The comic

Any comic book or graphic novel fans out there? This post is for you! 

A while ago, I was contacted by an MIT professor teaching a class called "Comics and Sequential Art." In that class, students learn to draw and narrate stories using sequential panels, much like a comic book. A classic assignment is for students to team up with a scientist and tell the story of their research. 

Now, I love a good science-art collaboration. I see metaphors for research in modern art museums, and I find my scientific experiences reflected in music, dance, and drawing. When I saw the professor's email, I jumped enthusiastically on board. 

There were actually two teams of students who chose my work. One created a comic about larval dispersal to shipwrecks, and the other team focused on how shipwreck materials impact recruitment. The recruitment team used a resurrected ship captain as their narrator, which was a really cool twist! The final, colorized version of their comic appears below (click on the images to open full-size versions). 

Thanks, Erez Fass and Daph Guo, for creating beautiful art and powerful science communication. And thanks, Jason Wiser, for connecting us and teaching sequential art!