He then sent another 200 series, totaling more than 20,000 prints to all the makeshift hospitals in Wuhan and dozens of designated hospitals treating COVID-19 patients around the country.

His comics are still displayed in some hospitals.

"It would be a great success for me if any patient or worker took encouragement from them," Lin says.

He recently published his new comic collection, Xiaolin Comics: A Happy Excursion in Life, which features a good chunk of prose and about 600 comics conveying inspiration that are rendered in traditional Chinese ink-painting style.

The two-volume collection published by Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on the emotions of young people struggling in cities.