Comics Writer
Written in 2018, this one-page comic addresses the way our cell phones have become agents of oppression, blinding us to consequential change around us.
Comic
Script
This is a three-panel, noir political cartoon.
ROW 1
Panel 1: We see a close up on a woman’s face, her eyes are large, she’s happy and looking towards the top of the panel. She’s very well-lit, darkness on either side of her. We see tech-word balloons, as though from a television.
NEWS 1: THE STOCK MARKET CONTINUES TO SOAR FOLLOWING THE LATEST JOBS REPORT.
NEWS 2: MEANWHILE, OPTIMISM GROWS REGARDING THE POSSIBLE DENUCLEARIZATION OF NORTH KOREA.
ROW 2
Panel 2: We have zoomed out a little bit and see the woman is sitting in a chair like a dental hygienist’s chair, a metal apparatus suspended above her, holding her cellphone in front of her face. She’s smiling, entertained. The light cast upon her is exclusively from the phone, darkness surrounds behind her.
NEWS 3: GUN MANUFACTURERS RELEASED STRONG GROWTH REPORTS IN THE SECOND QUARTER…
NEWS 4: AND THERE’S BEEN ANOTHER BIG WIN FOR AMERICA AS THE NFL TAKES DECISIVE ACTION AGAINST PLAYERS WHO PROTEST POLICE BRUTALITY.
ROW 3
Panel 3: We have zoomed back enough to see the woman’s arms are strapped to the chair, as are her legs. Her face is unflinching, identical to the way it was in the first panel, having never moved or even blinked. She’s wearing a hospital gown, as though she were about to undergo surgery. We see a swastika spray-painted against the chair the woman is sitting in.
In the darkness that surrounds her, we see a child being torn from its parents by armed soldiers. Behind them, we cages. There are bullet shells on the ground, along with papers that read in red “PAYMENT DUE”.
NEWS 5: STAY TUNED AS WE DISCUSS THE END OF THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION AND THE ARREST OF ROBERT MUELLER.
NEWS 6: AND LATER IN THE HOUR, WE’LL DISCUSS THE DANGEROUS OF THE IMPENDING MIDTERM ELECTIONS. IS IT TOO SOON TO VOTE AGAIN?
