小故事和大事故第一季 — Small Stories and Big Accidents Season 1

Small Stories and Big Accidents is a slice-of-life comic about being an American expat in what I consider the Modern Golden Age of China (2008–2019). Most of the stories are loosely based on real events and, as such, often carry heavier themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

The way these comics are constructed is not immediately obvious, so rather than leave it hidden, it is best to simply say it:

• The comic operates in a conceptual six-dimensional space: three spatial dimensions, two dimensions of time, and one symbolic dimension.
• Each unit of sequential art is a tile, made up of a panel and a frame.
• The panel contains the primary illustrated moment.
• The frame is a three-dimensional structure that encases the panel; its perspective reflects the direction and movement of time within the scene.
• Tiles are not presented in a fixed order. This reflects the expat experience in China, where understanding is built from fragments—pieces of information that must be combined, recombined, and reinterpreted before the larger story becomes clear.
• The outline of the panel—part of the frame—carries meaning that is not expressed through written language.
• Character abstraction reflects self-awareness: animals (such as chickens) appear more realistic, while people are rendered in simplified, “lollipop-like” forms.

This is not required knowledge—but it is the structure the comic is built on.