ADVERTISEMENT

Get ready to feel a full set of emotions while scrolling through this post, as here you will get to see comics dedicated to raising awareness about environmental issues. As Paul Goodenough, founder of "Rewriting Earth", shared: "Me or my charity @rewritingearth gets approached by environmental charities or NGOs to try and help a particular animal or environmental issue. I then co-write or produce a piece of content between them and celebs and storytellers." This results in some of the most touching stories you've ever read.

There are over 200 comics created so far that brought together a team of 300 environmentalists, artists, authors, actors, filmmakers, musicians, and more. And as the title says "The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World" was published to gather them all in one place.

So, without further ado, it's time to embrace some of those stories with open eyes and hearts.

Bored Panda reached out to Paul, who kindly answered our questions regarding his organization. Read the full interview below.

More info: Instagram | Instagram

#1

This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

rewritingearth , wawawiwacomics Report

Add photo comments
POST
DragonofMordor
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dawww. Yes. Forget humans, we're the ones ruining things. But precious animals should be protected.

View more commentsArrow down menu

In order to understand how Rewriting Earth started, we asked Paul to share about his background.

Paul wrote: “Firstly, and most importantly. I’m an animal lover! Animals > people IMO! But that aside, I’m a writer, filmmaker, and (I kinda hate this term) entrepreneur. So I’ve spent many years ghost writing comedy for comedians, and I thought I could apply that ability for the planet - basically taking science and environmental issues to the mainstream through truly entertaining stories. Basically, making it more fun!!

So I started looking into what other people were doing in this space, and as soon as I saw Jenny Jinya’s Little Mo comic, I knew comics offered a completely new way of reaching audiences and making them care about animals. She has this incredible ability to take massive facts and numbers, and turn them into heartfelt stories - that often have me bawling my eyes out.

For example, if I tell you over 1bn seabirds suffer and die from eating ocean plastics every year, that’s hard to imagine - hard to ‘feel’. But I challenge anyone not to be affected by her comic, and I’ve had people from all over the world tell me that it was this comic that changed the way they felt about single use plastics and cigarettes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Once I saw what Jenny was doing, I decided that turning climate and animal facts into comics was the way to go. So I conceived the idea of making a comic anthology whereby the world’s biggest stars, scientists, activists, NGOs and more could tell their story with the world’s best comic creators - and that became our best-selling and Sunday Times Award-winning book, The Most Important Comic Book On Earth.

From that, I realized that the format of creating climate stories as comics really, really worked, but I wanted to reach more people - people who couldn’t afford to buy our book. So we transitioned into creating comics and content for social media - and Rewriting Earth (formerly Extinction) was born.”

RELATED:
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Paul was a part of many touching projects, yet we were wondering if there was one that stood out the most.

    “There have been so many that have been life-changing, both for me, and for the charity. I adored working with War and Peas and Richard Curtis, a hero of mine for years - but I have to say the comic that really changed everything was I Promised with Dinosaur Couch.

    I remember so clearly talking to the Dinos team and there was this moment where we said 'what if the dinosaur asked the tortoise to look after the planet after he was gone' and immediately, my heart just jumped. I knew immediately it was going to be big - but even then I couldn't have guessed how many millions upon millions of people would see it (and later share it back to me asking if I'd seen it).

    There was also the incredible partnership with The World Land Trust, where together we managed to raise around $2m and use that to buy Laguna Grande in Guatemala and gift that back to the families of indigenous peoples who lived there, so it, and the 625 endangered species who lived there, will be safeguarded forever.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    I still get a bit emotional thinking about that,” shared Paul.

    Handling such a huge database is no joke. We asked Paul to share how he manages to keep track of all the comics and credits.

    As you can imagine, with 300+ contributors, a range of global charities and a slew of partners, there are never enough hours in the day. So mostly I wake up and go to bed in a cold sweat about all the things I want to do, but can't.

    Behind the scenes, the Rewriting Earth team created a database to organize all the content we make (and by crikey, we make a lot). That includes comics, memes, videos, explainers, posts and more - all categorized and tagged with the appropriate co-creators (because proper crediting matters!). Mostly, this is just for us and our close partners, so that we as a movement of concerned animal lovers can all benefit from the content,” explained Paul.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Doing any group project, you are bound to have different ideas, therefore we were curious how Paul and his team make sure that everyone's input is heard and the final result is good.

