Concrete – A Comic That Changes Environmental Perception
Did you know that comics can be a great medium to convey environmental messages? In today’s society, where topics like environmental destruction and the need for sustainable solutions are becoming increasingly important, there is a desperate need to articulate such topics adequately. A great way to do so is the striking art used in comics. Environmental comics do not just confront people with devastating details but present the topics more lightly and use images for joy and entertainment. Paul Chadwick, author of “Concrete – Think Like a Mountain”, demonstrates this particularly well by combining well-chosen appealing images with serious facts about nature. By doing so, he emphasizes the concept of deep ecology and engages the reader to think about this concept more deeply. But how does he do so? And what approaches does he use to make his comic so effective?
The comic “Concrete – Think like a mountain” deals with a rock-like creature called Concrete. He used to be human but accidentally gets caught by aliens who transplant his brain into a rock without giving any direct reason for it. This transformed him into a giant rock creature with special skills like incredible eyesight and great strength. Apart from those traits, Concrete maintains his human brain and manners. The comic sticks to a realistic story board. In the course of the comic, people from the environmental activist group “Earth First!” persuade Concrete to accompany them on a trip to save one of the oldest forests from getting logged. Even though Concrete isn’t very concerned at first, he agrees to help them and eventually turns into an activist himself (Chadwick, 1996).
Throughout the course of the storyline, numerous environmental facts are revealed and combined with appealing images that raise awareness about the importance of nature and especially the concept of deep ecology. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise, that an environmental approach is chosen. This can be seen in various panels throughout the comic. One panel displaying this approach nicely can be found on page 67. Here, Concrete stumbles upon a ghost net in the ocean while trying to find his way back to his companions. As he has never seen a ghost net before, he wonders what exactly it is. Almost incidentally, some facts and problems caused by ghost nets are described and smoothly embedded into the line of action. This is how the reader is almost unconsciously confronted with environmental facts and at the same time receives nicely drawn pictures combined to an interesting story.
To use a verbal-visual blend, as Chadwick does it, is important because “neither the words nor the pictures alone make complete sense” (Harvey, 1996). The beautiful and awe-inspiring images of “Concrete - Think like a mountain”, grab the reader’s attention. The diversity of drawings is appealing since they help to achieve a realistic story and keep the reader hooked. The images emphasize small details like leaf and bark structure to point out the importance of nature. In addition to that the plot is supported with fascinating facts about nature. Those facts stand in perfect balance to the natural pictures and add knowledge and instruction on environmental ethics and philosophy (De Angelis).
Another great example demonstrating the power of pictures combined with short texts is found on page 94. To display the entire magnitude with which humans are destroying our planet, an exaggerated symbol is used. The mis-en-page shows a giant chain-saw that is cutting down many trees at once. On the handle, all the devices contributing to environmental destruction are attached. This includes chimneys, irrigation systems, air planes and other polluting machines. It shows the enormous influence humankind has on Earth, deforestation and the awful power that the anthropogenic machines have. Concrete’s comment “But of course it’s technology, not our basic functions, that makes the big impact…” shows the ridiculousness of human thinking. Often humans do not see themselves as the reason for destruction, but blame industry without noticing that this technology is used to fulfill the ever-growing needs of humans.
The imagery also hints at the concept of deep ecology that is advocated within the entire comic. Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy stating that all non-human living beings have a worth despite their utilitarian use for humans. All forms of life “are equally entitled to live and blossom” (Matthews, 2003) and humans are not more morally privileged than any other life form. This means that not the utilitarian use but rather the intrinsic value of nature matters (Drengson and Inoue). In the 1980s, deep ecology was defined as a new paradigm that contradicted the old “dominant paradigm” which encouraged anthropogenic behavior and the division into superior human beings versus non-humans.
As the first part of the Concrete series was published in 1986, it was written right in the development process of the deep ecology paradigm. This gave Chadwick a lot of input to write about. In a series of panels leading to the mis-en-page described above, the concept of deep ecology becomes clearly evident. Concrete is pondering about the influence of humans on Mother Earth and thereby compares humanity to a giant who eats trainloads of meat every minute, shiploads of grain and water, and is “eliminating enough to turn […] inland straight[s] into a cesspool”. In this statement, the extent of our society’s consumption is deeply criticized and the egoistic and utilitarian character of humans is clearly demonstrated. This realization is what finally makes Concrete support the activists of “Earth First!”. He decides that he wants to start acting and helping the Earth First!ers to save nature: “A choice isn’t real when it’s merely in your mind […]. Your body makes it real. In actions” (p.95).
With that saying Concrete adopts the philosophy of the Earth First! movement. The movement is guided by the principles of deep ecology and therefore, does not accept a human-centered world. Earth First! describes itself as a movement that is different from any other environmental group. They believe in focusing on the need for action because using a “front-line, direct action approach to protecting wilderness gets results” (Earth First!, 2013). Having the slogan “No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth”, the movement believes that using all tools, from grassroots to civil disobedience are justified to defend the Earth from human destruction (Earth First! Journal).
To get an impression of that, one just has to look at the first pages of the comic when the group of activists gets introduced to Concrete. In those scenes, Penelope, one of the Earth First!ers, is rather lively. She confirms that some activists destroy heavy logging equipment and spike trees to keep forests from getting logged. When Concrete meets the rest of the group it becomes even clearer that their willingness to act is high. Although Concrete does not seem very convinced about joining the group and cannot identify with their methods at first, he eventually gets talked into writing a journal about the movement’s adventures. This shows that the Earth First!er have a persuasive and compelling character that they make use of if necessary. It also demonstrates their perseverance when wanting to reach their aims. In this case, the Earth First!ers definitely want Concrete to join them and they do not leave until he agrees to do so. This leads to an interesting perspective on environmental issues, reconfirms the importance of nature and emphasizes the urgent need for action.
Because of using the named stylistic devices, “Concrete – Think like a mountain” turns out to be a great means for delivering the importance of nature. By choosing the environmental approach, Chadwick sets a solid base for providing environmental facts. To support those short but important facts eye-catching and expressive visuals are used which add up to a nice mixture of interesting story line and stimulating information. Focusing on the concept of deep ecology further underlines the given information as well as the destruction of humankind. Lastly, adding the environmental movement Earth First! makes the story even more vivid and relatable. All in all, this comic is definitely worth reading when being interested in learning more about the environment without wanting to read through countless journals and essays.
Sources:
Chadwick, Paul. 1996: Concrete – Think Like a Mountain. Dark Horse Books. Milwaukee.
Earth First!. 2013: Earth First! Worldwide. Accessed 05.07.2017
Earth First! Journal. About Earth First! and Earth First!ers. Accessed 03.07.2017.
Harvey, Robert C. 1996: The Art of the Comic Book. An aesthetic history. University press of Mississippi.
Matthews, Freya. 2003: Deep ecology. A Companion to Environmental Philosophy. Blackwell Publishing.
Drengson, Alan and Inoue, Yuichi (eds.). 1995: The Deep Ecology Movement. North Atlantic Books. Berkely, CA.
