Young Reporters create comic book to help teenagers
Budding reporters from across Wirral have created a new comic series aimed at raising awareness of the issues young people face in their everyday lives.
Between Worlds was launched earlier this month by ZILLO’s Young Reporters. The series blends storytelling with honest conversations about growing up, tackling themes that resonate with young audiences.
Set in the fictional Wirral High School, Between Worlds explores a wide range of issues affecting teenagers today, including mental health, online life, friendships, relationships, identity and loneliness.
The comic follows an evolving weekly storyline centred on six characters: Brennan, Jude, Kaitlin, Malik, Missy and Jude.
Each issue develops the story arc further, allowing readers to connect with the characters over time while offering practical advice, coping strategies and real-life experiences to help young people navigate their own challenges.
The first issue, Running on Empty, focuses on Kaitlin and explores themes of mental wellbeing, burnout and recognising when emotional energy is running low. The second edition, The Mountain, follows Jude, a character who has recently moved to Wirral from Lithuania, as he struggles with revision, homework and exam pressure that suddenly feels overwhelming. The latest issue, Just an Afterthought, is set around Missy as she struggles with friendships and feeling like an afterthought.
Three comics will be released each month written and created by ZILLO Young Reporters from across the borough, followed by a podcast episode featuring an audio perfor mance of the story and an informal discussion with an expert on the issues explored.
The feedback from young people has been really positive. There has been a lot of interest in using creative storytelling as a way to explore and talk about issues that may be affecting them.
We’ve already seen this in early conversations, particularly during character development. Young people are using the characters as a safe way to open up discussions they might not normally feel comfortable having, because they are talking about a character rather than themselves.
The plan is to release three issues each month, followed by an audio roundtable-style podcast. Youth workers, professionals and young people will come together to discuss what it is like growing up today and explore the themes raised within each story.
It’s a creative and accessible way for young people to explore the issues they are facing.
Currently, the graphics for the comic are being generated using artificial intelligence, but there is hope that aspiring young artists will become involved and help shape the project as it develops further. The long-term ambition is for young people to take full creative ownership of the project.
This idea originally came from ZILLO Young Reporters. They have been discussing themes, developing stories and shaping character arcs for upcoming issues. We have also been engaging with young people from across the borough, with plans to involve even more young people as the project expands into new spaces.
ZILLO is a platform for young people, created with young people, and this project is another example of us responding directly to the views, ideas and needs of young people.
We haven’t explored podcasting before, but young people have shown a real interest in that format. Youth work does not often have opportunities to create projects like this, where we can use a comic format to quickly respond to real issues affecting young people today, whether that’s GCSE exam pressure, mental health, relationships or wider challenges they are facing.
To read the comic, www.zillowirral.co.uk. Anyone who would like to join the Young Reporters programme can email zillowirral@wirral.gov.uk.
