ABC News and Marvel Comics Spotlight Syrian Struggle in Digital Comic

John F. Trent |

Oct 3, 2016

ABC News and Marvel will collaborate on a brand new digital comic, Madaya Mom that will showcase the true story of one Syrian family’s struggle to survive in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya.

Madaya Mom aims to show strength in the midst of tragedy by turning an incredibly difficult situation into an opportunity to give a voice to her people.

This past January, ABC News Profiled a family trapped inside the city of Madaya. They communicated with a mother of five through texts and phone conversations providing daily updates and a unique look into her life. It detailed her descent into anger and despair as she tore down her future to use for firewood and used leaves for food. Her and her family have been trapped in the besieged city for over 14 months and have struggled to stay alive as many starve to death.

Using the mother’s own words ABC News and Marvel have created a digital comic book and produced a graphic documentary to bring the story to life.

“(The Mother) agreed to speak with ABC because she wanted her story – and the story of her neighbors — to be known; however, with no visuals coming out of Madaya, our team spent a considerable amount of time imagining the ways we could illustrate her powerful journey,” said ABC News Digital Executive Producer Dan Silver. “With their storied history of innovative and emotional storytelling, we knew that our colleagues at Marvel would bring this story to life in a truly unique and expressive way.”

“This meticulously researched collaboration between ABC and Marvel goes where cameras can’t and provides visuals to the true story of Madaya Mom — a story that needs to be seen and told,” said Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso.

Take a look inside the Making of Madaya Mom:

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And meet the artist, Dalibor Talajic:

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