China Quake Comics

Beijing based graphic-artist Coco Wang compiled newspaper stories of the China quake disaster and has turned some into comic strips. She hopes that her comics will highlight the human tragedy, not just the material loss, caused by the disaster. She hopes these stories could show readers "the love, warmth and courage of the Chinese people, also the sad and cruel reality of the horrible 5.12 Earthquake."

I am sure CCTV has been playing footage of the recovery effort nonstop. The stories they show of finding survivors are only small miracles amidst enormous grief. In a letter, she writes:
"I wanted to go to the front to help with all those people, some of my friends have already gone there, but I heard that the traffic needed to be kept totally clear for rescue transportation at the moment, people like me without knowledge of first-aid and experience of rescue operations going there now would cause choas and trouble... but I can't just sit at home and do nothing, I have been crying my eyes out in the past three days, I have never felt more proud of my country and people... their love, courage and kindness rock me to my core! I have decided to tell these touching stories by drawing comics."
I can certainly understand what she is going through. I personally experienced this after 9/11. My high school was blocks away from the site so we were not allowed to return to class. So instead of moping around at home, my friends and I went to volunteer at the Red Cross. I guess what was my way of coping, of contributing to the efforts.
Coco Wang takes a more artistic approach. The images are simple but the message is powerful and moving. Click here for the others.