George Gittoes has documented war zones through art and film - from Nicaragua to Iraq, Rwanda to Afghanistan and beyond.
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While in such confronting, "terrifying" environments, writing his stories about a fictional team of soldiers known as the Virus Squad has proven an invaluable outlet.
"I've written about them, wounded under a tank while it was raining and bodies all around," Gittoes said.
"That's been my solace, writing about the Virus Squad.
"I don't need to write it when I'm back at wonderful Werri Beach. I only need it when I'm in a bad place."
The Werri Beach artist, film-maker and humanitarian is now revisiting these characters, turning his attention to a new series of comics.
We Are The Virus is the first part of a planned Night Vision trilogy, based around the central characters of the Virus Squad.
After the initial trilogy, there will be further stories.
While in lockdown, Gittoes has been busy creating the comics.
"It is the time of the coronavirus and I have decided to go back to writing Night Vision and the story of Virus Squad," the 70-year-old said.
"This has been my private memoir - another parallel life lived in an alternate universe. A cathartic exercise to relieve the actual horrors I have witnessed in too many unnecessary wars.
"It's enabled me to write about stuff that I wouldn't write for a newspaper or magazine, or put in one of my documentaries."
Gittoes first started writing the stories back in 1993 while in Somalia with the Australian Forces, and continued it through the Kibeho massacre in Rwanda, which recently had its 25th anniversary.
"Up until now, it's been a personal thing that I've done because usually in these places I'm on my own," the artist said.
"So I write, and I invented this group, Virus Squad, and they've lived through all my wars now, and I've kept on writing it.
"It's just been a personal thing. Then when the pandemic hit, my wife said, 'George, why don't you share Virus Squad with the world?'
"It wasn't invented for the pandemic, but it was kind of perfect for the pandemic... It's kind of perfect for now.
"We Are The Virus has got a message, which is it's about time humanity stopped fighting each other and started being kind to our planet. Because if the planet dies, we die."
While the artworks can be viewed via Gittoes' social media pages, he said he was getting orders from throughout the world to purchase physical copies of the comics.
"It's had a really good response so far, people are really loving it," he said.
"We're going to start releasing it as comics within a month or so.
"When they build up it'll be like a graphic novel... The comics are like the chapters, and eventually you put them together and you make a graphic novel."
The artist said the harsh, grim realities of war were well-suited to the graphic novel format.
"Even the things people say in it are based on real things that I've lived through, and the people talk like people in the army units that I've been with... It's dialogue taken from real life," he said.
"I'm enjoying it so much I can see myself doing it for the rest of my life."
Visit http://gittoes.com/ for more details.