The Hero Initiative

I had just gotten out of the financial hole that working for Byron Price had put me into, thanks to doing the flag book.

And I realized that I better find an income stream in some form because I recognized this well before the Hero Initiative.

But had I not done this, had I not moved to California, I would be on the dole with the Hero Initiative just like so many of these other motherfuckers who thought their careers were going to last forever.

And

the reality is I moved to California with the assumption that I could perhaps make some sort of inroad into the movie business thanks to American Flag, which got some attention at that level.

I'm going to pick up Marvel Zombies, War Zone, number two.

Local artist, Tony Parker, is doing the covers, and huge supporter of the Hero Initiative, and just an amazingly nice guy.

And then...

I had one other.

The Right Hand of Doom is what his stony appendage is referred to as.

As we are recording, we still have a couple days for people to submit correct answers.

We still have the Hellboy 100 cover project from the Hero Initiative.

To give out in case somebody does send in a correct answer via email at worstcomicpodcastever at gmail.com.

A lot of Vampirella, a lot of Army of Darkness, Elvira, all sorts of creators.

Supporting the Hero Initiative through November 1st.

1st or 5th? fifth sorry fifth fifth first they both start with a five or a right i'm tired there were a lot of good books

this week the fifth letter

I would like to talk about Rose City Comic Con, which I just went to last weekend, and it was a hoot like it always was.

I, of course, spent my time at the Hero Initiative table helping them raise money for a great cause and did a bunch of other things around the con associated with that.

But at our table, we had Tom Rainey.

He was an excellent artist.

I had myself a very nice weekend and I think I managed to name drop all the names of people I wrote down.

I met a lot of other people too.

Oh, I also have to give a huge shout out to Colin Stapleton at the Hero Initiative.

He's the one that sets me up to help I help him up with his booth, and he does a lot of work getting that set up.

Uh, it's spoopy season here, uh, in the United States and around the world, so we're gonna have some horror themes for our trivia as we work through October.

But, uh, we're gonna start off with, uh, uh, an opportunity for you the listeners to take home a Hero Initiative Hellboy 100 Project hardback.

Uh, this, uh, book has got, um, entries by Fabio Moon, of course Mike Mignola, um, John Cassaday, uh, RIP.

Mm.

The subject line reads, "What a pleasure and a mystery." "Gentlemen, it was such a pleasure to meet you at Baltimore.

It was brief, but a thrill to put voices to faces that entertain me every Wednesday.

But where was John? I circled a few times by the Hero Initiative booth, and I couldn't see a new face in the crowd.

Could John be a figment of Cullen," the other Cullen-

Mm-hmm

... and right now what you have unfortunately, although, you know, thank God for them, is an organization like the Hero Initiative, which is basically saving some of the veterans who are no longer in good health-

Yeah

... and need things like medication.

And he backed up that warmth with tangible action.

He was deeply, fundamentally involved in the Hero Initiative.

For those listening who might not know, this is a charity that helps older comic book creators who are dealing with severe medical or financial emergencies.

Which is a huge issue in comics.

So he was the perfect fit to do this anniversary issue.

Um, you know, we do so much for creators via Hero Initiative.

I wish they'd could've found a way to involve, like, some of the original creators, like Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky-

Mm

His last comic book story was penciling and inking the four-page flashback sequence in the 22-page story The Mortal Iron Fist Conclusion in The Immortal Iron Fist No. 20 from January 2009.

In 2010, he received financial assistance from the Hero Initiative as well as the Comic Art Professional Society, which allowed him to take time off for knee surgery and recovery.

The Hero Initiative also provided legal and financial advice to Aiden Heath in claiming pension funds owed to him for his work in the animation industry.

He received many awards over the year, an Inkpot in 1997, the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2009, the Sergio Award for Comic Art Professional Society 2010, the National Carsuna Society Milton Caniff Award in 2014, And in 2018, the Inkwell Awards Special Recognition Award for his lifetime achievement.

Heath passed away the ripe old age of 91 in Long Beach, California in 2018 after nearly 75 years as a professional artist.

This was outstanding, Paul.

Not only is Joe Staton an immensely talented artist, but he's one of my favorite folks to visit with his conventions, too.

He's always kind enough to sign a copy of All-Star, his issue of DC Challenge, or Showcase 100 for a donation to the Hero Initiative.