Super Martín, along with Iron Seal, Kevin the Mutant Crab, Laika, Super Copito, Super Dog, Super Miguel, or Aurelia the Medusa, are part of a legion of superheroes aiming to save the ocean. These characters are some of the creations of the children and young people who participated in “Underwater Comic Strips.”
By: Celeste Burgos, Head of Communications – COPAS Coastal Oceanographic Research Center / celestebadal@gmail.com | Images: Courtesy of COPAS Coastal
“Underwater Comic Strips” is a compilation book and comics workshop that allowed children and young people to learn about marine biodiversity, the importance of the ocean, the main dangers that threaten it, and how to contribute to its protection. According to Eladio Lagos (better known as Yayo), a cartoonist and comic creator who ran the workshop, combining the teaching of these topics with that of comic book design was a unique and entertaining experience. It should be noted that this is the fourth book published within the framework of the “Connected with the Comic” comic workshop, which the artist runs through the Children’s Office of the Municipality of Talcahuano.
Regarding the lessons this workshop left for its participants, Yayo believes that “the most valuable lesson is to become aware of what the ocean’s existence means. Knowing everything it covers, how many species there are, and the influence it has had on mythology, in addition to knowing what the greatest threats it faces in terms of pollution are, has been essential for the workshop participants to channel all that information when creating the spectacular comics that make up the book,” he concludes.
These topics mentioned by Yayo were addressed in different ways, among which are the talks conducted by Paúl Gómez-Canchong: “A Thousand and One Stories of the Sea,” ”The Hummingbird’s Strategy,” and “Sea Monsters.” The first one mainly referred to what the sea is and its importance for people, while the second focused on what can be done to help its conservation. On the other hand, the last one addressed how the ocean has influenced mythology and the marine diversity that hides under its surface so that the workshop participants could find inspiration for their characters.
Contraband science
Paúl, regarding the importance of this process, comments that for the participants, “making their comic translates into their own ‘doing something’ since it allows them not only to listen to the ocean’s problems, but also to propose a solution.” He says this is also related to eco-anxiety management, a topic they had been concerned about in the workshop from the beginning. “We are telling them about many problems in the ocean. We could not stay with that image; the final image needed to be one where every person could contribute their two cents. Many topics are not easy to deal with, so we do what Diego Golombek, an Argentine scientific popularizer, calls Contraband Science to put science into everyday life. In many cases, we must clandestinely seek to incorporate science topics into activities that are to our target audience’s taste.”
In this case, those who participated in the workshop shared their hobbies of drawing and comics. The workshop’s focus was always to give them elements to create their own stories inspired by what they were taught about the ocean, its problems, and possible solutions, and the result could not have been better. The comics are of excellent quality; pollution problems are raised in the stories, not only for humans but also for the organisms that inhabit the ocean and the solutions each person could apply. It is also possible to find in its pages a story showing that sharks are not what Hollywood shows us; they are key species in the natural balance.
This comic book has been the most sought-after of the outreach products the COPAS Coastal Center has produced. “The biodiversity catalogs and board games we develop tend to attract particular audiences. The comic book, however, has won them all over,” says Paul.
You can find the comic book “Underwater Comic Strip” at the following link:
