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Pikadon: The Stanford Graphic Novel Project

The Story of Pika-Don

The year is 1945. Amid the fever of war, one man will be forced to decide between family and country. Tsutomu Yamaguchi is a navy engineer for a war that is all but lost. When a mission arises that separates him from his family, Yamaguchi makes a fateful, haunting decision...

Although the actual death tolls remain unknown, the 1945 atomic bomb attacks killed approximately 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki. The survivors suffered from the effects of radiation and many developed diseases such as cancer. Portraying their concerns became our challenge in writing Pika-Don.

Nuclear disarmament was a dream held by one man whose story touched our hearts. Pika-Don chronicles Yamaguchi's life; he was a Japanese ship designer who survived the 1945 atomic bombings in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Yamaguchi used his experiences to speak out against the use of nuclear arms: "Having been granted this miracle, it is my responsibility to pass on the truth to the people of the world." In March 2009, Yamaguchi became the first double survivor to be officially recognized by the Japanese government. He passed away in January 2010.

We wrote Pika-Don to continue his mission and also remain faithful biographers of Yamaguchi's life. Building off of factual data, we also had to be creative with the insertion of nonhistoric yet culturally realistic information. Our story became increasingly complete as we conducted research and corresponded with knowledgeable individuals. However, many details were left to our imagination.

The Making of Pika-Don

Writing
The writers initiated the process by researching, adapting, and reimagining the experiences of Yamaguchi into a script for the graphic novel. While the writers made many serious decisions about characterization, scene selection, and point of view, they were really a lively group with a great sense of humor. The writers' process was an animated discussion of each and every aspect of the story, from the dialogue to the character sketches to the overarching storyline. Using this process, the writers created quirky character traits, some of which never made it to the printed page.

Thumbnailing
Thumbnailers were particularly influential in the design and layout of each page and can be thought of as the engineers of the graphic novel. They synthesized the writing into an outline of the visual layout. As a group, they bridged the writers' script with their own artistic sketches to provide a visual framework for the illustrators. The thumbnailers, as a very animated group, liked to imagine the composition of a scene by exploring their inner models and acting out character eccentricities.

Illustrating
The illustrators' team efforts were collaborative during the early stages when they were trying to define a singular artistic depiction of the characters. Once the thumbnailers handed them pages, each illustrator worked in focused, meditative solitude, while penciling, inking, and listening to music. The illustrators created an imaginary friend, Bruce, who made several guest appearances in the graphic novel.

Post Production
The post-production team consisted of students who shifted their focus after the other aspects of the novel were nearing completion. Almost every person in the class participated in some component of post production. After final inking, the post-production team scanned, Photoshopped, and exported the pages to Illustrator, where text was inserted. Other members focused on visual and grammatical revisions, to ensure consistency and accuracy. Many members of the post-production team sacrificed sleep and their social lives to meet tight deadlines and make Pika-Don a reality.