Spot how comics honour front-line workers

Go ahead. Take a few extra minutes with the Sunday comics today. It will be worth it.

You might notice that several of the strips are using common symbols that have been included in an effort to show appreciation for the people working on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s up to you to find those symbols. It’s not hard once you get in the groove, but it’s not that easy either. There is no fun if there is no challenge.

Eleven of the strips we publish include the symbols. Artists were given a free rein in deciding how to incorporate them. Some are well hidden, while others are obvious.

Once you find one in the Blondie comic, for example, it will be easy to find the rest.

The symbols include a mask for medical workers and caregivers, a steering wheel for delivery workers, a shopping cart for grocery workers, an apple for teachers, a fork for food service workers and a microscope for medical researchers.

As part of the tribute, the cartoonists are helping to raise money, through their social-media feeds, for a variety of charities.

“It’s a great way to acknowledge the work of the front-line workers across North America in a different format,” says Adrian Raeside, the creator of the Other Coast. “And it is good to know that various charities will benefit from it.”

Raeside is raising funds for the SPCA, keeping in mind that pets suffer, and are even abandoned, when their owners suffer.

The feature was the idea of Rick Kirkman, who does the Baby Blues strip. (You’ll find his strip on C4. You’ll find the shopping cart in the third panel. Those are the only hints we’ll give.)