Using Comics to Dispel Myths in HOW TO FAKE A MOON LANDING
Vaccines cause autism.
Fracking is safe.
Global warming and climate change aren’t real.
One graphic novel tackles all these beliefs and more – and offers hard evidence to prove them wrong.
We talked to Cunningham about his book – and have a special look at the complete title chapter, which deals with, yes, the theory that the moon landing took place on a soundstage. WARNING: This interview might ensure that you never go to a chiropractor again.
Newsrama: Darryl, what was the initial inspiration to do this book?
Darryl Cunningham: I sort-of phased into How To Fake a Moon Landing via my previous book, Psychiatric Tales, which was a collection of cartoon strips based on my experiences working on an acute psychiatric ward in England, and my own struggles with anxiety and depression.
In writing this book, I realized that I had developed an ability to boil down complex ideas into a clear narrative without losing the truth of the original idea. A good skill to have, so I began thinking about what I would follow Psychiatric Tales with.
When drawing I tend to listen to a lot of podcasts. I'm especially keen on science podcasts like Radiolab and The Skeptics Guide To The Universe. One thing I noticed when listening, especially to the skeptic podcasts, was how a small number of subjects kept cropping up time and again.
These issues seemed to be really misunderstood by the general public. I wondered if it was possible to do a book covering a few of these hot-button issues. So that's what I decided to do.
Nrama: Why did you want to do it as a graphic novel?
Cunningham: It just so happens that I can draw as well as write. I love comics. Doing the book any other way never even occurred to me.
Nrama: Tell us about your process for creating the art/design of this. Silly question – what was the trial-and-error process of creating your illustrated alter ego?
Although I moved into color with How To Fake a Moon Landing, my approach to the new book was the same. The ideas presented are complex enough as it is. I didn't want people to have to work out where people were standing in relation to each other or what was going on.
It's drawn on a three tier grid, usually just six panels a page. I wanted the strips to be so easy to read that they would go straight into people's psyches without even touching the sides.
No effort should be required to read these strips. I wanted them to be like Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy. A strip so simple, that by the time you've decided not to read them, you already have.
Cunningham: I had to do a lot of reading to research the book. I had to really immerse myself in each subject. Thank god for the internet, which makes research so much easier these days.
The most challenging subject was climate change. It was a tough, almost painful process getting that strip down on paper. The science is really complex and I still don't feel that I covered the subject as well as I could have. The broad outlines are there, but the fine details aren't as filled in as I would like. Still, it covers the ground it needs to in order to make its point.
As a chapter was roughly finished, I would upload it onto my blog. This allowed the strips to be kind-of peer-reviewed, much like a scientific paper. Readers, who were often specialists in these areas, would point out mistakes or make suggestions on how I could clarify the strips. I generally found that I'd not made too many blunders, which was gratifying.
Cunningham: I had a belief that of all the alternative medical therapies, that chiropractic therapy would be the one with the most validity. It's a multi-million dollar business around the world and is especially popular in North America. I had the dim notion that it was some ancient therapy and that it was recognized as an actual science-based practice.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Chiropractic therapy was invented by a Canadian in the late 19th century by a man with no medical training, called Daniel David Palmer. Palmer believed that he'd cured a man of deafness through spinal manipulation. Old school chiropractic therapists still believe they can cure most things, including viral illnesses through spinal manipulation.
The profession is gradually shedding many of the more absurd beliefs and edging towards something like physiotherapy. But this does beg the question, why not train as a physiotherapist in the first place?
The connecting fabric I see in these to the scientific hoaxes you examine is that the accusations come from a real place of anger and fear. And I see that just as often in "debunkers" of science, such as evolution, or those who still believe vaccinations cause autism, as covered in your book.
This is a long-winded way of asking -- why do you feel people hold on to such beliefs, even in light of hard fact saying otherwise? And I speak as someone who was a loyal follower of The X-Files in high school, so I'm hardly guiltless.
Changing these long held beliefs can be a painful process that might involve having to leave the social group you belong to, or departing a profession in which you're financially invested. These are colossal changes in a person's life, so I can understand why people might cling on to a belief, long past the time when it's been discredited.
We all face these challenges as we live our lives. We have to ask ourselves, are we strong enough to change our beliefs if evidence comes along that proves them wrong? Are we going to hate the individuals who brought us this information, or are we going to accept the truth, no matter what difficulties that truth will bring into our lives?
It's not an easy process. But this is what we're faced with.
Cunningham: I'd like to have covered acupuncture, but that's the only subject that was left out. I didn't think of it until later on. By the time I'd finished the book, I was more than ready to move on to another area.
Apart from having to update the book, as new editions appear, I can't see myself returning to this area with a sequel. I might tackle science again, but it would be in a different format.
Nrama: Are there any hoaxes you've ever believed in, or, to bring up The X-Files again, you want to believe in?
Gradually however, as I read more about science, I began to dispense with these beliefs in favor of what was actually observed to be true. The universe is strange and wonderful enough without having to add more.
That we exist at all is pretty amazing.
Nrama: What's been the most interesting/gratifying or negative reaction you've gotten to the book so far?
Still, by internet standards of abuse, the comments I got were almost polite. No one threatened to shoot me, beat me up, or suggest I should be gang raped. Almost a miracle these days.
Nrama: What are some other comics/creators you're currently reading/enjoying?
Cunningham: I don't read a lot of comics, mostly because I have so much research reading to do. Books I've enjoyed recently include The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song by Frank M. Young and David Laskey. This is a biography of the first superstar group of country music that comes with a CD.
I also liked Glyn Dillon's The Nao of Brown, The Complete Hugo Tate by Nick Abadzis, and The Silver Darlings by Will Morris. I'm really looking forward to Katie Green's book on anorexia, Lighter Than My Shadow, which will be out later this year, I think.
Cunningham: I'm working on a political book for Myriad Editions about politics. This, as yet unnamed book, will look at how capitalism and the unregulated financial sector brought about the economic collapse, and how austerity measures have not only failed to end the recession in many countries, but have made the situation worse.
I'm currently 20 pages into the first chapter, which is on Ayn Rand. Rand's political and economic philosophy has underpinned much of the far right's political thinking for decades and has even given them a moral position from where they can justify attacking the poor.
It's going to be a Lefty book, but it's not anti-capitalist. It's more of an argument for restraint and a rethinking of society’s morals. I can feel the angry emails already heading my way.
Learn How To Fake a Moon Landing on April 2.