Urban Empathy

Urban Empathy by Dian Killian and Mark Badger

Urban Empathy is a series of clever and sweet stories written by Dian Killian.  The stories are centered around experiences in Dian's life in which she uses Non-Violent Communication skills to resolve conflicts she encounters in her daily life.  The accompanying art for these stories is by Mark Badger.  The art can seem crude but is expressive,  and I think Badger's drawings illustrate well, the subtle differences in the conflicting emotions between characters in these stories.

I think that this comic is a good example of how the comics format can be used to tell all sorts of different stories.  The plots are all 'slice of life' stories, with some great comics-style artistic license.  By Artistic License, I mean that there are talking cockroaches, and expressive physical exaggerations.   The cast of characters includes Dian herself, members of her family, and chance encounters with random strangers.  Dian uses the tenants of Non Violent Communication to reach out to people, rather than to push them away.

These stories are interesting, original and peaceful, and I think that it's great to read them in comics form.  Comics have been dominated by superhero stories for nearly a century, and violent combat is a defining feature of that genre.   I applaud the writer and artist for producing stories of the navigation of conflict toward a peaceful resolution.  This book is an earnest and effective effort that comes in an easily digestible form of short picture stories.  

I would recommend this book to anyone.  I hope you read it and enjoy it.

http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Empathy-Adventures-Compassion-Streets/dp/097706171X
to purchase a copy from amazon

http://www.kripalu.org/presenter/V0004679/dian_killian
little blurb on the author

http://www.nvcworld.com/urban-empathy
nvc site with resources

http://markbadger.org/?page_id=3
More on Artist

http://markbadger.org/
Artist's website with writing and thoughts on comics art