Dark Horse Comics & The Hero Initiative champion the cause of old school comic creators by raising HELLBOY 100.
—
HELLBOY the well meaning, cat loving, wize cracking demon Anung Un Rama (and upon his brow is set a crown of flame) was summoned to earth as an infant by Nazi occultists who later discovered by Allied Forces was raised by the Bureau for Paranormal Research (BPRD) and Defense. Since first created by writer and artist Mike Mignola, Hellboy has appeared in graphic novels and comic books, prose novels, two animated features, two live action films, and toy lines. The Hero Initiative, the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need, unveiled its latest project, The HELLBOY 100, in collaboration with HELLBOY creator Mike Mignola and Dark Horse Comics. To create the HELLBOY 100, Dark Horse Comics printed 100+ blank covers of the landmark first issue of HELLBOY & THE BPRD: 1952, written by Mignola and John Arcudi and featuring the art of Alex Maleev with colors by Dave Stewart. The Hero Initiative then commissioned internationally renowned comic book artists to do an original drawing on each cover, including Gabriel Bá, John Cassaday, Fábio Moon, Eric Powell, Bill Sienkiewicz and Mignola himself. The originals will be auctioned off via eBay.com at the rate of approximately 10 per week for 10 weeks. Both hardcover and softcover editions of a book collecting all the covers will published by Dark Horse Comics in September, 2015.
“Many of the comic book creators working in the’50’s, 60’s and ‘70s had no ownership of their creations and receive limited or no royalties,” said Hero Initiative President Jim McLauchlin. “When creators have medical or financial problems they can’t handle themselves, we help them. We’ve been able to save people’s homes, prevent evictions, and get people the medical treatment they desperately need. The goal of the Hero Initiative is to improve creators’ quality of life and in some cases, save lives.”
“John Arcudi suggested we work with the Hero Initiative to create the HELLBOY 100,” said Mike Mignola. “I’m glad we could support the important work that Jim McLauchlin and the Hero Initiative does on behalf of comics’ creative community.”
Full list of contributors to the HELLBOY 100 is up at darkhorse.com Also the gallery of ALL 109 original covers! I’ve written about the plight of comic book creators like Bill Mantlo in an article entitled “Greatest American Hero – Rocket Raccoon Creator Bill Mantlo” Along with Rocket Raccoon, Mr. Mantlo was the creator of Rom Spaceknight, The Micronauts and a host of other characters during his long and successful career, who after an hit and run accident left him bed ridden, had no rights to his own work and no royalties to help him or his family. Meanwhile, his work made millions for studios and toy manufactures and he didn’t see a dime. As fans we need to do our part to ensure that the talent who created the characters we grew up with, loved and now share with our own children are fairly compensated, appreciated and not forgotten. That’s why the work of Mr. Mignola, Dark Horse and The Hero Initiative is so important to me. Hopefully, it’s important to you too. We Geeks got to stick together!
ABOUT MIKE MIGNOLA:
Mike Mignola was born in 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland, the eldest son of a tough and leathery cabinetmaker. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn’t remember why) and reading Dracula at age 12 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.
Besides comic books, Mike worked on Francis Ford Coppola’s film Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), as a production designer for the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was the Visual Consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008). The author lives in Los Angeles, CA. Check out his amazing website The Art Of Mike Mignola and follow him on Twitter
ABOUT DARK HORSE COMICS:
Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher, Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers. Learn more about this remarkable comic publisher at darkhorse.com or follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook
ABOUT THE HERO INITIATIVE:
The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterday’s creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment. Since its inception, The Hero Initiative has had the good fortune to grant over $700,000 to the comic book veterans who have paved the way for those in the industry today. For more information, visit www.heroinitiative.org or call 626-676-6354. Here is a link to The Hero Initiative On line ebay store. Follow The Hero Initiative on Twitter
all art~Dark Horse Comics