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Comic artists respond to the climate crisis

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Press release
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Comic artists respond to the climate crisis

The worlds of science and comic art have been brought together to deliver powerful messages about climate change.

Three leading comic creators have collaborated with CONSTRAIN to develop comics exploring the climate change challenge.

Title page of the "Degrees of Change" climate comic. Two people are stood overlooking a river, city and mountains. One person says "It looks so beautiful from up here. Shame we could lose it all. Did you know that if global temperatures continue to rise at the current rate, we will reach 1.5C before 2040." The other person responds "Why is that temperature so important?"

‘Degrees of Change’ by Darryl Cunningham

The comics feature satirical conversations between migrating polar bears and penguins, a trip to a museum of climate futures and a discussion with a climate sceptic about the importance of taking action.

All three comics highlight key messages from CONSTRAIN, including what the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature goal means and why it matters, and how climate impacts increase and intensify with every fraction of a degree of warming.

The comics are aimed at reaching audiences beyond the scientific community, and are being  shared widely online and through social media. They will also have a presence at two of the UK’s leading comic conventions in the build-up to the next UN Climate Change Conference, COP28.

One panel of the "Move" climate comic. A group of polar bears are sat on an iceberg and one polar bear is saying "Friends, we must prepare for climate change."

‘Move’ by War and Peas

All of the comics are freely available to read and download from the 10 Years to Save the World  and Lakes International Comic Art Festival websites.

The artists are award-winning comic creator Darryl Cunningham, satirical comic creators War & Peas, and comic creator, academic and illustrator Sayra Begum.

Dr Debbie Rosen, CONSTRAIN’s Science and Policy Manager said: “We want to make sure our research can reach as many people as possible and this means finding new and creative ways to tell climate change stories. The artists’ response to our challenge has been incredible and we are delighted to be able to share the results for all to see and read. This project has demonstrated clearly that comics are a powerful way to communicate the biggest challenges our planet and humanity face.”

One panel of "The Extinction Room" climate comic. Two people are walking along a path showing different levels of warming. As they get further down the path, the colours become darker red to represent more warming.

‘The Extinction Room’ by Sayra Begum

Both CONSTRAIN and the comics will also have a presence at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, an annual celebration of the world’s best comic creators held each year in Bowness-on-Windermere, UK.  The event Using Comics to Save the Planet will take place on Saturday 30th September 2023.

Julie Tait, Director of The Lakes International Comic Art Festival said: “Comics are an incredibly diverse art form with the power to reach new audiences and to connect with people visually, emotionally and with lasting impact. This important project will certainly help wake up new audiences to the climate crisis and I firmly believe comics have the power to change the world. The comic creators have done an amazing job.”

Read 'Degrees of Change' by Darryl Cunningham

 

Read 'The Extinction Room' by Sayra Begum

 

Read 'Move' by War and Peas

 

More information

Darryl Cunningham is the award-winning author of Psychiatric Tales, Science Tales, Supercrash: How to Hijack the Global Economy (a New York Times bestseller), Graphic Science and Billionaires, which won the Best Graphic Nonfiction category in the Broken Frontier Awards 2019. His most recent book Putin’s Russia was published by Myriad in September 2021.

Sayra Begum is an illustrator, writer and educator based in Nottingham. She teaches Illustration at Falmouth University and Comics at De Montfort University. Sayra released her debut graphic novel, Mongrel in 2020.

War and Peas is a webcomic by Elizabeth Pich and Jonathan Kunz. Since 2011, Pich and Kunz have posted once weekly every Sunday to their website and several social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. They have over 1 million Instagram followers.

All media enquiries to Chris Dessent chris@creativeconcern.com / M: 07966 252 461