Did you know that a star nosed mole touches at the speed of thought? Or that knifefish communicate electrically? Or that an orca can detect their prey’s skeleton? Consider that a sneak peek at The Senses: Signals and Stimuli (out October 20 and available for pre-order). Don’t worry, I’ve got pages for you too!
Making a comic about the senses introduces an unavoidable wrinkle: this is a visual medium. While that sense is an easy fit, there are plenty more to cover, and scratch-and-sniff technology isn’t in the budget. Every sense, then, must by necessity be translated through vision. This limitation inspired the book’s theme.
Art is all about translating subjective experiences. The philosopher Thomas Nagel asked “what is it like to be a bat?” Tom, I don’t even know what it’s like to be a you! Art helps us bridge the gap between us. I don’t mean just visual art, either. Prose, cooking, dance — they’re all ways to communicate your personal, subjective perceptions, even one as simple as “to me, this is beautiful.”
This volume of Science Comics invites you to imagine an answer to Nagel’s question by learning about how an array of Earthlings sense the world. We follow a young artist who’s confident that she knows the best way — the right way — to make art. One day after school, though, she stumbles into an art room that she’d never noticed before, one filled with folks who have their own ideas about what makes great art. A familiar face with a penchant for sniffing is the first to welcome her…
Expect plenty more, from hearing and taste to echolocation and magnetoreception. The Senses: Signals and Stimuli is currently available for pre-order online and at your local bookstore. It’ll hit shelves on October 20, 2026!