While comics pundits continue to debate (well, really beat down) Frank Miller over his ornery comments about the Occupy Wall Street movement, Occupy Comics continues to ramp up, with the addition of contributions from Darick Robertson, Dan Goldman, and musician Amanda Palmer , just three new high profile contributors with, we’re told, more to come.
The project has a Kickstarter page, and is already $1000 away from their goal of funding comics coverage of the protest movement. Susan Cagle, Charlie Adlard, Molly Crabapple, Joseph Michael Lisner, Steve Niles, Tim Seeley, Ben Templesmith, and others are already on board.
In a PR statement, the organizers write:
In order to get funds to protestors in various cities quickly, Occupy Comics is looking to raise at least $10,000 that will be distributed to the individual artists involved in the project, who will then determine the best way to support the movement in their area or on the national level.
Because at portion of the funds raised will be used to create the books, and all other money going directly to occupation needs, Occupy Comics organizers are hoping to raise well-over the original Kickstarter goal in order to give protestors more money to continue their campaign against economic injustice.
Spearheaded by Matt Pizzolo of Halo-8 (the film & comics studio behind behind the Warren Ellis and Grant Morrison documentaries), Occupy Comics has received a tremendous amount of support from people in the industry on every level who are volunteering their efforts in order to expand awareness and complete the final products.
And it has almost hit the 10K goal!
Lance Roger Axt
The AudioComics Company
I don’t exactly agree with Frank Miller’s characterization of the “movement” but can someone explain why this is a worthwhile cause?
I fail to see how the Occupy movement is addressing the problems of “economic injustice” because most economic activity was never meant to be just or fair.
Once upon a time, the band KISS put some of their blood in the ink for a print run of a book about them.
What should the occupy comics have added to their ink?
@Bill, sweat and tears? Anyway, I’m a backer.
“most economic activity was never meant to be just or fair”
That has to be one of the more obtuse comments I’ve ever seen. Economics is a social construct: it exists because society exists and therefore exists to serve society. Like any tool it has the ability to be manipulated, but stow any “there is no such thing as a neutral tool” hogwash (puns are encouraged). Society is always in flux, rising or falling, and the purpose of tools is to help level those shifts. When a tool as powerful as economics becomes unduly aligned against the interests of the greater portion of society as is the case with the investment superbanks like Goldman Sachs, it becomes necessary to wrest control of that tool back. In the case of OWS, they are using the media to increase awareness and generate political will.
Eventually, I hope they begin to use other tools, like writing actual legislation and direct political action.
Personally, I think this is absolutely a great cause and look forward to contributing.
What I meant is that most economic activity above subsistence level was never meant to be just or fair. The more complex economic activity is, the more likely there will be winners , losers, and coercion.
“Society is always in flux, rising or falling,” Regions, ECONOMIES, and civilizations, have risen and fallen, often for the many of the same reasons. In Rome’s last days, I’m sure there were people who thought it could be saved with new piece of legislation, or a new tax, or some other layer of complexity. I’m not saying America’s there yet, but many people think its best days are behind it.
Ift anything, we should be thanking the international banks for allowing America to be able to use credit to hide falling living standards for 30-40 years.
I wonder if their little comics will show just how many rapes, thefts, and other assorted protestor-on-protester crimes have occurred at these demonstrations?
My guess is they won’t mention anything negative.
OWS has a lot of good reasons for protesting. Unfortunately the movement is also made up of a ton of mean idiots.
Comics like these are just propaganda, pure and simple. I think less of every creator involved.
Just like I think less of Frank Miller for making his reductive statements against OWS, because those sorts of criticisms ignore the legitimate grievances against the banks.
The truth is always somewhere in the middle.
It’s one thing to agree with the message, but the movement has been too badly handled in too many cities to be worthy of support. I think it’s well worth looking into the protests that aren’t having any run-ins with law enforcement, see what exactly they’re doing right, and hold them up as examples of how peaceful protesters really operate.