L.M.N.O. is a graphic narrative that tackles body dysmorphia and celebrates body positivity in a medium renown for idealistic and unrealistic body types: superhero comic books.
Major project
L.M.N.O
Pages 2 & 3: Heroines' Origin
The audience is introduced to the 4 main characters Elle, Louise, Zoe and Chloe who, after a tragic bus accident, receive life-saving cybernetic transplants and are subsequently transformed into the heroines Levis, Momentum, Numero and Orare respectively. The comic book title is thus formed from the beginnings of their superheroines names, matching the secret super-hero agency that saved their lives.
Wavely lined boxes are used to represent dreams, alternative timelines or thoughts in comic books. Thus this spread establishes an underpinning plot point in our heroines' origin long before the current story.
Pages 16 & 17: Reflections of Fear
On these pages the four heroines are forced to confront their mirror counterparts that are based on and fuelled by their insecurities. The characters, locked in their own separate trance whereby, are forced to relive their buried adolescent experiences resurrecting their insecurities as nightmarish exaggerations. Placing Chloe as the story's focal point, the comic delves into her past, revisiting Secondary School bullying.
Reflecting the change of sequence, the comic transitions from white paper to blue to connote the cold, isolation each of their characters feel in the face of their insecurities.
Pages 20 & 21: The Realisation
The antagonist, speaking through the doppelgängers, makes reference to an earlier part of the story whereby each of the characters fixates on their appearance in the mirror in a detrimental manner. These pages focus on the differences of how the audience perceives the protagonists against how they see themselves. Each character is self-conscious about a different aspect of their body, in Chloe’s case this relates to her stomach, Louise: body hair; Elle’s size breasts and Zoe’s is acne.
Page 21 shows Chloe realising she is caught in the antagonist’s hallucinatory trap indicated through the ink change of blue to pink; a vibrant colour of femininity, warmth and visual dominance.
Pages 24 & 25: The Final Confrontation
As each character gains the courage to face their individual fears, they fight of their hallucinatory doppelgängers, breaking out of their trances. Free from their haunting pasts, L, M, N, and O combine their powers of flight, superhuman speed, energy infused punches, and telekinesis to take on their greatest foe yet: insecurity personified. United, the heroines' self doubt cannot pin them into a submission, leaning on the support of friends for an ultimate strength.
Page 25 continues with aesthetic transformation from away from the rehabilitating blue into hotness and revitalised energy of pink, reclaiming a colour that was seemingly imposed as restrictive stereotype.
Page 26: Insecurity Personified
Symbolising disgust, the amorphous antagonist oozes, and slithers to reflect the extreme discomfort those with body dysmorphia experience when thinking about their bodies. In a team-powered attack, L, M, N and O blast their worries into oblivion, taking the antagonist with them.
Pages 30 & 31: The Resolution
In the final spread of the story, the heroines reveal their insecurities to each other. In doing so, the protagonists own their fears and open the door to receiving support from the people they value most, modelling exemplary behaviour for the adolescent girls who look up to superheroines.
Lauren Parker
Major project
L.M.N.O