Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction

MK Czerwiec and Ian Williams

1 Who Gets to Speak? The Making of Comics Scholarship

Scott T. Smith

Excerpt from Swallow Me Whole, by Nate Powell

2 The Uses of Graphic Medicine for Engaged Scholarship

Susan Merrill Squier

“Bad Blastocyst,” by Ruben Bolling

Excerpts from I Am Not These Feet, by Kaisa Leka

Excerpts from “Where Babies Come From: A Miracle Explained,” by Ann Starr

3 Graphic Storytelling and Medical Narrative: The Use of Graphic Novels in Medical Education

Michael J. Green

Excerpt from The Infinite Wait, by Julia Wertz

4 Graphic Pathography in the Classroom and the Clinic: A Case Study

Kimberly R. Myers

Vita Perseverat (Life Goes On), by Ashley L. Pistorio

5 Comics and the Iconography of Illness

Ian Williams

Excerpt from The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon

6 The Crayon Revolution

MK Czerwiec

Excerpt from Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person, by Miriam Engelberg

Excerpt from Old Person Whisperer, by Muna Al-Jawad

Conclusion

MK Czerwiec and Ian Williams

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Comics Bibliography

Author Biographies and Acknowledgments

Credits

About the Author

MK Czerwiec is a nurse and comics artist. She is the artist-in-residence at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Ian Williams is a visual artist and illustrator, a medical doctor, and an independent humanities scholar. His most recent book is The Bad Doctor: The Troubled Life and Times of Dr. Iwan James.

Susan Merrill Squier is Brill Professor of Women’s Studies and English at Penn State.

Michael J. Green is a medical doctor and Professor of Humanities and Medicine at the Penn State College of Medicine.

Kimberly R. Myers is Associate Professor of Humanities at the Penn State College of Medicine.

Scott T. Smith is Associate Professor of English at Penn State.

Reviews

“Absorbing and accessible. . . . The authors explain themselves in both words and pictures (five sketch themselves as standard-issue professionals, and one as a small, cheerful chicken). They outline what drew them to graphic medicine and append excerpts from favorite works.”—Abigail Zuger, M.D. New York Times

“Graphic Medicine Manifesto draws its strength from the way the individual voices coalesce to confirm not only the ability of comics to unravel medical culture and the pedagogical possibilities of graphic medicine but the transformative and community-building competence of graphic pathographies. In short, Graphic Medicine Manifesto is an essential read for scholars in comics studies, cultural studies, medical humanities, bicultural studies and visual studies, and to any reader who values the intersection of literature and medicine.”—Sathyaraj Venkatesan Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics

“Something remarkable and game changing is being sparked by the alliance between comics and medicine. It’s becoming clear that these graphic narratives can deepen understanding, not only of facts but of feelings, between patients, families, and professionals. A spoonful of comics really does help the medicine go down.”—Paul Gravett, author of Comics Art and editor of 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die

“Published in 2015, this book was one of the very first on graphic medicine. It continues to provide fundamental information for getting started with graphic medicine and building an appreciation for comic scholarship in medicine.”—Janice Phillips Doody's Review Service