Our Story

Soda Pop Hospital’s pilot series is based on real life events that took place in the rural US, in an Intensive Care Unit.

These events, experienced by artist and art director Daniel Baxter, were used to create the comics that spoke to the perspective of a loved one to an ICU patient.

Together with the help of medical illustrator Vinald Francis, a short series was developed. Feelings like confusion and helplessness are illustrated by the cute monsters and animals that inhabit this world. 

After producing a medical graphic for Dr. Rebekah Gardner and Dr. Kate Cahill, Francis suggested they collaborate together with Baxter on a medical comic about their research. The topic was the use of language when rounding at the bedside with the patient present, as opposed to in the hallway or conference room.

They decided to set these comics in the world of Soda Pop Hospital. This became the Bedside Language Series.

A selection of these were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2023.