A Comic about Viruses and Vaccines
Follow Jenny, a plucky elf who ventures into the forest home of monsters that attack her village on a quest to find a legendary beast she hopes will be able to protect them.
On the surface, Jenny and the Eddies appears to be a fairy tale with colourful, exciting drawings that will appeal to young children. However, the book has a deeper meaning about the importance of vaccinations which is more likely to appeal to teenagers and adults.
The author, Dr Richard Clinghan, is a general practitioner who was inspired to write and draw Jenny and the Eddies after the New Zealand measles epidemic in 2019. Over the years, Richard has found that most vaccine-hesitant parents stop talking to him and close down when he mentions vaccinations and he believes that “vaccine” has unfairly become a controversial word.
In Jenny and the Eddies, Richard explores the idea of taking the word “vaccine” out of the conversation and imagines what a vaccine and virus might look like based on its behaviour and the qualities it embodies
Jenny and the Eddies is inspired by the true story of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The measles, mumps, and rubella viruses are represented by the forest monsters. The forest monsters are silent, stalk their victims, attack quickly and cause indiscriminate suffering.
The MMR vaccine is represented by Eddie, a dog-like creature. Eddie is always vigilant, brave, and loyal. He has a great memory, and even if our memories have faded, he will protect us for the rest of our lives. Eddie will never turn against us, even if we turn on him.
The story also exposes the roles of anti-vaxxers that misguide parents, causing needless suffering and even death.
Jenny and the Eddies aims to promote vaccine safety, to help reassure concerned parents in a non-confrontational manner, whilst providing vaccine-supportive parents more information to help them to stand up for truth and confront conspiracy theorists.
Jenny and the Eddies also features a bonus comic entitled “The White Blood Cells and the Blueprint,” which Richard wrote during lockdown to encourage people to get vaccinated against Covid-19, if we are lucky enough to get a vaccine.