COVID Chronicles: A Comics Anthology

Description

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. When we weren't sheltering in place, we were advised to wear masks, wash our hands, and practice social distancing. We watched in horror as medical personnel worked around the clock to care for the sick and dying. Businesses were shuttered, travel stopped, workers were furloughed, and markets dropped. And people continued to die. Amid all this uncertainty, writers and artists from around the world continued to create comics, commenting directly on how individuals, societies, governments, and markets reacted to the worldwide crisis. COVID Chronicles: A Comics Anthology collects more than sixty such short comics from a diverse set of creators, including indie powerhouses, mainstream artists, Ignatz and Eisner Award winners, and media cartoonists. In narrative styles ranging from realistic to fantastic, they tell stories about adjusting to working from home, homeschooling their kids, missing birthdays and weddings, and being afraid just to leave the house. They probe the failures of government leaders and the social safety net. They dig into the racial bias and systemic inequities that this pandemic helped bring to light. We see what it's like to get the virus and live to tell about it, or to stand by helplessly as a loved one passes. At times heartbreaking and at others hopeful and humorous, these comics express the anger, anxiety, fear, and bewilderment we feel in the era of COVID-19. Above all, they highlight the power of art and community to help us make sense of a world in crisis, reminding us that we are truly all in this together. The comics in this collection have been generously donated by their creators. A portion of the the proceeds from the sale of this volume are being donated by the publisher to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) in support of comics shops, bookstores, and their employees who have been adversely affected by the pandemic. Half Title Title Page Dedication Contents Preface, Kendra Boileau COVID-19 Diary, Jason Chatfield COVID Dawn, Jesse Lambert Ring the Bells, Emily Steinberg Sheltering in Place: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Ajuan Mance Morning Commute, Rivi Handler-Spitz The Iron Lung in the Enders Lab, Katy Doughty Past Pandemics, Ned Barnett Apocalypse of Ignorance, Seth Tobocman and Tamara Tornado Isolation Exercises, Laura Holzman And This Is How I Leave You, Sean Seamus McWhinny Sort of Together & Mostly Apart, Brenna Thummler Hi, Dad. It’s Rivi., Rivi Handler-Spitz Eye of the Storm, Janet K. Lee It’s a Laugh a Minute Round Here, Joe Decie Meditations, Gerry Chow Grief Changes, Shelley Wall Solidarity, Luis Manriquez and Simon Gentry The Hero in My Heart, Kang Jing and Pavith C. Lessons Learned, Tim E. Ogline Two Weeks’ Notice, Mark Heinrichs Quarantine Week 10, Comic Nurse (MK Czerwiec) Yokai Parade Presents Amabie!, Zack Davisson and Lili Chin How to Have a Powwow in a Pandemic, S.I. Rosenbaum and Arigon Starr We didn’t get far..., Rivi Handler-Spitz Katie’s Coronavirus Diary!, Tom K. Mason, Eduardo Garcia, Kurt Hathaway, and Chris Summers PAW Patrol to the Coronavirus Rescue., Sage Stossel Shelter-in-Place Sing, Lee Marrs If I Was, Justin LaRocca Hansen Librarying During a Pandemic, Gene Ambaum and Willow Payne Just heading over to a friend’s place for dinner., Rivi Handler-Spitz Small Acts, Stephanie Nina Pitsirilos and Seth Martel Protecting Simmons Base, Armond Boudreaux and Ignacio Di Meglio Puzzling Together, Kelly Latham Ripples, Brian Canini and Amy Canini Live • Love • Eat, Scott J. Jones This Is My Wartime Haircut, Ben Mitchell Which step are you on?, Rivi Handler-Spitz April 11-15, 2020, Rob Kirby My New Normal: Rinse & Repeat, Rob Kraneveldt and Mike Garcia Epitaph for Myself, Rivi Handler-Spitz The Dance of Death, Peter Dunlap-Shohl State of Emergency, Sarah Firth Earth Force 2020, Quincy Scott Jones, Ken Best, and Zen Between Two Worlds, Julio Anta, Jacoby Salcedo, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou We made faces instead., Rivi Handler-Spitz Seasons of the City, Stephanie Nina Pitsirilos and Aaron Guzman The Right to Breathe, Maureen Burdock and Joanna Regulska Pandemic Precarities: An Account from the Intersection of Two Worlds, Kay Sohini Saying Goodbye, Christopher Harland-Dunaway, Thi Bui, Sarah Mirk, and Amanda Pike Going Viral, Rivi Handler-Spitz Eviction, Eiri J. Brown Back to Work, Seth Tobocman and Tamara Tornado Mundane Hazards, Rivi Handler-Spitz New Model Consultation, The Bad Doctor (Ian Williams) Self-Care, Joe Decie A New Reality, Annie Zhu and Richard You Wu New Life, Roland Burkart and Natascha Hoffmeyer What the hell?!?!, Rivi Handler-Spitz COVID Hardball: World Leaders Step Up to the Plate, Rich Johnson and Eli Neugeboren Dr. Anthony Fauci, MVP, Kendra Boileau and Eli Neugeboren Same, Jazmine Joyner and John Jennings Corona Diary, Hatiye Garip Spread Love, Not COVID, Terry Moore List of Contributors Lonely 20 20, Jay Stephens Copyright Page