"Oh God Help Me" by Hana Madness

A selection from Hana Madness' individual work produced over the course of her participation in 'Pen Pals'; our international artist development project with the British Council, showcased at DaDaFest International Festival 2022.

Content note: the material below includes sensitive topics which may not be suitable for all audiences. You can find a list of potentially triggering aspects here.

"Oh God Help Me!" is a series of comic strips inspired by personal experiences when I underwent various medical procedures and treatments in 2021 for both mental and physical health issues that I’ve been experiencing. Very personal, sad, yet tickling at the same time…

Yup! These narratives, as I visualized in this comic strip still often occur in various aspects of life. Why are there so many unnecessary judgments and comments?

Hopefully mental health literacy can continue to spread - in institutions such as families, schools, offices, to public service agencies. To create a safe and supportive ecosystem.

-Hana Madness"

The Mountain & the Beach

Description: a 5 panel comic showing a conversation between a brightly dressed woman with short black hair (Hana) and a receptionist dressed in blue scrubs. Both wear facemasks and are in the reception area of a clinic. Hana wears a t-shirt which reads 'Madness' and features a black and white image of the band, Madness.

Script:

Panel 1:
Hana (approaching the receptionist): Sir, the Doctor told me to bring this file to you…

Panel 2:
Receptionist: Oh! So you got a referral letter to the psychiatrist huh?

Panel 3:
Hana: Yup!

Panel 4:
Receptionist: So what’s up? Just take it easy, why don’t you? Just try to imagine a mountain or a beach…

Panel 5:
Hana (now visibly distressed and with pink horns emerging from her head): OH GOD HELP ME!!!

Scary Girl

Description: 4 panel comic strip set in a hospital, featuring a patient (Hana) lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip. She wears a brightly coloured t-shirt reading 'ALKALINE TRIO', with its short sleeves revealing her heavily tattooed arms. 2 other characters appear in the comic - they wear green scrubs and facemasks and from context it can be assumed they are surgeons.

Script:

Panel 1.
Close up on Hana staring intently upwards with the following caption above her head:
"In the surgery room… Having a mixed feelings…"

Panel 2.
Surgeon 1 (to Hana, who now has her eyes closed): Whoa, you got a bunch of tattoos! Scary girl aren't you...

Panel 3.
Surgeon 1: Are there any ‘undercover’ tattoos? What if you were regretting it? Would you remove it?

Surgeon 2 (holding up surgical scissors): Aren't your parents mad at you?

Panel 4.
Back to a close up of Hana
Hana (shouting with her eyes closed and arms raised): OH GOD HELP ME!!!

Repentance

Description: 5 panel comic showing an interaction between Hana and a healthcare professional while the healthcare professional holds up a syringe and is in the middle of taking blood from one of Hana's heavily tattooed arms. Hana wears a band t-shirt that reads 'The RUNAWAYS' and both characters are wearing facemasks.

Script:

Panel 1.
(Both characters seated beneath the words 'Taking a blood sample' and 'Laboratorium')
Healthcare professional: Can you bring your arm closer, please?

Panel 2.
Healthcare professional: Ahhh, I can't really see your blood vessel bcuz of those tattoos! Wait, what’s with these slit scars?

Panel 3.
Hana: Just a grim past…

Panel 4.
Healthcare professional: Gooooood!!! So you have repented now…

Panel 5.
Hana (pictured suddenly alone and visibly distressed. Pink horns have emerged on her head her teeth, now visible, are sharp and pointy.): OH GOD HELP ME!!!

DaDaFest International Summer Pen Pals contributions:

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Find out more about the Pen Pals cohort made up of Shaun Fallows, Hana Madness and Pelemo Ava Nyajo: