Thursday, January 26, 2012

Nerd Nation Hero Wants To Keep a Record of Your Heroism

From Bleeding Cool:

Following the launch of DC Entertainment's "We Can Be Heroes" Campaign, Nerd Nation co-host Siike Donnelly has launched a piggyback campaign to help support the supporters of the Justice League-themed humanitarian drive. 


Siike is collecting receipts of donations to the We Can Be Heroes charity from anyone willing to share with him. Print out a copy of your receipt, draw or write something on it, or even just write your name on a sheet of paper, scan it and send it to siikedonnelly@gmail.com. Be sure to edit out credit card information or anything else you want left private before sending receipts. Siike is going to collect all of the receipt into a collage showing his Nerd Nation united in this powerful cause.

In Siike's own words (via Bleeding Cool): "I know to most this may not seem like a cool thing to be a part of, or maybe you just want to stop at the donation. Obviously that’s more than okay. Helping the people in the Horn of African comes first here. Always. I just want to take my enthusiasm for DC Entertainment’s initiative a step further in a creative way. My doctor saved my life, but receiving DC Comics while I was recovering is what kept me fighting.


Surviving a brain aneurysm comes with a lot more daily obstacles, so I look for things like this to fill my free time. Sometimes my days include seizures, physical therapy, migraines on a whole new level, and much worse. I’m lucky to be alive. I meet so many others that have been through the same, some doing better than me, some not. We do what we can to help each other and I want to pay that forward in the only way I know how to express myself, through art.


It’s the easiest thing in the world to do something selfless."
Another fine example of the Comics Cure philosophy at work. Take a break from your escape to help improve someone else's reality.

Monday, January 23, 2012

DC Heroes Fight a Crisis on OUR Earth, and You Can Help

DC Says "We Can Be Heroes", Helps Facilitate Our Heroism With New Humanitarian Aid
Campaign
 
Time Warner and DC Entertainment have launched a multi-million-dollar campaign to support the efforts of three humanitarian aid groups working to end the hunger crisis in Africa. 



Visit DC's The Source blog for the full press release.

The We Can Be Heroes campaign will support the efforts of Save the Children, International Rescue Committee, and Mercy Corps—as part of the global effort to fight the current hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa, a region suffering its worst drought and famine in over 60 years, with 13 million in need of critical assistance and 250,000 facing starvation in Somalia alone.

From the release: "The Justice League characters were chosen by DC Entertainment both for their global recognition as well as their demonstration of strength in unity and numbers. The campaign’s graphic identifier features the iconic Justice League characters—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg—outlined in silhouette against the African continent. Each of these characters is a super hero in his or her own right, but when they band together as the Justice League, they become an unstoppable force for good and right in the universe—a key message of the We Can Be Heroes campaign. While many individuals may feel powerless to effect change on their own, as part of a global campaign such as this, their efforts, combined with those of other donors, can create a world of change."

This encapsulates the Comics Cure mission perfectly. Follow the example of your fictional, fantasy do-gooders by doing some good yourself. The collective effort of the few can quickly snowball into the many, and before you know it, become an unstoppable force. We can be heroes. We can be that force of good in this world.


www.WeCanBeHeroes.org

Click through to www.WeCanBeHeroes.org to learn more about the details of becoming a hero yourself, including the opportunity to have DC Entertainment match 100 percent (up to $1 million) of consumer donations. For more information on the campaign’s partner organizations, visit their websites: www.savethechildren.org (Save the Children); http://www.rescue.org/ (International Rescue Committee) and www.mercycorps.org (Mercy Corps).

Monday, January 2, 2012

Cycle for Survival Contest: Donate to Win, Still Feel Good if You Lose (UPDATED...AGAIN)

UPDATE 4/2/12: We hit our quota and then some, cycled to survive, and allowed a few weeks extra for late comers...but would you believe there were no bites on the contest? Late comers interested in getting in on the action should hit me up in the comments or elsewhere online to find out how they might get a hold of the prized autographed calendar...you know, before it becomes last year's calendar!


Click to Join & Donate to Team Comics Cure!


For the past three years, I have contributed essays to the Stephen King Library Desk Calendar, published by the Book-of-the-Month Club and edited by Jay Franco. I'll be writing for the calendar again this year, too. And, of course, you know about that other thing I am doing again this year. So, I figured why not combine the two for your benefit?

You see, I'm a small fish compared to some of the literary leviathans Franco pulls together each year, and I happen to have a couple of them on speed dial...

I've lined up Peter V. Brett, writer of Red Sonja: Blue and best-selling creator of The Demon CycleMyke Cole, real American hero and 2012 breakout author of Control Point; and the Mayor of Booktown himself, Mr. Franco, to autograph a single copy of the BotMC-exclusive Stephen King Library Desk Calendar 2012 edition.

The limited edition calendar is already hard to come by. This one-of-a-kind autographed edition will be a treasure for any fiction fan's collection -- and that fiction fan can be you!



HOW TO WIN:
1. Donate to Team Comics Cure between today and our cycle day of Sunday, February 12, 2012.
2. Include the initials "SKL" after your own name when you make the contribution to confirm that you are entering.
3. The winner will be chosen at random from the top 5 highest donors tagged with "SKL" during the ~1-month contest period.


The winner will be selected and announced here on lucky February 13.


UPDATE 1: The signing!

Your Prize in Progress, 1/4/2012 @ Live Bait, NYC

Update 2: Now With Added Bev Vincent!
Another 2012 SKL Calendar contributor has reached out to participate in the contest. Bram Stoker Award-winning author Bev Vincent will be sending an autographed bookplate for inclusion with the prize calendar. Bev's inclusion in this contest is a huge get, for as much as I love my boys above, we're just a handful of King fanboys compared to the expert writer of The Road to the Dark Tower.

 Pro Tip: If you can't afford a triple-digit donation on your own but still want to win, try pooling small contributions from family and friends or from around the office to make a winning bid without breaking the bank.

Disclaimer 1: While I am certain Mr. King and the publishers of the SK Library Desk Calendar would be in favor of any and all efforts to raise money and awareness in support of finding a cure for cancer, neither Stephen King nor anyone from the Book-of-the-Month Club has played any part in this Comics Cure contest. The autographed copy of the calendar is my own contributor copy of the book, and the participating authors are my good friends whom I contacted on my own. I'll be the one licking the stamp and sending the book to the winner.

Disclaimer 2: Other contributors to the 2012 calendar include Justin Brooks, Matthew DeVirgiliis, Samantha Etkin, Brian James Freeman, Robin Furth, Stephen Jewell, Daniel M. Kimmel, Fotini Marcopulos, Jon Oden, Micol Ostow, Tricia Pasternak, Rome Quezada, Jeff Somers, and Bev Vincent. While they won't be signing the prize copy, wouldn't it be fun to take your winnings around the world in a quest for all of the remaining autographs? :)