In the wake of March 11, artists, writers, letterers and colorists based in Japan and across the globe have been hard at work crafting stories and images of solidarity, concern and, above all, hope for two fundraising books: "Spirit of Hope" and "Aftershock: Artists Respond to Disaster in Japan."
In his foreword to "Spirit of Hope," Tim Pilcher, an author on comics and a passionate advocate of the form, describes a project that has been a product of "drive, heartache and — as the title states — hope." Speaking from his home in Brighton, on the English south coast, he relates how he was "absolutely staggered at the sheer enormity of what happened" and how, in his capacity as chair of the Comic Book Alliance, a nonprofit organization set up in 2009 to promote British comics, he was able to translate his feelings into concrete action.
"I immediately contacted one of our cofounders, G.M. Jordan," explains Pilcher. "We got our heads together and the most obvious thing with the resources that we had was to put out a call to everyone that we knew in the comics industry to get involved, to contribute their time and energy and do something for free towards a fundraising book."