The Hero Initiative, formerly known as A Commitment to Our Roots, or ACTOR, is the first federally recognized not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

creators, writers and artists in need. Founded in late 2000 by a consortium of comic book and trade publishers, including

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

, Wizard Entertainment, CrossGen Comics and

Dynamic Forces Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of '' The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptations ...

Inc., the

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

charity aims to assist comic creators with health, medical, and quality-of-life assistance.

Eligibility

Many early comic creators, whose work laid the foundation of entire

fictional universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes ma ...

s that proved to be highly lucrative for the publishers that profit from them, were often paid little for their work, and were not allowed to keep their creations. According to the Hero Initiative, "to be eligible for financial assistance from Hero, an applicant must have been a working comic book writer,

penciler A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...

, colorist or

letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the com ...

on a

work-for-hire A work made for hire (work for hire or WFH), in copyright law in the United States, is a work that is subject to copyright and is created by employees as part of their job or some limited types of works for which all parties agree in writing to th ...

basis for no less than 10 years since January 1, 1934." Anyone who meets the eligibility requirements may apply for aid, which could vary from medical assistance, paying rent, or finding employment (in or out of the comics industry). Hero's benefits are not meant to be a permanent crutch for needy creators, but assistance for those in debt, or who have trouble paying bills. Any granted aid is kept confidential.

Board of directors

The Hero Initiative has two boards of directors: the Executive Board and the Fund Disbursement Board. The Executive Board, which handles fund raising and handles operations, comprises Hero Initiative President Jim McLauchlin, former editor-in-chief of

Top Cow Comics Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, an imprint of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. History During the early years of Image Comics, which was founded in 1992, co-founder Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Ji ...

; comics creator Brian Pulido; and Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. The board members are Steve Borock, president of the Comics Guaranty Corporation; former industry retailer Mike Malve; filmmaker

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and '' The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for ...

; and Beth Widera, owner of comic book convention

MegaCon MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large speculative fiction convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy, and gaming communities, often occurring in spring at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The ...

. Former board members include founders Pat McCallum, editor-in-chief of Wizard Magazine; and Mike Richardson, publisher and founder of Dark Horse Comics. The Fund Disbursement Board, who hear cases for aid and make all final decisions on whom to aid, act independent of the Executive Board, and is made up entirely of comics creators, writers, artists, and editors. They are (co-chairman) George Pérez, (co-chair)

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly ...

, (board secretary)

Charlie Novinskie Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority * ...

, Dennis O'Neil, John Romita Sr., and Jim Valentino. The charity is currently supported by

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York, formed by the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group and Toy Biz. The company is a wholly ow ...

, Top Cow Productions, and Wizard Entertainment.

Fundraising

The Hero Initiative utilizes many methods of fundraising. Foremost is their annual art

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...

, auctioning donated original comics art-work at

fan convention Fan convention (also known as con or fan meeting), a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some ...

s. Year-long, they sell donated art and special edition comics at conventions and through the Dynamic Forces website. Artists, writers, and publishers are invited to donate work, and fans are invited to donate money directly to the fund. ACTOR also sells a green Excelsior! wrist-band similar in design to the Livestrong wristband. in 2017, the Arizona Comic Mini Expo held a Drink and Draw event to raise money for the Initiative. Several professional comic book artists provided sketches to be exchanged for donations. The money raised was split between the HERO Initiative and the ACLU of Arizona.

Name

The Hero Initiative was formerly known as A Commitment to Our Roots, or ACTOR, from its founding until September 2006. While the original name of the organization reflected the charity's goal, the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

that resulted, ACTOR, more often confused people unfamiliar with the organization. In an effort to expand the marketability and fund-raising ability of the charity, the executive board decided to change the name to something more associated with comic books, thus the new name, Hero, named after the common and recognizable comic industry word

Superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Awards

Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award

* 2006: George Pérez (1954–2022), John Romita, Sr. (1930–) * 2007: Joe Kubert (1926–2012) * 2008:

Nick Cardy Nicholas Viscardi (October 20, 1920 – November 3, 2013), known professionally as Nick Cardy and Nick Cardi, was an American comics artist best known for his DC Comics work on Aquaman, the Teen Titans and other major characters. Cardy was indu ...

(1920–2013) * 2009:

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...

(1941–2022) * 2010: Walt Simonson (1946–) * 2011:

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

(1922–2018) * 2012: John Romita, Jr. (1956–) * 2013: Sal Buscema (1936–) * 2014: Herb Trimpe (1939–2015) * 2015: Russ Heath (1926-2018) * 2016: Joe Giella (1928–) * 2017: Marv Wolfman (1946–) * 2018: Dennis O'Neil (1939–2020) * 2019:

José Luis García-López José Luis García-López (born March 26, 1948) is a Spanish-Argentine comics artist who works in the United States, particularly in a long-running relationship with DC Comics. In addition to his storytelling art, he has been responsible for prod ...

(1948–) * 2020: No award presented due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

* 2021: Joe Quesada (1962–)

Dick Giordano Humanitarian of the Year Award

In 2010, The Hero Initiative created The Dick Giordano Humanitarian of the Year Award, named after former board member

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Early ...

, who had died earlier in the year. The award recognizes one person in comics each year who demonstrates particular generosity and integrity in support of the overall comic book community. It debuted at the 2010 Harvey Awards ceremony held at the Baltimore Comic-Con.Thompson, Maggie
"Wizard World Chicago: Day Three Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award,"
MaggieThompson.com (August 21, 2010). * 2010: Tim Sale (1956–), Jerry Robinson (1922–2011) * 2011: Mike Gold (1950–) * 2012: Joe Kubert (1926–2012) * 2013: Paul Levitz (1956–) * 2014: Stan Goldberg (1932–2014) * 2015: Denis Kitchen (1946–) * 2016: Beth Widera (19??–) * 2017:

Joshua Dysart Joshua Dysart (born June 21, 1971) is an American comic book writer. He has done work for DC Comics, Vertigo Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Valiant Entertainment, IDW Publishing, Penny-Farthing Press, Virgin Comics and Random House Bo ...

(1971–) * 2018:

Marc Andreyko Marc Andreyko (born 20 June 1970) is a comic book writer and screenwriter, best known for the true crime series '' Torso'' he co-wrote with Brian Michael Bendis and for co-creating the character Kate Spencer for DC Comics. Career Marc Andreyk ...

(1970–) * 2019: Louise Simonson (1946–) * 2020: No award presented due to the

* 2021:

Gene Ha In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

(19??–)

References

External links

* *Hero Initiative Merchandise **https://www.ebay.com
https://www.heroinitiative.org/merchandise
**http://www.grahamcrackers.com/heroinitiative.htm
April 2007 Interview with Jim McLauchlin for Sequential Tart Webzine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hero Initiative, The Charities based in California Comics-related organizations