In December 2014, just months after the Islamic State militant group took over major cities in Iraq and Syria, graphic novelist Joshua Dysart arrived in the northern Iraq city of Erbil. During his five days in the country, he saw thousands of people who had lost their homes in the conflict and began to document the unfolding humanitarian crisis that enveloped them.

Dysart had traveled to Iraq with United Nations' World Food Programme, or WFP, to create a graphic novel highlighting the organization's humanitarian aid workers and those they strive to help.

The comic, titled "Living Level 3," for the most severe classification of humanitarian crisis, tells the story of a fictional humanitarian aid worker, Leila, on an aid mission after the Islamic State brutally seized territory there in 2014.

Based in part on a WFP trip to northern Iraq, the graphic novel draws on real life experiences of people who have fled ISIS militants in the country's Sinjar district. It gives a unique perspective on the lives of aid workers offering relief.

The WorldPost is publishing the comic exclusively in a four-part series this week.

We spoke with WFP's Jonathan Dumont, co-creator of the project, as well as with bestselling graphic novelist Joshua Dysart, who wrote "Living Level 3." They shared their hopes for the work, and described how the idea came to fruition.