WP2 Post 1

The comic that I chose comments on the medical paranoia prevalent in modern society. The picture within the comic is a single panel illustrating the random light red spot, presumably on skin. This kind of red marking can be found on everyone at one point or another in their life because it could represent any kind of medical mystery from a rare deadly disease to a light rubbing from a carpet. The text is handwritten and lists reasons that people could possibly be paranoid from a seemingly uninteresting red spot on their skin. The list appears to be a train of thought from the audience or “everyman,” attempting to logically process why there should be such a spot on their body. The humor in the comic derives from the ending of the list, when it ends with”oh god I'm gonna die,” suggesting that the red spot is being over exaggerated to the audience making it humorous. Juxtaposing the image of an insignificant faded red spot with the embellished text adds to the humor, since it seems silly that such a small thing could push whoever is thinking about the spot to the conclusion that he/she is going to die.

The text in this particular comic is crucial to communicating the pun to the audience, otherwise it simply looks like a multicolored smiley face. The icon of the smiley face combined with the supposed red spot on skin humanizes and lightens the situation, allowing the audience, strangely, to connect with the spot. Typography plays a prominent role in this comic because it helps tone down the gravity of the situation. The type appears to be almost childish handwriting, suggesting that the lightheartedness associated with a child or a certain levity found in most comedic acts and shows. The comic simplifies the hypochondria that the United States has developed in the past few years, due to terrifying epidemics such as swine flu and anthrax. The situation has been oversimplifies by the artist who communicates that Americans over-analyze, therefore overreacting because not every red spot, bump, or bruise signals a deadly disease. If this happened in real life and someone had a nervous breakdown about a measly spot the reaction would reflect the person ailing from such a malady. Comics simplify a situation that reflects the feeling of an individual and this comic exemplifies this by mocking a situation which everyone secretly wants to scoff at for the other person's exaggeration. With popular medical shows such as House, nightly news blathering about pandemics sweeping the globe and even antibiotics turning deadly; it is understandable that people would be paranoid about their health, but if every small formation on our body turns into a cancer is absurd to an outside audience as it should. Every person in the world is afraid of death (associated with disease) so we try to avoid it at all costs, but there lies the absurdity in that everyone must face death at one point in life.