    He answered: “We just remind people that we’re here to save animals and the planet, and as long as everyone recognizes (which they normally do) that we’re doing what’s best for the animals and the planet - it’s cool.

    It actually happens a lot less than you might think. Our creators are some of the best people I’ve ever met. I/we owe them such a great, great debt of gratitude for helping creating these incredible stories with us.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    So guys, if you’re reading this, I bloody love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Regarding environmental issues and all that is going on in the world at the moment, Paul shared new topics that he is passionate about.

    “I get up to 50 emails a week from activists, NGOs, groups and more updating me and us on environmental issues. We also have an incredible team of scientists, experts and partners to help advise us and keep us focused. Basically, there’s no shortage of information out there, mostly it’s more of a case of us deciding which areas we can best help with - and how.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    For me, my biggest pet peeve is framing environmentalism around carbon (please, bear with me here).

    The problem I see is that all of us could go vegan, never fly again, be 100% waste-free and only use renewables and we’d never be able to see any benefit - because carbon and climate are intangible. It’s like dieting and never being able to see the weight loss!"

    #10

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , safely_endangered Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    similarly
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Unfortunately, in practice, most hydrogen fuel still comes from fossil fuels because it's cheaper and easier to break hydrogen out of petroleum than glean it from other sources.

    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #11

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , war.and.peas Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    EarthGrowl
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I haven't worn makeup or hair products since we discovered our hair spray was destroying the ozone layer. We used So Much Hair Spray in the 80's.

    View more commentsArrow down menu

    "My big plan for this year is to work to reframe environmentalism around life! The more life we see around us - bugs, trees, shrubs, birds, fish - the more carbon they’ll absorb and the more beautiful and healthy our world will be.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    So rather than trying to convince the average person to reduce their impact (in terms of carbon), I’d rather try and convince them to improve their impact (in terms of supporting life).

    Isn’t that a better message? It could be as simple as letting your lawn grow, making a pond, not getting rid of the leaves in autumn, buying a plant for your house, planting wildflowers, supporting wildlife charities - whatever makes your heart sing.

    Because, for me, the best decision I ever made was turning my garden into a wildlife garden - now, when I feel down or like it’s all too much for me, I just have to look out in the garden and it’s covered in life - butterflies, bees, hedgehogs, deer, frogs, bats… all just from making a pond and letting nature have a few areas.”

    And lastly, Paul added: Follow @rewritingearth on InstagramFacebook and Twitter! We'll keep showing content from the best comic creators, comedians, experts, and activists across the world.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #12

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , extrafabulous_comics Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Paul Pienkowski
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is what actually happened at Roswell. Our government was like "nope" and tossed em back.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #23

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , buddygatorcomics Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Cosmikid
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Latest science for those not familiar; elephants' brains register for humans the same way ours do for doggies and kitties. Chew on that.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #24

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , sarahgraley Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Cosmikid
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Change - is the ONLY constant. We don't teach that nearly well enough.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #26

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , safely_endangered Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    EarthGrowl
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The obscenely rich are already building luxury bunkers to hide and wait out the chaos.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #28

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , wawawiwacomics Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Apatheist Account2
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Other things have been thought to be a solution (lead in petrol, CFC in refrigeration, radium)...let's get it right this time.

    View more commentsArrow down menu
    Continue reading with Bored Panda Premium
    Unlimited content
    Ad-free browsing
    Dark mode
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #33

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , pbf_comics Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Cosmikid
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Inaccurate, this one. The "doctor" figure kind of represents science and academics - and they have been screaming about it all for decades. It's corporate boards and their press agents who push this line.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #34

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , safely_endangered Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    #36

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , safely_endangered Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Cosmikid
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The basic explanation for "Florida", an otherwise incomprehensible conundrum.

    #38

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , thingsinsquarescomics Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    #39

    This Environmentalist Artist Partners With The Best Comic Artists To Make A Better World Together

    rewritingearth , _yes_but Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda