Standing Up

Artwork by Alex Brenchley 3 February 2023

Comic

Panel 1 of a four-panel comic drawn digitally: a white man with a moustache, corduroy trousers and a plaid shirt is edging out of the frame with the outline of seated heads around waist-height. A person wearing a baseball cap and holding a microphone says "Hey! Where d'ya think you're going?!" The caption text reads "Even though my cancer treatment is over..."

Panel 2 of a four-panel comic drawn digitally: a white man with a moustache, corduroy trousers and a plaid shirt, with the outline of seated heads around waist-height, looks back over his shoulder and says "Sorry, just to the toilet". A person wearing a baseball cap and holding a microphone looks unimpressed. The caption text reads "I still have plenty of health issues as a result"

Panel 3 of a four-panel comic drawn digitally: a white man with a moustache, corduroy trousers and a plaid shirt, with the outline of seated heads around waist-height, resumes his attempt to leave the frame whilst looking back at a person wearing a baseball cap and holding a microphone, who says "You can't hold it in for my set? That's so rude, man!". The caption text reads "I do my best but some things are still hard"

Panel 4 of a four-panel comic drawn digitally: a white man with a moustache, corduroy trousers and a plaid shirt, with the outline of seated heads around waist-height, turns to face a person wearing a baseball cap and holding a microphone. He says "I need to defecate quickly, I had bowel cancer." The person holding the microphone guiltily looks away and says "Woah, way to kill the mood!" The caption text reads "Like seeing stand-up."

Standing Up. © Alex Brenchley for Wellcome Collection.

About the artist

Alex Brenchley

Alex Brenchley is an artist and cartoonist based in London. His work has been published by the BBC, the NHS, Literary Review, Tinpot Records, Universal Records, and The New Statesman magazine has featured his ‘This England’ cartoon series in every issue since February 2017. Alex was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in his 30s and, following a year of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgeries, he is currently in remission.

Standing Up

About the artist

Alex Brenchley

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