Wednesday 28 October 2009

The HERO Initiative

This week Theme Thursday is all about Halloween. I thought about writing what Halloween means to me, Samhain, All Hallows Eve, a time to honour the ancestors, noticing the death of summer and of course MAGIC, fancy dress, parties and FUN.

Thinking back at some of the parties I've been to I can say there is always a Dracula, Cat Woman, Hellboy, a Werewolf or two...

So that got me thinking about Villains, Anti-heroes, those with supernatural powers, our favourite comic and graphic novel characters. My sister lives next door to a very successful comic artist. She's even modeled for him once or twice. I seem to remember she was the model for Judge Anderson on the Placebo album cover her neighbour drew many full moons ago.

Over the past 18 months or so I have noticed this comic artist posting pictures of his work on facebook. Its always refreshing to see art on there instead of the mundane 'tiffany's Coronation St name is...'.

What I have noticed and respected about these pictures is that he has donated the works to the HERO Initiative . The HERO Initiative is a charity set up to help veteran creators ( and their families ) who need financial support and may have been largely forgotten by the industry they helped to forge ; people who were creating comics long before things like royalties and reprint fees became the norm, and whose work may no longer be in vogue, or who simply can't draw anymore. The works below, and 99 others, are being auctioned to raise money for this worthy cause.





Many of the donated works of comic art are being auctioned on Ebay. The starting bid prices are very low. Please click HERE to visit the Ebay auction site and see the wonderful donations available for purchase. Wouldn't they make great and unusual Christmas gifts?

The success of a project like this is in ensuring that as many people are aware of this project as possible. Please feel free to link to this post and circulate knowledge of this project.

21 comments:

Caio Fern said...

this is an incredible post !!! i didn't know about this institution .
and is cool to know your sister was the model for the placebo's album .

ArtSparker said...

Sounds like a great cause and a wonderful way to show solidarity - I recall that the creators of Superman did not have nay rights until many years after they had come up with the character.

Brian Miller said...

oh you are playing at my heart strings now...i grew up through comics...a very cool cause...many a great artist lost their soul and their rights to comic companies...the artwork is very cool!

happy tt!

Betsy Brock said...

Good luck with the project! Happy Theme Thursday!

patricia said...

I had no idea about the situation of veteran creators! this post is really moving and at the same time shows a way to act from solidarity.

Unknown said...

What a great idea!

Comic artists, not so much Comic Books, have been a wonderful part of my life. This seems like a wonderful way to benefit both the artist and one's self.
Thanks.

Wings1295 said...

A post with a mission! Very cool. Happy Halloween!

Kate Hanley said...

Wow. I had no idea about the lot of the comic artists. Thanks for drawing attention to it. Happy TT!

Jasmine said...

Caio - thank you, my sister loved it. We were big Placebo fans at the time.

Susan - Its often the way unfortunately. But there are cool inventive ways of showing solidarity like his project...

Brian - Me too. Lets hope they do a Batman auction!

Betsy - Thanks :)

Patricia - It is a lovely way of showing support.

Andy - I know what you mean. With Christmas round the corner and the spending mania that will happen over the next few weeks the optimist in me hopes people might consider alternative ways of spending. A way that allow them to buy cool gifts but the money spent will benefit others instead of high st shop and gigantic corporate retailers...

Wings - Thank you

Kate - Happy TT :)

Renee said...

What an interesting post Jasmine. I know none of this stuff, and yet I want them to succeed. Of course I do.

Jasmine I keep wanting to tell you that my daughter Angelique's middle name is Yasmin, pretty close to yours.

Life is wonderful.

Love Renee xoxo

JGH said...

My husband is a comic book collector and you've just given me a great idea for a Christmas gift! Thanks - sounds like a good cause, too.

Kat Mortensen said...

I agree, it's nice to see artwork on FB, but having said that, I am a Corrie fan and now I have to find out what MY Coronation St. name is!

Kat

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

It was interesting to learn about the Hero Initiative, Jasmine. I'm going to see if I can join their cause through facebook and spread the word that way. My daughter knows some current comic book artists so I'll also pass the information on to her. It's a worthy cause. Thanks!

e said...

Thaks for the information and what a wonderful way to show support.

Tammie Lee said...

This is wonderful art and a great cause, I will take a peak. Thank you!

Ronda Laveen said...

I have been an avid "fan girl" for years. And always felt so many of the artists were ridden hard and did not reap the $$ for their very creative work. Thanks for making me aware of this project.

California Girl said...

Pretty cool post for this week's theme. Good of you to point this out. I have heard of the cause but really didn't know what it was about.

I Wonder Wye said...

that's such a worthy cause! so glad to hear someone doing this!

The Silver Fox said...

Having written a few comics myself, I can't help but admire the progression from the topic of Halloween to that of an incredibly worthy cause.

Harnett-Hargrove said...

I believe this is the case with other creative venues as well. Creation rights are very important and the ability to step out of the 'work-for-hire'. Great info, thanks. -J

lettuce said...

what a wonderful idea

my husb. and daughter are very into comics and comicbook art, i'll have to pass this on to them