Title: Focus: The Autistic Superhero Loves Comic Art!     Artist: Yvonne Wan (MSc)    

About the artwork: Take the risk and embark on a journey into the unknown.

‘Focus’, the main character of the story, is one of the world’s first autistic superheroes. Autistic individuals are underrepresented in the media, so creating an autistic superhero is an important part towards promoting neurodiversity and inclusion throughout society. Comics are a powerful medium that can change the way society perceives autism and even affect how autistic individuals perceive themselves. One of the golden threads throughout the comic is that autism can be a strength. In this picture, Focus is finding serenity through digital art by using his pen tablet from Wacom. At our Focus Comic free art camp, students love to learn digital art as it is an important aspect of learning how to tell powerful stories.

About the artist: Yvonne Wan is a certified Social Cultural Anthropologist, an award-winning comic creator, writer, and artist. She is the creator of “Focus Comic”. Focus Comic features one of the world’s first autistic superheroes and includes young autistic talent. The project's mission is to entertain and maintain dignity for autistic individuals by removing the stigma associated with autism. Based in Arizona, US, Yvonne runs a free art camp for autistic and special needs kids to help them focus on what they can do instead of what they can’t do. The project supports more than 100 kids a year. It also addresses systemic inequities that come with having autistic kids and children with special needs through the provision of free child development services and extra resources. Yvonne is passionate about enriching the lives of autistic individuals in the community.
Focus Comic：https://focuscomic.com/

About Wacom and Focus Comic: Focus Comic is an Arizona-based comic book company in the US created by Yvonne Wan, offering free workshops to individuals with autism or special needs. Wacom provided Wacom One and Wacom Intuos with a 2-year license from Clip Studio for the students to learn how to draw using digital tools.

The Focus Comic initiative aims to remove stigmas around autism while helping autistic individuals maintain their dignity in an oftentimes harsh society. It also provides a platform of possibilities, such as internships and publishing opportunities within the comic industry. Wacom supports Yvonne's dedication and endeavors to instill a sense of hope in autistic individuals by acknowledging and nurturing the passion and talent of autistic artists.

“I have worked at Wacom for 17 years, and the reason I have stayed here this long is that I respect Wacom’s integrity as a company in its efforts to support initiatives like those at Focus Comics," said Pamela Park, Email Marketing and Influencer Programs Manager. Together with the communities that dedicate their passion and efforts to such meaningful initiatives, Wacom will continue to do its part to contribute to – and ‘spark’ – humanity’s creativity.