Final Gift

In many ways, we’re still getting over this year. And while it’s easy to write silly things about how you need to appreciate every day, and sappy, sappy, sappy — well, boy, those Hallmark cards sometimes get it right (especially the ones with the glittery butterflies).

For me, this year will forever be associated with losing Mom. But in her honor, I’m having one final laugh at the little things: like the fact that she thought the cheap fake horrible ponytail hair she bought at the flea market was “better” than the fancy ones rich people pay retail for.

And for those who still haven’t made their charitable decisions, here are four that we love. All are great. None benefit us. But they do all make the world a prettier place. In no order:

City Year

City Year Miami is off and running. So are 19 other cities.

Just watch this and tell me you don’t get it.

Sharsheret

The place that helped my Mom the most with her battle with breast cancer. Links young women with other young women (and young at heart).

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Yes, we still love Hero’s Alliance. ALL our t-shirt sales still go there. But CBLDF is fighting the good fight in the courtroom (and picking all the right First Amendment battles as well).

Save the Superman House

Will have an update soon, but wow, wait till you see what you’ve bulit with this one. The chimneys which were collapsing have been replaced with new masonry. And most importantly, the roof has been replaced with a new roof, which should stop the ongoing interior plaster damage. And then going inside...
So here’s a chance to keep it going (and get a great Chip Kidd t-shirt to boot)

Here’s to a healthy and peaceful new year for you. I’ve leaned very hard -- more than you know -- on our friends and readers this year. Some of the best advice I’ve gotten came from here. So thank you for helping with Book of Lies, the Superman house and Last Will & Testament and for always coming to the signings just to say hey. But most of all, as always, thanks for being part of the family.

B

Super Heroes...Are REAL!

I knew we were right!

Video link: Meet Razorhawk (Fox News)

Great Lakes Avengers...Assemble!

Dreamers

I love this story — and love Heidi for believing with it. So here’s to all who plan to dream the big dreams in 2009.

You will never walk by Artists Alley the same way again
via THE BEAT
by The Beat on 12/15/08

Must reading: Sunday’s Washington Post Magazine has a comic book cover story — not one of the usual stars of comics, like Frank Miller or Art Spiegelman or Chris Ware...but on Andre Campbell, a legally blind artist who is one of those folks in Artists Alley you passed by countless times:

Having toiled for nearly 20 years, Campbell, 44, had produced — with Eades’s assistance — one comic book and one graphic novel, both self-published, starring Campbell’s Alpha Agents (”Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”). Unlike the professional comic book artists, who had been invited to attend and who had made their names by working on some of the most beloved superhero titles of our time, Eades, 33, and Campbell had paid $150 out of their scarce resources to rent a table. But now they were focused on the significance of this day. For the first time, they had traveled to an out-of-state convention to promote their company, Heritage Comics HSQ (Heart, Soul, Quality). When they found their way to the corner of the convention center set up for small-press artists such as themselves, they settled in for eight hours of talking up characters that no one had yet heard of.

Writer David Rowell walks us through everything in a clear-eyed, but sympathetic manner. As a comics professional, I would have dismissed Campbell by the second paragraph of his story — or other people, like Vell Trueheart , a 60-something comics rookie who can’t afford a scooter because she’s sunk so much money into her comics. They are the peripherals, the hangers on, the dreamers. Rowell takes us inside Campbell’s dream, and you can’t help but dream with him, because all humans must dream, must aspire.

The article begs the question of whether the dream is worth having…or worth spending $3 on. And that is the harsh judgment the passers-by must make, and keep making. The process has no end point. Campbell will keep dreaming — and we will keep walking by.

Edit: There was a chat today, with both Rowell and Gregory, on Washington Post dot com that you might also want to check out

Mom

Today’s my Mom’s birthday. The first birthday since she passed away. And yeah, it’s just another day. But man, I miss her. In fact, what hurts most isn’t just the loss. It’s the reality that it’s getting easier. I’m getting used to her not being there. And that twists me even more.

Boy, what a mopey way to start the day.

Only thing mopier is rereading her eulogy.

Which I just did.

I owe my Mom every single moment.

Sending love to all those who have a loss they’re living with.