Artist illustrates heartbreaking comic about black cats & superstitions. It'll leave you in tears.

"Is there life after death?" is a question that's plagued mankind since the beginning of time. What exactly happens when your heart stops beating? Does your "soul" meet the Grim Reaper and journey to the afterlife? Or do you simply cease to exist? The obscurity of it all has contributed quite a bit to the negative connotations of death, and artist Jenny Jinya is hoping to put a different spin on it through her comics while addressing certain other somber topics as well. The artist recently created a comic about the unfair superstitions plaguing black cats and it might just make you cry.

"Even in 2019, you still hear of black cats being associated with superstitions, witches, black magic and such. Black shelter pets are less likely to be adopted than pets of other colors. They still face so much hate nowadays and the more I read about this topic, the sadder I get," Jinya wrote, captioning the comic. The strip features the Grim Reaper having a conversation with the soul of a dead black cat asking the feline, "Did you come too close to the road again?"

"No," the cat replies, with a sad face. "They hit me on purpose." As the Grim Reaper —the black-cloaked, scythe-wielding personification of death — empathizes with the poor animal, Jinya's artwork highlights the stigma surrounding black cats and how even in the 21st century, educated people cannot seem to get over the superstitious connotations attached to them. Speaking to Bored Panda about her work, the artist said, "There are dozens of posters and infographics with various statistics about abandoned or abused animals. Many know the problems, but such information is quickly forgotten."

"I try to give a voice to the victims with my comics. I want the affected pets to be able to tell their own stories. I hope I can raise awareness this way," she added. As for what her take on the afterlife discussion is, she revealed she could not decide if death is just a state or the beginning of a new adventure. "Who knows. I’m not the one to answer that. But I like to imagine death as a person who is just doing their job. People hate them for what they’re doing, but in the end, someone has to do it. I like to imagine Death to be a gentle and insightful being," said Jinya.

"For all I know, we could be part of the biggest MMORPG in the whole universe, but there’s no way of knowing it. Now go and hug your pet!" she concluded. This isn't the first time Jinya has called attention to cruel practices towards animals, previously making the internet cry with a super cool and unbelievably sad comic about an abandoned puppy left to die in the cold. Check it out here below: