All-New Digital Comic MADAYA MOM Tells the True Story of a Family’s Fight for Survival Inside Syria

By Staff Reports

ABC News and Marvel today announced MADAYA MOM, an original digital comic detailing the harrowing true story of one family’s struggle to survive in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya. An extraordinary tale of courage and resilience, the heroic MADAYA MOM shows strength in the midst of tragedy, turning an incredibly difficult situation into an opportunity to give a voice to her people.

In January 2016, ABC News profiled a family trapped inside Madaya, communicating with a mother of five through texts and phone conversations to capture the bleak outlook that she and her family faced every day. ABC News posted daily updates from the mother, detailing her descent into anger and despair as she was reduced to breaking apart their furniture for firewood and boiling leaves for food. Since Madaya has been besieged by forces loyal to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, the family has been trapped there for over 14 months and has struggled to stay alive as many starve to death in what is effectively an open-air prison.

Using her own words, ABC News and Marvel created a wholly original digital comic book and produced a graphic documentary to bring the story to life.ABC News has concealed the identity of the family for their own protection.

ABC News Presents: MADAYA MOM

“(The Mother) agreed to speak with ABC because she wanted her story – and the story of her neighbors — to be known; however, with no visuals coming out of Madaya, our team spent a considerable amount of time imagining the ways we could illustrate her powerful journey,” said ABC News Digital Executive Producer Dan Silver. “With their storied history of innovative and emotional storytelling, we knew that our colleagues at Marvel would bring this story to life in a truly unique and expressive way.”

“This meticulously researched collaboration between ABC and Marvel goes where cameras can’t and provides visuals to the true story of Madaya Mom — a story that needs to be seen and told,” said Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso.