Lesson 48 · A Comic without a Villain

I drew a comic about the bicycle racks at school. In my first version, one student parked badly and blocked the path. The story was simple, but it made the problem look like one careless person's fault.

Then I spent a week watching the area after school. The racks filled quickly; students arriving later had nowhere clear to park. Delivery workers also needed the path for carts. Some students hurried to catch a bus, while others stayed for clubs. The space had to serve several different schedules.

I rewrote the comic with three characters who each had a reasonable goal. They disagreed, measured the narrow path, and asked the school to test a different arrangement. Nobody became the villain, and the ending was not a magic solution.

The new comic was harder to draw. It was also more interesting. Instead of asking readers whom to blame, it invited them to notice how the place shaped everyone's choices.