Research-based comic book at UK helps readers understand and fight use of electronic cigarettes by teens and young adults
Top of comic book cover, showing students as puppets of an electronic cigarette; story title is “The Villainous Vape”
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By Alicia Gregory
In August 2019, the CCTS launched its Science Communication Challenge, inviting investigators to develop and pitch a comic-book concept to tell the story of their research. That gave Melinda Ickes an idea.
Bryan Sanders, who does a variety of graphic design projects for the CCTS Participant Recruitment Services unit, became the main artist on the project. His colleague Ashley Hall said, “I knew if anyone could take this scientific jargon, distill it down and turn it into something that was easier to understand, it was certainly him.”
Sanders is a comic artist and filmmaker on the side. In the past eight years, he’s created 20 comic books, with a total run of 5,000 copies. He has been a frequent participant in the Lexington Comic & Toy Con, to be held Sept. 9-12, and will be in Booth 1038 with copies of the comic book.
“If one person reads this book, puts down the comic and then puts down their e-cigarette, that’s a plus-one in my book.”
Ickes says she hopes the comic will promote non-judgmental discussion of e-cigarette use across all ages, and she wants to develop curriculum and programming around the comic book. “Developing this comic really helped me see how we can talk about research in a different way, how we can engage young people. If we keep pushing the envelope, as the CCTS is helping us do, we’re going to reach more people across Kentucky and even beyond.”