Back in February the Paper Jam Comics Collective launched Growing up… and that. I thought it was about time I shared the comic I made for it.
This comic is about how being a grown up means taking responsibility for something but it doesn’t have to mean doing it on your own. You’re always part of a community, you just have to accept help. People in your community might not care about your thing but they do care about you and a community of grown ups will help you be happy.
I’m still experimenting with how to do alt text for comics, I realised that cramming all the dialogue into the alt text might not be helpful so there’s a transcript below to keep that minimal.
Transcript
Panel 1:
Sage: OK Sage, you can do this!
All by yourself.
You Just need to make a start.
A wide panel, showing a view of an abandoned greenhouse in front of a large building with several aerials and a radio tower attached to it. The old building looks to be an abandoned weather station of some sort. In the distance beyond the trees there is the outline of a town skyline with a few more ariels.
Sage: It just needs some looking after.
Panel 2:
Sage: Unlocked, nothing to worry about.
A hand rests on a door handle, easily pulling the door open. Plants are growing in the gap between the door and its glass window.
Panel 3:
Sage: If it’s not dead, it’s dying.
Sage is a slightly tall person with wide shoulders and shoulder length light wavy hair, wearing a long practical coat with shoulder details and deep pockets. Their sleeves are rolled up and they’re holding a notepad. She walks through the greenhouse full of dying plants with a look of concern on her face.
Sage: How did we let it get so bad?
Why am I the only one who seems to care?
Panel 4:
Sage leans over to a dried out plant, secateurs in one hand. A small smile on her face.
Panel 5:
The sun has gone down and the stars are out, the greenhouse glows with light. Sage leans over a table temporarily relocated outside of the greenhouse. To the right there is a pile of plant cuttings bundled up and ready to be removed. To the left a small one person tent has been put up.
Panel 6:
The sun rises over the abandoned weather station, as seen from above, a figure walks along a barely visible path towards Sage’s temporary tent.
Jude: Good morning.
Sage: No.
Panel 7:
Sage looks tired, worn out from the previous day clearing out the greenhouse. Jude, a tall man with messy long hair barely held back by a headband, wearing a bulky long coat with a popped collar, stands behind her with a bag on his shoulder. Sage has removed her coat and is in a long black top with a wide square neck.
Jude: I brought breakfast.
Sage: Yes!
Panel 8:
Sage and Jude stand either side of the table outside of the greenhouse, on the table a slightly too small table cloth holds two tall sandwiches cut in half and a carton of juice. Sage and Jude both hold a small pastry in their hands. Sage is smiling widely, Jude returns the smile. Sage’s sleeves are rolled up.
Sage: I haven’t found any chairs.
Jude: I’ll bring some tomorrow.
Panel 9:
Sage’s hand points towards the greenhouse, visible through the open door are one or two healthy looking plants, a lot of overgrown plants and a small stack of empty pots.
Sage: I thought no one else cared about this old place.
Jude: It matters to you.
Panel 10:
Jude: Hey, you’ve got tomatoes!
Sage: And more mystery spores than anyone should encounter. Ever.
Sage has the secateurs back in their hands, looking around the greenhouse with hope. Behind her are a row of very small pots with oversized and leafy plants growing from them.
Jude: Sparrow’s coming with some gear to fix the roof. They’ll have some masks in the van.
Panel 11:
Jude leans over watching as Sage begins to prune and care for the oversized leafy plans inside the greenhouse. It’s clear from the amount of foliage that they have a lot of work ahead of them. Sage smiles, holding a plant with one hand and the secateurs in the other, not wanting to rush.
Sage: It just needed someone to start.
2025 Britt Coxon
