Project Description & Rhetorical Context
This digital comic shares a firsthand experience recovering from a sesamoid bone fracture in 2024. Aimed at young adults learning to navigate healthcare, it shows how long even “small” injuries can take to heal and how quickly medical costs add up. At the outset, the narrative reflects a common misconception: assuming the injury was no big deal and brushing it off. As the story unfolds, however, a single fracture becomes a year-long process involving repeated urgent care visits, diagnostic imaging, specialist appointments, and ongoing pain.
The purpose of this project was to educate young adults about two key realities: first, that even “simple” injuries can require long, unpredictable recovery periods; and second, that the financial burden of ongoing treatment accumulates quickly. The intended primary audience is high-school and college-aged young adults who are beginning to navigate healthcare independently—many of whom have limited experience with long-term injuries or chronic conditions. To reach this demographic, the comic was designed specifically for social media, using a mobile-friendly 4:3 format and a one-panel-per-page structure that mimics Instagram scrolling. Technical medical terminology was avoided unless unavoidable. A secondary audience includes individuals who have experienced long recoveries and may find comfort or validation in seeing their experiences reflected.
Embodied Storytelling
Rhetorically, the project draws on embodied storytelling, visual rhetoric, and narrative persuasion—key approaches used in graphic medicine to communicate the lived experience of illness. Embodied storytelling treats the physical experience of injury as a key part of how the story communicates meaning. In the comic, the body becomes a narrative site through visuals of swelling, limping, and pain, including the panels where the foot is “super swollen and red” after marching band rehearsals. These embodied details help readers understand the lived reality of injury in ways that text alone cannot. The comic also shows how the body interacts with the medical system—through urgent care visits, X-rays, CT scans, and different orthopedic devices—placing the story within the real, everyday experiences of navigating healthcare.
Visual Rhetoric
The project relies heavily on visual rhetoric, using images as persuasive arguments. The recurring receipts placed in the corners of panels function as a visual record of financial strain. Each receipt lists a cost—“Urgent visit for foot pain $160” or “CT – no contrast”—and the running total increases as the story progresses. This accumulation creates a rhetorical effect: the clutter of receipts mirrors the emotional and financial burden of long-term care. The reader sees the cost grow from $160 to over $2,300, communicating the financial impact more effectively than text alone could.
The calendar-based panel structure and one-panel-per-page format further emphasize the passage of time. Readers must swipe through each day, showing how slow recovery feels and reinforcing that healing is not quick or straightforward. This pacing is intentional—the act of scrolling is meant to make the reader feel how long the process actually takes. Some pages are also framed to mirror each other: the two urgent care visits in June and July, where doctors repeat “I don’t see anything wrong,” visually and narratively reinforce the frustration of being dismissed by medical professionals.
Narrative Persuasion
The project also uses narrative persuasion, inviting readers to reconsider assumptions about “minor” injuries by giving them a firsthand account. Instead of presenting statistics or explanations, the comic shows the repeated cycle of appointments, delays, and setbacks—such as when the boot removal is postponed multiple times (“Let’s try 2 more weeks”). This repetition helps readers connect with the frustration, emotional strain, and uncertainty of long-term recovery, shifting their understanding through story rather than direct explanation.
Design & Color
Because the comic was created for young adults on social media, each panel was kept simple and uncluttered, focusing on a single moment or idea. The comic was created digitally to avoid issues like shadows or dull colors that can occur when scanning traditional artwork. Inspired by artists Tyler Page and Raina Telgemeier, the art blends simplified characters with more realistic medical objects—such as the CT machine, orthopedic boot, and surgical shoe—to balance relatability with accuracy.
Color plays a deliberate rhetorical role throughout. Each character group was assigned a distinct palette: reds and pinks for the author, greens for friends, and blues for medical professionals. This strategy supports comprehension in a format where panels are viewed one at a time rather than as a full page. The contrast between warm and cool tones also subtly reinforces emotional dynamics—the red tones for the author’s character draw the reader’s attention while the clinicians blend into cooler backgrounds, guiding focus and reinforcing the emotional tone of each scene.
Reflection
Throughout the semester, this project also became a reflection of growth as a visual storyteller. Through experimenting with pacing, framing, and visual metaphor, confidence in using comics as a rhetorical tool developed over time. The process made clear how multimodal storytelling can communicate complex experiences—pain, uncertainty, and financial stress—in ways that traditional writing cannot. Creating this comic required thinking critically about how images persuade, how narrative shapes understanding, and how design choices influence audience engagement.
Ultimately, this graphic pathography aims to prepare young adults for the realities of healthcare, encourage empathy for those experiencing long recoveries, and demonstrate how digital comics can serve as an accessible form of rhetorical communication. By combining embodied experience, visual argumentation, and narrative persuasion, the project contributes to the broader conversation in graphic medicine about how stories of illness and injury can foster understanding, connection, and awareness.