The Mighty Titan is coming

We all have our pet causes (Mine include the CBLDF, MoCCA, The Hero Initiative, & the Red Cross), and I know that you all have yours, still I want you to consider checking out the viedo below,and considering giving some of your hard-earned cash to my good buddy Joe Martino so he can launch his next comicbook project; The Mighty Titan.

Now I know that a lot of folks want you to help them launch their pet project, but for Joe, this is something more. You see, a while back Jooe had cancer, and he beat it...twice (which is why I keep telling him that he's a mutant, but that's a story for a different time).

Anywho. The Mighty Titan deals with a very powerful superhero who, in his "regular" life has cancer, This is the story of what that means, how it affects him (and, well, Joe), and what comes next. It is a powerful and compelling story, and I highly recommend that you all kick in to help Joe get it off the ground.

Thanks.

A Hero is more than just a Sandwich

OK, so as I stated I recently joined MoCCA, and over the weekend not only did I get my membership card (autographed by John Romita, Jr., but I also received a “trading card” sketch card and a special variant edition of Marvel Apes #1. Needless to say, while all of this swag is totally wicked-cool, I didn’t so much join to get this stuff as I joined to support the cause.

The Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. Since inception, the Hero Initiative has been fortunate enough to benefit over 40 creators and their families with over $400,000 worth of much-needed aid, fueled by your contributions! It's a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment.

The Initiative has already produces a number of very cool items, including a series of “100 Covers” spotlighting 100 illustrated covers (Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine), that were drawn by various fan favorite artists (I have the Spider-Man cover book) — which is marred only by the fact that Rob Liefeld drew a cover then refused to allow it to appear in the book — which I feel was very ego-centric and self-serving of Liefeld, denying his fans a chance to see the cover he drew, and possibly denying funds to this worthy cause by someone who might have purchaes the book if only Liefeld’s illustration had appeared in the tome).

Anyways, the Hero Initiative is a worthwhile cause, and I want to urge anyone who works in this industry, or has derived enjoyment from the professionals in this industry to support it, as it is truly a worthy cause.

Support the Cause

Everyone has their pet cause, even me. In comics, my cause is the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) In case you don’t know, the CBLDF is the organization that protects us as comicbook readers, retailers,and professionals. They defend our right to buy, read, and sell comics.

According to its website,

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was officially incorporated as a non-profit charitable organization in January of 1990 from the money left over from donations raised to defend Friendly Frank's arrest for selling "obscene comics" in Lansing, IL in 1986. Since then, the CBLDF has helped over a dozen comic book retailers and professionals fend off the censors, some successfully, some not.

I’ve written about the CBLDF a couple of times for the comics press, and always support their causes. I bring this up now because I just purchased Liberty Comics #2 (Image), and read it this past weekend. Interestingly enough, when I saw it I momentarily confused it with The Hero Initiative’s benefit book (IDW), which I picked up a few months back (otherwise I would have purchased both Liberty issues).

Hero is another worthy comicbook cause, and yes, I also support them whenever I am able. Still and all, right now I’m talking about the CBLDF. I want to strongly urge everyone to join the this very worthy cause to ensure that the forces of censorship don’t encroach any further into our beloved playground.

To the best of my knowledge, there haven’t been any major censorship suits recently, but I could be wrong on this. I used to be a member of the CBLDF, but seemed to have let my membership lapse, so the next thing I’m going to do is renew ($25.00 a year). You get a cool membership card, and a quarterly newsletter. Plus, the cause is, you know, well worth it.

Oh yeah, in case I forgot to mention it, Liberty Comics #2 is an outstanding anthology comic, featuring work by some very cool and very talented creators, including JRJR, Mike Alkred, Jimmy Palmiotti, Dave Gibbons,and many others.

* * * * * * UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! * * * * * *

Just thought that you all should know, that I just joined both the CBLDF and the Hero Initiative. I strongly urge that all my funnybook friends do the same.