[puhekupla] ACTOR - tidättekö
From: Veli Loponen (welzu@surfeu.fi)
Date: 11.04.2002 - 12:17:17
Jokin aika sitten sain seuraavan mailin Yahoon christian comics groupin kautta, enkä ainakaan vielä ole kuullut tästä täällä puhetta:
Aid Given to Comic Book Artists
By MIKE BRANOM
.c The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Work dried up for artist Bill Messner-Loebs when the comic books' speculative bubble burst in the mid-1990s. His savings gone, Messner-Loebs was destitute and about to lose his home in Ann Arbor, Mich.
``I was not able to get any employment,'' said Messner-Loebs, a writer/artist who had worked on the Wonder Woman series. ``My wife and I were behind on all of our bills.''
But a Los Angeles-based nonprofit charity established by the comics industry came through with $11,000, saving his home. Even more, the organization known as ACTOR used its industry contacts to get work for the 53-year-old cartoonist.
ACTOR (A Commitment to Our Roots) has raised more than $145,000 in a little more than a year to benefit elderly comic book artists and writers who live in poverty. Some are unable to afford food, medical care or phone service.
Messner-Loebs is working today because of the organization. In one of his jobs, he's writing for Moonstone Books' Bulldog Drummond title.
``I'm hoping when I'm back on my feet, I can contribute to ACTOR myself,'' Messner-Loebs said.
The organization recently sponsored an auction that raised $45,000 to benefit elderly comic book artists and writers.
These cartoonists toiled in low-wage obscurity during the comic book industry's so-called Golden Age in the 1950s. As free-lancers, they were paid a penny a word or $5 a page, with no pensions or health benefits, while the publishers made millions.
``Generally speaking, it takes comic artists a full day to draw a page, so that's working for $5 a day,'' said Jim McLauchlin, senior editor for the comics industry magazine Wizard.
Younger comics fans helped their predecessors at the auction at Orlando MegaCon, one of the Southeast's largest comic books conventions.
``The most important people in our field are not doing very well today,'' said Maggie Thompson, editor of the Comics Buyer's Guide. ``To honor our pioneers in a way that's more than 'Gee, you're a great guy. Would you sign an autograph for me?' is a great thing.''
Of the money ACTOR has raised in the last year, about $20,000 has been distributed to six artists who have accepted help, including $9,500 this year.
``Pretty much every other professional organization has something like this,'' said McLauchlin, ACTOR's president. ``Nothing like this has ever existed in the comic books business.''
Assistance has ranged from helping one man with his mortgage payments to arranging the funeral for an artist whose family couldn't afford to properly bury him.
ACTOR also tries to arrange work for the older artists, so they will have a steady source of income.
The auction consisted of more than 100 items, including original art and signed manuscripts from artists and writers.
Serving as guest auctioneer was Kevin Smith, writer and director of such films as ``Clerks'' and ``Chasing Amy.'' Smith is known for sprinkling his movies with comics references, and even cast famed artist Stan Lee - creator of Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk and the Fantastic Four - in his movie ``Mallrats.''
Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano, creator of the Final Fantasy series, donated the auction's top draw: the very first Elektra painting Amano ever did. The piece, which sold for $5,000, has been seen only as a promotional item for the Elektra & Wolverine: The Redeemer series.
Tampa-based CrossGen Comics sent a pair of massive art prints to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. The ship's crew - numbering about 5,500 - autographed the prints and sent them back for the auction.
The $1,100 fetched by the two prints will be split between ACTOR and the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, the charity of choice of the Theodore Roosevelt.
On the Net:
ACTOR: http://www.ACTORComicFund.org/
MegaCon 2002: http://www.megaconvention.com/
AP-NY-04-03-02 1203EST
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
