Graphic Medicine: How Comics Help Patients and Doctors Navigate Illness

Graphic medicine, a term coined in 2007 by Ian Williams, uses comics to address complex health topics like cancer, mental health, and disability. Andrea Voglino, secretary of the Associazione Culturale Graphic Medicine Italia, notes that Guido Crepax collaborated with Tempo Medico in the 1960s on illustrated clinical cases. Today, 30-40 significant graphic medicine titles are published annually. Recent examples include Pepita Sandwich's "Piangere: il potere curativo delle lacrime" (Sonda, 2024) on crying's healing power, and Jenny Jordahl's "Ho trovato il mio posto nel mondo" (2021) about body image and bullying. The project "Questo nostro amore" by Valerie Moreschi and Jacopo Boschini (Franco Angeli, 2018) addresses violent teen relationships and is used in Italian secondary schools. Élodie Durand's "La parentesi" (Coconino, 2011) narrates a girl with epilepsy and a brain tumor. Claudio Marinaccio's "Trentatrèraggi ionizzanti" (Feltrinelli Comics, 2021) describes his rare tumor journey. Alexandra Colombo's "Le avventure nel Barattolo" (Gilead), presented at the L'eredità delle donne festival, helps parents communicate metastatic breast cancer to children, endorsed by Europa Donna Italia and the Società Italiana di Psico-Oncologia.