On Science and Comics

Science finds itself in a tricky position when it comes to reaching out to the public.  To most people, science is seen as almost untouchable, a field that few can participate in or even have a say in.  There’s so much required knowledge, so much specialist training, so many facts and formulas, that to interact with and question science feels daunting.

From Hope Beyond Hype.

Malaria Comic - Preview

© Edward Ross and EVIMalaR 2011

Here's another glimpse of the malaria comic I'm working on.  We've been fighting forward the last few weeks, trying to get inks done before the end of the year, and it looks like we're on track.  Meanwhile, comic artist Tom Humberstone is bringing my black and white linework to life with his fantastic colour work.

Above is an image of an infected Red Blood Cell bursting open to release the parasites into the blood stream.  Below is one of our more allusive images, illustrating our metaphor of scientists 'taking apart a clockwork parasite to see what makes it tick'.

© Edward Ross and EVIMalaR 2011

I'm very excited to see this project all coming together.  The hard work is starting to pay off!  In the new year we'll be wrapping up the artwork, finalising the wording of everything, and then getting covers and so forth prepared for the final comic.

Stay tuned!

Malaria Comic - First Glimpse

For the last six months I've been working on the pre-production of a comic for a malaria research network called EVIMalaR.  Along with my co-writer Jamie Hall, who I also worked on 'Parasites' with, we've been doing research, interviews and lots of script work.  We're trying to create a 20 page comic that does justice to the incredible complexity of the malaria parasite Plasmodium, and to the various strands of research and techniques being used to find out more about these single celled organisms.

© Edward Ross / EVIMalaR 2011

Just a couple of weeks ago, we finally sprang into action with the illustration.  I'm doing the linework, and I'm honoured to have the fantastic Tom Humberstone on board doing the colours.  I love the work he's doing - bringing to life this microscopic world with a rich, otherworldly palette.

Plasmodium parasites entering the bloodstream down a mosquito proboscis
© Edward Ross / EVIMalaR 2011

I'll try and bring more previews as the process unfolds.  It's been a welcome challenge for us, really exploring what we can do with comics to describe science.  And being part of the writing process has been fascinating, having to learn about and then retell really complex scientific ideas in an efficient and interesting way.

Project Parasite II - Malaria

I've been a bit quiet over the last few months since the release of Filmish 3, for which I can only apologise.  I can now announce that I have been commissioned to create a second parasitology comic, this time by the European Virtual Institute for Malaria Research (EVIMalaR), and the preparation for the project has been eating up all my spare time.

© Edward Ross / EVIMalaR 2011

You can still download our first comic for free here.  This time round we've got much bigger plans, with a 16 - 24 page comic envisioned as the final product.  There's room this time to really get down to the complex, interesting details, as well as give more scope to discuss various angles of the disease, including its history, biology and its social impacts, etc.

© Edward Ross / Wellcome Trust 2010

What's cool too is that we're creating a 'modular comic' - so while it will be available as a printed, complete item, we'll also make it available as a resource to teachers, lecturers, students and charities when they need to explain or illustrate a given concept that has been covered in the book.  So for example, if a charity needs to explain to funding bodies why research takes a long time, or the social impact of malaria, they'll be able to take those specific chapters or illustrations and provide them on their own.

Last week my collaborator Jamie Hall and I travelled to the EVIMalaR conference in Heidelberg, Germany to begin research.  We met with scores of researchers working on some of the many facets of malaria research, from those investigating the Plasmodium parasite, to those looking at the mosquito vector.

In the coming months I'll be working on this full time, as we move through research and writing to illustration.  As we go forward, I'll be posting details of our progress, and some samples of the work in progress.

And don't worry, I'll still be keeping time aside to work on some other projects, including more Filmish and some short comics pieces for anthologies and self-publication.