William Chen's Phased

COVID-related comics are a dime a dozen, but William Chen went in some weird directions with the topic in his visually striking comic Phased. This comic is a great example of color being used to advance the narrative, even if its initial implementation seems abstract. The comic features a nameless young man (presumably a Chen stand-in) who has a vivid dream during the quarantine of a nebulous pink-and-blue entity entering his mind. He avoids getting sick and feels great, but he starts to become more and more distant from his body. Without warning, parts of his body "phase" out--briefly dissolving into a miasma of pink and blue before reconstituting themselves. It makes eating difficult and starts affecting him to the point where any kind of contact with others becomes difficult. 

The resolution of the story, revolving around extremely surprising contact with a higher being, is both densely colorful and deeply meditative. I wasn't sure how this short comic would resolve, but I wasn't expecting something this contemplative and deliberately conflict-avoidant. This is a comic about agency but also about how we affect others in ways we don't understand or anticipate. In this case, the unforeseen complications are a result of the actions of the higher being. Their evolved consciousness, as they note, didn't mean they weren't capable of misunderstanding how others might react to the gift they gave. Chen's coloring is stronger than his drawing, but his overall cartooning and page composition is fluid and imaginative.