Environmental Issues, Pressing the Press, Compostable Comics

 Comics being the product of the resource intensive newspaper and publishing industry is not often thought of as being a particularly environmentally conscious type of business.
Despite this there have been many varied and exceedingly well done comics with cautionary tales of environmental distress and misuse. Ironically printed on paper, when our ever dwindling resource is necessary not just to make fine books but to keep air in our lungs.
Within the industry there has also been initiatives over the years to offset and mitigate the deforesting and destruction of  Mama Earth. The foresight shown by some publishers is both thoughtful and promising. Dark Horse was the first to offer some books on wholly recycled papers and now virtually all the books you get have some measure of reused or recycled paper fibers being used.
Many comics, notably all DC publications carry a certification from
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification  which oversees forestry worldwide to
maintain sustainability of our worldwide natural resources.


 To further explore the ecological aspect of the ecological world as viewed through the comic book prism take a look at the suggestions below. You'll find some of the best and brightest creators in the art form producing some of their finest works, because they believe in the message.



Neil Young has been a champion of planet earth for ages and never so apparent in Joshua Dysart and Cliff Chiang's adaptation of his theme album Greendale detailing the lives of the Green family , their history and the activism of some of their members.
The whole of the family and their community are inseperable from the land they live on, the water they work

" the graphic novel is officially titled, was released this week by Vertigo, a division of DC Comics, and was written by Joshua Dysart, illustrated by Cliff Chiang and colored by Dave Stewart. It focuses on Sun Green, the great-granddaughter of Jay Green, the man who founded Greendale. Through Sun, the artists tell a story about personal responsibility, war and the environment, all themes familiar to Mr. Young. “It’s still pretty current,” he said.

The Greendale townsfolk were originally given life in 2003 in Mr. Young’s 10-track concept album with the band Crazy Horse. That led to a concert tour, an original film and a companion book of lyrics, illustrations and more information about the characters, including the Green women’s special relationship with nature. The graphic novel draws on the various incarnations with a strong helping from the book and suggestions from Mr. Young. “The album is more of a rock-’n’-roll ‘Our Town,’ ” Mr. Dysart said in a phone interview from his home in Los Angeles. “The graphic novel is an American fable with strong supernatural elements.” 

Paul Chadwick's tale of a man trapped in a rock body trying to reconnect with the world he previously ignored. His journey to feel alive and human again sees him cross the globe many times: he climbs Everest, scours the Ocean Depths, works on a farm, wanders the Pacific North West and even joins activist group Earth First! as a means to better the world.

DC's Swamp Thing, originally a simple Frankenstein type horror character transformed under the deft workings of Alan Moore. His re-imagining saw the series mature into a highly intelligent socially and environmentally conscious book.

Stories dealing with corporate negligence nuclear waste, chemical dumpings and poisoned land became central themes. A naturalistic approach to the art, featuring almost entirely organic shapes
as well as the general health of the biosphere.



Moebius' Edena Cycle is more about personal transformation but still focuses heavily on a return to nature and appreciation of the world around us....away from the poisoned destructive technocracies we've built our societies into.

The far spanning and long running series of Bande Designees finally saw a complete English collection just last year.














Michael Zulli's Puma Blues was a massive achievement in terms of both it's message and Zulli's unmatched rendering of natural environs and fantastic fauna.
Stephen Murphy's script and poetry create a cautionary and remorseful tale of our world being poisoned by industry and unfettered human expansion throughout the globe.

 Environmental awareness also creeps into comics in subtler forms.
Hiyao Miyazaki's Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind displays a wonder and love of the natural world.
While new books like ICHI-F , chronicling the Fukishima show the cost of our ecological errors.
Josh Neufeld's  AD:New Orleans After Deluge expressed a different kind of environmental destruction that also makes for good comics.

 Publishers Weekly have also put out a solid list of environmentally themed graphic novels and comics for your further enjoyment and information.
All of these and more are available to you at Worlds Collide Comics.
But you already knew that, didn't you?

And hey, it's our planet, take care of it!