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Comic Book Aims To Boost Earthquake Preparedness

Dark Horse Comics produced a 12-page booklet to educate the public about earthquake preparedness.
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics produced a 12-page booklet to educate the public about earthquake preparedness.

Emergency managers in Oregon have a new tool to educate the public about earthquake preparedness. It's a comic book. And it's co-produced by one of the nation's top comic book publishers.

Dark Horse Comics produced a 12-page booklet to educate the public about earthquake preparedness.
Credit Dark Horse Comics
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Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics produced a 12-page booklet to educate the public about earthquake preparedness.

The comic is ominously called "Without Warning." It's the tale of a teen on the Oregon coast who's separated from her family after a major earthquake and tsunami.

The Oregon Office of Emergency Management turned to the Portland-area's Dark Horse Comics to produce the 12-page booklet. Dark Horse is known for such titles as “Hellboy” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Ian Holt works the counter at Borderlands Games in Salem. He said this earthquake safety comic could actually work.

"The artwork is pretty good. Very good quality,” Holt said. “I think it's simple enough to get the message across for the entire purpose of the comic."

Spoiler alert: The girl in the comic survives the quake and reunites with her family. After all, she was prepared.

Emergency management officials hope other teens will read the comic and take steps to get themselves and their family ready for the Big One.

Copyright 2014 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.