DESCRIPTIVE ARTICLE Anatomy Comic Strips Jin Seo Park, 1 Dae Hyun Kim, 2 Min Suk Chung 3 * 1 Department of Anatomy, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Republic of Korea 2 The Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey 3 Department of Anatomy, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea Comics are powerful visual messages that convey immediate visceral meaning in ways that conventional texts often cannot. This article’s authors created comic strips to teach anatomy more interestingly and effectively. Four-frame comic strips were conceptualized from a set of anatomy-related humorous stories gathered from the authors’ collective imagination. The comics were drawn on paper and then recreated with digital graphics software. More than 500 comic strips have been drawn and labeled in Korean language, and some of them have been translated into English. All comic strips can be viewed on the Department of Anatomy homepage at the Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea. The comic strips were written and drawn by experienced anatomists, and responses from viewers have generally been favorable. These anatomy comic strips, designed to help students learn the complexities of anatomy in a straightfor- ward and humorous way, are expected to be improved further by the authors and other interested anatomists. Anat Sci Educ 4: 275–279. © 2011 American Association of Anatomists. Key words: gross anatomy; artistic anatomy; cartoons; humor; Korea; medical education INTRODUCTION The comic medium has largely been ignored in the scientific disciplines, even as it has begun to appear in the humanities. For long time, comics have been regarded as suitable only for children, because they are neither art nor literature but rather a perverse hybrid arising from popular culture (Locke, 2005; Tatalovic, 2009). And yet comics have enormous power to tell stories and convey messages (McCloud, 1993). Comics can also facilitate efficient and effective communica- tion of complex information. They have been used success- fully to disseminate ideas, and their audience has expanded beyond young people to include adults who wish to learn more about myriad weighty issues in fun ways (Green and Myers, 2010). Science Comics Comics have been used in science education, including chem- istry (Di Raddo, 2006) and biochemistry (Nagata, 1999). One group created a science curriculum that incorporated comic strips and provided students with opportunities to read, discuss, and respond to the contents of these comics. The comic strips stimulated students’ interest in science issues and promoted science literacy (Olson, 2008). In another study, children exposed to science comics were able to give scientific explanations for the comics based on their own experiences (Weitkamp and Burnet, 2007). Spurred by curios- ity from science comics in yet another study, children were motivated to look for more information in magazines, news- papers, the Internet, and other sources (Rota and Izquierdo, 2003). Posters that incorporate science-themed comics can enhance the public’s understanding of science across multiple generations (Naylor and Keogh, 1999). Contemporary comics depict the lives of scientists in addi- tion to the subject of science itself. One series, PhD Comics, depicts the lifestyle of graduate students in the midst of their scientific research (Cham, 2002; PhD Comics, 2011). Lab Bratz, another comic strip, was inspired by the day-to-day activities of a scientific laboratory and office space (Tatalovic, 2009; Lab Bratz, 2011). Such comics have been used for fun and education and are increasingly a topic of academic study. Medical Comics Medical comics have been used to promote public awareness and patient literacy regarding various ailments, including *Correspondence to: Dr. Min Suk Chung, Department of Anatomy, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea. E-mail: dissect@ajou.ac.kr Grant sponsor: Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), with funding from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology; Grant number: 2010-0009950; Received 10 October 2010; Revised 28 February 2011; Accepted 11 April 2011. Published online 1 June 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/ase.224 © 2011 American Association of Anatomists Anatomical Sciences Education SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 Anat Sci Educ 4:275–279 (2011)