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.

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).

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 Cycle; Myke 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? :)

"The Man" Picked Us a Winner! (5 of them, actually)

Remember Stan Lee's World of Heroes contest? The winners are in!

The STAN LEE'S WORLD OF HEROES T-SHIRT CHALLENGE winners have been chosen and the wining shirts are now for sale! The Top 20 designs were voted on by the public, and Stan hand-selected the final 5 winners. Each of the winning designs will be hand-numbered and printed in limited quantity, with a portion of each sale will be donated to the John Wayne Cancer Institute. Purchase the tees now from MASScanvas! When they sell out, they're gone for good!





For the record, I like this one best...

For more information about the John Wayne Cancer Institute, please call (310) 315-6111 or visit their website at http://www.jwci.org/.



Nobody's Immune to Breast Cancer

"When we talk about breast cancer, there's no women or superwomen. Everybody has to do the self-examination monthly. Fight with us against this enemy and, when in doubt, talk with your doctor."


Via BleedingCool. More by ~Halfy at http://halfy.deviantart.com/.



Thanks for Giving: Comic Charity Roundup

A little peak behind the curtain, in case you hadn't already figured it out: I get the majority of my "news" posts from a Google alert for "comic book charity". You may have also noticed I'm not exactly a prolific poster, which is in direct conflict with the fact that my alert has been blowing up all week with noble efforts from the comic community to give back or lend a helping hand. 

Here a four fantastic charitable efforts you can be a part of:

• From the Dead Horse Committee: Please join Team Comics Cure as a rider or 'raiser in the upcoming 2012 MSKCC Cycle for Survival. We've got a modest goal and plenty of time to surpass it! Read more: http://mskcc.convio.net/site/TR?team_id=17392&fr_id=1600&pg=team
• From Newsarama: Six-year old Aidan Reed dealt with his 2010 acute lymphoblastic leukemia diagnosis in a rather unique way: drawing pictures of monsters and selling them on Etsy to help pay for his chemotherapy. Now, Mike Mignola, Walt Simonson, and other artists are putting ink to paper to help him raise even more. Read more: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/comic-artists-charity-auction-111121.html
• From Challengers Comics in Illinois: We’re the host for this year’s Briggs4Kids Foundation Charity Event and we are accepting Comic Book & Graphic Novel donations from now until the event. Monetary donations will also be accepted. We are also celebrating the release of Top Cow’s Pilot Season: SERAPH, created by Lance! Also appearing, local creators Alex Rosado, Tom Kelly & Brian Mead. Read more: http://www.conventionscene.com/2011/11/16/il-briggs4kids-charity-event/
• A Call for Support in the Wake of Tragedy: Ugh...this. Be thankful for what you have. Be thankful for what you've had. I can't even begin to imagine. http://www.laurenweinstein.com/2011/11/rosalie-lightning/

Movember Moustaches: Occupy Your Face

While it is too late to kick off moustache month, I want to at least acknowledge this 30-day feast of face fuzz -- all in the name of prostate cancer awareness. My father is one of millions of men who had (and happened to beat) prostate cancer. I have a prostate. You might have one, too! What any of this has to do with moustaches, I don't know. But cancer sucks, and prostates are tucked away deep in a place that makes it easy to lose awareness of them. And while it is possible to simply lose track of a perfectly healthy prostate, it would be especially tragic to be unaware of one that has cancer.

You need a stiff upper lip (among other things...good health insurance, broccoli, etc) to battle through it. I guess growing a moustache helps with that. Okay, there's your rationale. So go check out Movember's official site and then grow out your own mouth muff while there are still days in the month. You can tie it all back to Comics Cure's theme of geek-centric charity and awareness by basing your own moustache on one of these great lip lines of comic book history:

Jim Gordon's Commish-stasche

Omni-Man's Invinci-stache

Batroc the Leaper's Curly Fritte

Doctor Strange's Stache of Agamatto

J. Jonah Jameson's S. Stachey Stache-stache

The Sinestache

90's-era Tony Stark's Iron-stache

General Ross' Thunderstache

Stan "The Man" Lee's Excelsior-stache

And remember: You can also bring it back to Comics Cure by showing your support for Team Comics Cure in the upcoming Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Cycle for Survival. The money raised by that annual event goes to rare cancer research. Sadly, prostate cancer has become all too common, but the important research undertaken at MSKCC serves to help find optimal treatments and, maybe one day, a cure for all cancers.