The Way of the Editor:

Comics and Katrina

ComicBase Editor Shiaw-Ling Lai reflects on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and shares a little comic book disaster relief history.

 

Remember when DC ran their “No Man’s Land” Batman storyline back in ‘99? Gotham City was destroyed by a huge earthquake and the U.S. government abandoned the city to its own devices. Riots, gang wars, villains and super-heroes all break out full-force, each on his or her own agenda. People hid in their homes, or looted openly in the streets, or fought each other for food and water to survive. Many died, buildings were destroyed, and the over-extended local authorities could not work hard enough to keep order. Sans the super-heroes and villains, how did they know it would happen this way? Right down to the everyday heroes (the Gordons, the GCPD) fighting the desperate loss of civilization.

It’s eerie when I think about it.

Alright, maybe it’s a bit disproportionate to compare a national disaster to a Batman storyline, but arguably, that same heroism which keeps us engaged in the fiction is what helps us all stay sane and moving in the real world of the disaster.

It’s been roughly one month since Hurricane Katrina made its devastating landfall on August 29th between Grand Fall and the Mississippi River and the memories of ruination and government failures still sting. For most of us who were removed from the site of the actual disaster, it must have felt so helpless at first to be able to do nothing except watch the carnage and neglect on a screen or in the papers. But I am always grateful and heartened to hear about the stories of personal heroism and unstinting generosity that rise to the occasion in the face of a crisis like Katrina.

I’m sure you’ve read about them elsewhere, and it’s not really my job to report on the news here. For the interested, Daniel Gifford has kept an interesting, real-life (and ongoing) account of New Orleans on LiveJournal throughout the worst of the disaster (and now into Rita). What I want is to make mention of, however, are the noteworthy moves towards relief efforts in our own industry. Responses from the comics industry haven’t been as prevalent as I might have hoped, but there are more than a few classy agents willing to put themselves out there to help.

Notably, individuals in the comics industry pulled together a few of their own contributions and ran a series of eBay auctions managed by Inkwellrelief.com, which featured donations from comics personalities like Joe Quesada to Garth Ennis to Mike Mignola, and more. Thanks to widespread publicity (mainly) through internet references as well as web comics word-of-mouth, Inkwellrelief.com managed to raise $71,219.27 in funds for the Red Cross.

DC Comics has also announced a very classy relief package to credit disenfranchised retailers in the disaster areas — through Diamond Comics Distributors — 100% of their purchases for books that were in store in the weeks between August 3rd and August 24th. Special discounts for merchants trying to setup store again are also available, and you can see a full story of what’s being offered at the Newsarama thread or the Comic Book Resources website here. The Comic Book Resources “Comic Wire,” also reports that other publishers are supposedly finalizing details on their own relief packages, though as of 9/26/2005, no other relief kits have been made public knowledge.

If you personally would like to chip in, you can still pick up a copy of The Super Naturals Preview from Jam Packed Productions available in comic stores right now. 100% of the $10 book will go to the AmeriCares Relief Organization for Hurricane Katrina victims. Donating directly to the Red Cross is not a bad way to go either. The short list here is simply what’s available right now, but I’m sure more relief effort tie-ins will no doubt become available in the upcoming months.

After all, this isn’t the first time that the comics industry has pitched in to help with disaster relief. Back in 2002, Dark Horse, Chaos!, Image, and DC teamed up to issue two volumes of the 9-11 series and Alternative Comics came out with its own 9-11: Emergency Relief title. Marvel had Heroes and A Moment of Silence in 2001, while Malibu comics, way back in 1994, published a Flood Relief comic that was available for a donation made to the American Red Cross. Clever ComicBase users will also note DC and Marvel’s 1980s one-shots Heroes Against Hunger and Heroes for Hope as other historical precedents.

Relevant Sites:

• American Red Cross
• 5 Tips: Ways you can help the victims of Hurricane Katrina
• Scams to Watch Out For