+ people, and children's perspectives.

COVID Chronicles allows us to connect by sharing our experiences, so that those pages contain not only fear, anxiety, loneliness, or grief, but also hope, fun, creativity, and lots of imagination. Although I’ve been journaling throughout the entire pandemic, I wish I had drawn more to capture those moments.