Jim McLauchlin Interview, November 2006

My best work so far, I think. Not only did it shine a spotlight on The Hero Initiative in its nascent days, but it dug into the real work they do to help the very real people who've needed it most. This originally ran on Newsarama, but it seems to no longer be present there.

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Jim McLauchlin currently serves as President of the The Hero Initiative, the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic-book creators in need. By creating a financial safety net for yesterday’s creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, or an avenue back into paying work, Hero offers a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment.

McLauchlin has been a professional writer and editor for 17 years, logging an 11-year stint at Wizard Entertainment, where he was a senior writer and contributing editor for Wizard: The Comics Magazine, and then two years as editor-in-chief of Top Cow Productions. Jim is currently director of content for the fantasy sports site FSDashboard.com, and recently took time from his busy schedule to answer a few questions about Hero and its mission:

Jim McLauchlin

Jim, Hero Initiative was until very recently known as ACTOR (A Commitment to Our Roots). After five years, what was the impetus for the name change, and how does it contribute to Hero’s...well, initiative?

Long story short, a lot of the board members just wanted a name change, as the old name didn't really fit the best. Hindsight being 20/20, I agree. I was too eager to jump on an acronym, and A Commitment To Our Roots just rolled off the tongue too quick. People in the comics biz knew us very well, but as soon as we'd venture outside the "little village" of comics, people would get the deer-in-the-headlights look. The mission just didn't compute with the name.

The contribution is that it serves the mission of mainstreaming the cause and broadening the field. My ultimate goal is not to just circulate money within the comic industry, but to bring it in from outside. Inside, we just smooth out peaks and valleys. From the outside, we can bring in bucks, from folks such as Bill Gates, who endows charities with about $100 million a year. Right now, we're part of the "Microsoft Giving" program, albeit on a small level. But we're getting there, and a name that identifies better with who we are is a big help.

In addition to yourself and founding members Brian Pulido (of Eternal Entertainment) and Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada, Hero recently named four new members to its Board Of Directors. Could you tell us a little about them, and what they bring to the table for Hero?

Mike Malve owns and operates the Atomic Comics chain of stores in Arizona , and is our retail conduit. He's great for grass-roots opinions, as he's in his stores every day, talking to fans. He's also a brilliant, aggressive promoter, who can help us on a promotional end as well.

Beth Widera owns and operates the Orlando MegaCon, and she's a great convention resource. She deals with publishers, dealers, artists, and fans—the whole width and breadth of the comics field. She's also amazingly well-versed in live event planning, in everything from securing venues to dealing with caterers to getting insurance. She does all that with MegaCon, so she knows that end of the business, and is our resource there.

Steve Borock of Comics Guaranty, LLC is one of the most well-respected names in the high-end collecting community. He's a tremendous resource in tapping into that community, the older collectors and the hardcore collectors. I think those folks are especially interested in what we do, as it's that "target" of creators that Hero's program services are set up to benefit.

You also serve on Hero’s Fundraising Committee. What kind of fundraising activities do you have coming up that might inspire readers to open their checkbooks?

Well, how about our “Win Your Very Own George Pérez” Contest on which we’re partnering with you guys at TalesOfWonder.com, and which we’re announcing this weekend at Wizard World: Texas?

Jim, I’m just the writing robot around here; these guys don’t tell me anything! George Pérez, huh? Please continue.

George Pérez

That's right, George Pérez: Living Legend and Artist Extraordinaire of NEW TEEN TITANS, WONDER WOMAN, and JLA/AVENGERS fame (to name just a handful of highlights from the Man’s vast bibliography). You win, we fly George to your front door! If you're a store, congratulations, you get him for a signing appearance. If you're a fan, George comes to your house and takes you to lunch. Whatever. We find a way to make it work, and George will DO it—he's that crazy!

How do people enter the contest, Jim, and how does it benefit Hero Initiative?

Contestants can enter in two ways:

(1) Every purchase at TalesOfWonder.com enters the customer into the drawing. Each $1 spent will result in one entry. The more you spend during the promotion, the more likely your chance to win.

(2) Enter free by sending an email to contests@talesofwonder.com with “George Perez” in the subject line. Limit one free entry per person, per day. Include in the email your first name, last name and full address.

Tales Of Wonder will donate a percent of every sale through the web site to Hero Initiative.

