This collection of cartoons serves to remind us – – even nine months past when the pandemic became a facet of daily life for the world – – of the frightening horrors of COVID-19, along with the resilience and hope that walked alongside it.
Cover by Dalibor Talajić and Lee LoughridgeWritten by Ethan Sacks
Illustrated by Dalibor Talajić
Colored by Lee Loughridge
Lettered by Bosung KimAn illustrated feature chronicling ten personal accounts of life and death from the frontlines of COVID-19. These true stories from journalist Ethan Sacks (Old Man Hawkeye) are brought to vivid life by Dalibor Talajić (Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Hotell). Originally distributed online by NBC News, these tales of hope amidst devastation are now available in print for the first time, fully colored, with behind-the scenes features. From a man stuck in Wuhan during the initial days of the outbreak to an ICU nurse in the thick of one of the busiest hospitals in the country to an Italian opera singer who goes viral while trying to bring hope to his devastated neighborhood, this series takes you where news cameras couldn’t go.
Earlier this week, I watched the first COVID-19 vaccinations go into the arms of health care workers in my home state of Connecticut, feeling as our governor put so well, that “we were in the end zone.” But that end zone is a long way off, as it will be months before the general public rolls up their sleeves – – and that’s assuming approval of all the other vaccines in development and successful rollout logistics.
So while that shot in the arm was a literal and metaphorical reason to celebrate, COVID is still very much here, along with pandemic fatigue – – particularly around the holiday season. There needs to be a reminder of the gravity of this virus, something “COVID Chronicles” does quite superbly.
Originally appearing in installments on NBCNews.com in the spring and summer, these are all stories from real people, from the early time of the pandemic, those hours, days, and weeks where much was unknown – – frightening, but in the context of our current COVID winter, practically innocent by comparison. There’s the ICU nurse, serving her patients while fearing what she may bring home from work. The opera singer in Tuscany giving hope to his community with the gift of his voice. The EMT working in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the Black Lives Matter protests and President Trump’s rally in the city as part of the Green Corn Medics. And the respiratory therapist who becomes patient himself. In the finite space they receive to share their experiences, each of these ten tales packs a punch. Many months after their first appearances online, they remind you of the gravity of this disease, how it is far from just a little flu. It’s a shock to the system at just the right time, when holiday pandemic fatigue creeps in and we’re all wondering if we can cheat just a little, like having that extra piece of chocolate or cheese. But this isn’t the time to cheat, or even think about it.
And yet, ten stories only scratches the surface of the pandemic. There are the essential workers outside of healthcare, those who kept our communities safe, fed, and informed in the face of the unknown pathogen. There are the parents struggling to balance work and schooling for their children. There are those struggling to provide the basic needs for their loved ones, as their industries vanished overnight in shutdowns, perhaps even never to return. There are the racial justice activists who felt compelled to speak up after the deaths of many Black men this year, an awakening of just how tied together racism and public health truly are. And as the pandemic grows more politicized, there are even those of us who watch our own loved ones tune out science and public health for their own selfishness – – some even up to their dying breaths. Perhaps it is time for a second series of NBC’s “Covid Chronicles.”
Some of the most powerful anthologies I have read have been those with collectives of writers and artists, each bringing their own creative stamp to the work’s theme. This is one of the few that I have read that uses a sole writer and artist. Given the origin of the stories in “COVID Chronicles” the choice does make sense. Writer Ethan Sacks’s journalism roots give his script room to keep him out of the picture and his subjects in the picture, and his comic roots allow him to translate that into the right type of script for sequential art. Dalibor Talajić (no stranger to cartoon journalism, having drawn ABC News’s “Madaya Mom” in 2016) has a simplicity to his art that opens up layers of emotion to complement, not overshadow the script. Combined with the simplest of colorwork from Lee Loughridge, passion pours on every page, working alongside these simple but formidable recollections. This is a writer-artist team that has the skill set to handle sensitive, serious topics with the dignity they deserve, and the absolute right choice for this book. A similarly named graphic novel anthology will be available in early 2021 that takes that anthology approach that many of us know best (the collective), and it will be interesting to compare and contrast the two.
I don’t often speak of front or back matter, but the foreword by Alyssa Milano and the closing letter from writer Ethan Sacks are worth your time. Milano sets the stage for what you are about to experience quite effectively, using her own personal experience with COVID (she caught the disease in March) to remind you of the power of storytelling and these stories in particular. And Sacks’s letter (along with script notes and photos of our storytellers) will delight those who love going behind the scenes of comics process, while putting an even more human face to these cartoons.
We’re all tempted during the holidays. One more glass of eggnog. One more piece of holiday chocolate. One extra present (perhaps for ourselves). In 2020, there may also be that temptation to meet a friend for that glass of eggnog, or sneak out to the mall for that one extra gift. When you’re feeling that way, pick this up, read it, and remember the dangers that falling to temptation can provide – – especially this year, when that temptation to cheat could just cost you or someone else their life.
