Comics and Storytelling: Brainstorming for Narratively Submission

{Fun Fact No. 2: Comics in the 1950s were the video games of today. Panic was incited in parents with the idea that comics inspired violence and were harmful for kids. This panic lead to the policing of comics via the Comic Code Authority}

It is no secret that I love comics and graphic novels. Any chance I get to mix and mesh medias together, I am going to take it and run with it. I love creating and experimenting with multimodal works and experiencing other’s multimodal works of various forms and genres.

Unlike many comic fans, I can not say that I grew up reading comics because I didn’t. I didn’t become interested in comics until I was going into my 20s and then I found out how much I love them and the way they can be used for storytelling.

My class is still working with Narratively and of course I gravitated towards their comic section (in fact, I was delighted to learn that there was a comic section). While in this section, several comics jumped out at me with their interesting titles and blurbs and I read them all. One however stayed with me for its ability to talk about a difficult subject with wonderful compassion and just the amount of feeling packed into a few words and pictures.

And Now, Time for a Comic About Abortion Doulas by Mick Moran

I really encourage you to go check it out, regardless of your stance on abortions, this is a beautiful take on the work and experiences of a doula, in this case an abortion doula, though you can have one for labor or postpartum. The American Pregnancy Association says,

A doula is a professional trained in childbirth who provides emotional, physical, and educational support to a mother who is expecting, is experiencing labor, or has recently given birth.

I just really like this comic and the way it is so considerate to the different emotions woman who go through this process. Plus the simple doodle type artwork is inspires me and gives me confidence that I can make my own comic series.

Which is one thing I am considering for my Narratively submission piece. I have a topic picked out and would love to make a comic (or maybe a comic series) with it.

My topic will also work with the object focus that we studied in specific Narratively pieces so that is exciting.

What I am thinking right now is writing a piece about life with PCOS. I need to think of a creative title like:

Dreading Periods Until They Stop Coming: A Story of Living with PCOS

Tampons, Always Needed and Always Collecting Dust 

And for subtitles things like:

When Your Body Makes You Feel Like a Failure

Chatting with Trans Guys Made Helped Me Understand and Accept My Body

I feel like “Tampons, Always Needed and Always Collecting Dust” may be giving to much of the story away but it may help draw in readers. That is if I write a story instead of make a comic. I think maybe writing the story out and then making a comic will probably give me something more cohesive.

For this story/possible comic I want to focus on tampons and their impact on me through my life.

Welcome Banner by Maegan Hendricks

From the weird things put in a bathroom cabinet by my dad for when I got ready, and the mishaps of looking at the baaadddd instructions on the box and trying to figure out how to use them with no woman present to ask.

Summers of freedom and swimming in the lake because I used tampons instead of pads so I didn’t have to sit at home for a week and my mom’s reaction when she found out I was using them and freaked out that I was no longer, “a virgin”.

Being a teen and refusing to put them in a drawer in the bathroom like I was ashamed to using less and less because I was on a certain birth control.

Being 19 and having my periods become lighter and lighter until they just stop coming.

Tampon boxes collecting dust, unopened and unused. Hormone treatment and going through two boxes in a week. The boxes gathering dust again.