Webcomic Weekly: ‘The War In Sudan, A Venting Comic’ — The Nightmare Of Life During Wartime & The Nightmare Of Not Being There

This week on Webcomics Weekly, The War In Sudan, A Venting Comic by Sudanese creator, Doctor Alaa Musa – a heartfelt plea for an end to the war.

You may have heard about the conflict/war in Sudan that broke out on April 15th. Or you may not. After all, it’s just another little war in an African country. It’s the sort of thing that doesn’t feature too high in the news – not when the US has its daily mass shooting to report on and the UK have the Coronation or whatever scandal is afflicting the government at the time.

But it is happening. It’s resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands to either become displaced within the country or flee across the borders. The UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency has said that it is planning for an outflow of 860,000 refugees and returnees from Sudan and, with partners, will require US$445 million to support the displaced until October.

It is, as these things always are, complex and political, threading back years in the history of the country. But to boil it down to the simplest terms, the conflict is between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). These two forces toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup. They were due to cede power in an internationally-backed plan to launch a new transition with civilian parties. But that hasn’t happened. Instead, the country, particularly the capital, Khartoum, is now at war.

That’s the political background. But Alaa Musa’s heartfelt, plaintive comic, just 15 panels long, isn’t concerned with the political, it’s concerned with the personal. With loved ones, with not knowing, with the heartbreak of being apart.

The War In Sudan, A Venting Comic (that’s merely the intro line for the first panel, as far as I know the comic is untitled), finds Alaa Musa away from her friends and family in Sudan. And of course, she watches with horror and fear at what’s happening to the country, wondering each day, each night, whether her family, mum, dad, siblings, are safe.

It is simple, but that doesn’t take anything away from the power of both Musa’s words, art, or message. In fact, the simple nature of the comic, the shortness of it, the sparsity of her words, all of it adds to a cumulative effect that can only leave you profoundly affected.

We follow Musa through her day, effectively telling the story of a day of worry, just like all the other days. We see her wash, head out, get the tube, follow all the terrible news coming from Sudan, worry over her family, message her family. Just the day-in and day-out existence full of fear and worry.

And Musa’s art is as simple and as effective as the narrative, taking a first-person perspective for many of the panels, we have a deliberate concentration on Musa’s hands, whether it’s washing, looking at her phone. But then, two-thirds through, the hands that were clasped together holding a phone are now raised in prayer, rising up, filling with petals as a prayer unfolds. It’s just a beautiful moment in a beautiful comic.

I hope Alaa Musa’s family are okay, I hope she’s okay, I hope Sudan is, in the end, okay. And I thank Musa for this most lovely comic.

You can find the comic here on Twitter, follow Alaa Musa, and explore her webcomic Dailies of a Junior Doc, although it’s not been updated since 2021.

You can find out more about the Sudan war with these summary articles – Guardian, Reuters, CNN. And you can help, as Alaa says, by both spreading awareness and donating. She suggests the Sudanese American Physicians Association and Sudan Relief -Mazin B Fund.