The contest kicks off at this weekend’s Wizard World Texas, November 10-12, and will run through the end of December. The winner will be announced after January 1, 2007. Unfortunately for George’s international fans, this prize is limited to a winner within the United States.

I should also mention we're holding a "Marvel Then and Now" event at UCLA on Dec. 2 starring Joe Quesada and Stan Lee. It's an amazing, rare opportunity to hear Stan and Joe speak together, which should be a blast.

Sounds like a lot of great opportunities to contribute. In closing Jim, if possible (while respecting privacy rights, if necessary), can you provide us with any testimonials of Hero’s impact on the lives of creators in need, to help drive home the point of why the organization exists in the first place?

We do have a strict policy of revealing our disbursements only on the advice and consent of the folks on the receiving end of those disbursements. We're not here to air anyone's private business for public consumption. In a general sense, we've literally paid back rent when people were 48 hours from being evicted, paid electric bills when people were 24 hours from having utilities shut off, and paid for desperately needed operations that weren't covered by medical insurance.

Bill Messner-Loebs

Just a few folks to talk about—and again, these folks are only mentioned by name ’cause they're cool with it—include Bill Messner-Loebs. Bill's case is well-publicized. He wound up in a lot of financial trouble, lost his house, got swindled by a bogus real estate broker when he was looking for a much cheaper house, and he and his wife wound up homeless, moving from motel to motel, and halfway houses run by church charities. When Bill's plight was first brought to our attention—which I believe was late 2001 or early 2002, I'd have to check—Bill and his wife Nadine were living on one banana a day each. That's all they could afford to eat. It was insane. We've helped Bill out with cash, we paid for a storage locker where he and Nadine could temporarily stash their belongings, and we have been able to drive some new paying writing work his way. I know I was just able to steer a one-off cartoon-writing job his way. And I'm happy to say that Bill and Nadine have landed in a new home. It's a trailer, something rather humble, but they're very happy.

Armando Gil is a comics vet who wound up wiped out when an animation company he worked for went under, and he went unpaid. He didn't even have the money to renew his driver's license, and his car got impounded. He was working at a box factory, and couldn't get to work, and the downward spiral was really starting. We were able to get him some dough to get his car back, and he's been working steadily, albeit in a field that's not his first choice—not many kids grow up wanting to be box-makers. But we were able to steer some work his way, and he's wisely used that dough to reset himself in the art field. He bought a scanner, and finally got an Internet connection, which, face facts, is a business essential. We were able to help him land a new animation job that should get him a few thousand dollars in first quarter of 2007 as well.

Steve Gerber

Steve Gerber is a guy who we've helped who's been absolutely stand-up. Steve came to us looking for a short-term loan—just a loan, not an actual disbursement—when some work dried up on him and he wound up behind on bills. We gave him the loan, and he dutifully paid it back, even kicking in $100 as interest, despite the fact that we told him it was unnecessary. He insisted! He came back looking for loans a couple other times, and always dutifully paid 'em back, until the most recent instance, when he suffered some serious health problems. It was a smallish amount, so I asked the Disbursement Committee to just convert it to a disbursement, which they did. Steve's been doing some great work of late, as anyone's who's read HARD TIMES knows, and he has a new DR. FATE series coming soon from DC. Steve is a candidate for lung transplant surgery in '07, and will be laid up for at least a few months after the operation. We're looking to perhaps do some sort of Steve-themed fundraiser soon, maybe a FOOG, TOO! (or so I'm thinking of calling it), for those of you who remember the old FOOG.

We've even kept people alive. There was a moment at the San Diego ComiCon in 2004 that was surreal. An artist that we benefited came up to me to thank me for the help we had given him. He was shaking my hand, with tears streaming down his cheeks. He had been living on about $90 a week, and was eating one meal a day before he found us. He didn't know what to do, or where to turn, and he was ready to take his own life. He had literally written the suicide note when he stumbled across us. We were able to get him back on his feet, and he's alive today, doing much better. This man wants to remain anonymous, but there are many, many more as well, both public and private.

TalesOfWonder.com would like to thank Jim McLauchlin for his time in answering our questions, and for his (and George Pérez’s) dedication to this wonderful cause. For more information, visit www.HeroInitiative.org or call 310-909-7809.