Mabel Brave: A Senior Comic Strip by Sierra Pollock (2012)

Mabel Brave is an aging woman who endured a painful childhood of abuse. She currently lives alone but for several cats. The neighbors believe that she is crazy due to her love of cats. Mabel tries to be friendly with the neighbors, but finds it difficult to relate to them. In this scene, Mabel is returning home from a trip to the grocery store when she finds a young boy pulling the tail of one of her elderly cats. She notices the boy's mother watching, and has to decide how to handle the situation. Mabel ends up yelling at the boy, scaring him off. She ends up feeling even more alone than before, and feels that she has nowhere to go in life. I showed Mabel's isolation by introducing her in a scene with no other people present. Mabel is made more important as a figure from her colorful appearance, whereas the boy and his mother are just silhouettes. I tried to depict her flashback to a childhood memory by putting her as a silhouette with the image of the cat on fire above her head. The last frame shows Mabel's sadness and isolation growing by placing her in pure negative space.