21 Chinese Cartoonists Unite in a Dragonball Fanfic to Fight the Coronavirus

As we recently reported, cartoonists in China have been grieving and showing their support for victims of the coronavirus on social media with words, pictures and comics. This one above (originally spotted by Orion Martin) really caught our eye, which is why we decided it was worth documenting and translating.

Initiated by 涂案Tuan and published by Room114, the comic portrays 21 cartoonists uniting (along with all the people of this earth) to cast a spirit bomb (a classic supermove from Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball series) against the coronavirus in Wuhan. It begins with a short sequence featuring the characters and villains from Dragonball to introduce the concept of the spirit bomb. Then, led by Tuan, each of the participating cartoonists makes an appearance in the strip (drawing their own character or avatar), each raising their hands to contribute to the fight against the coronavirus. Even though the story ends with a victory over the story, its final line is an ominous one: “The war is not over yet, but we will inevitably and surely prevail!”

For more about how illustrators and cartoonists are responding to the coronavirus, see our previous coverage or follow the great coverage by Room114 on Weibo.