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Today's adventure: Using Paypal for something besides eBay

The comic book industry is a strange inbred community of sociopaths and insomniacs. It’s a good ole boys club of talented people who waste their careers writing power fantasies, reinforcing sexist images of women and incapable of telling stories outside their own isolated culture. I’m not trying to be ironic here. All of that is true. And yet no matter how much any of us bitch about this industry, we love comics so much, and the people who create them, we can’t really leave. Can we? It’s like a family where everyone is the crazy uncle or oddball aunt with a thousands cats. There’s not a normal one in bunch.

Terry Moore? Harvey Pekar? Daniel Clowes? Charles Burns? Lynda Barry? Paul Chadwick? Al Feldstein? Jaime Hernandez? Warren Ellis? Chynna Clugston? Jim Steranko? Robert Crumb? James Sturm? Doug TenNapel? Trina Robbins? Sergio Aragones? William Gaines? Tony Millionaire? Bill Griffith?

They’re all complete loons. However, as I said, we love comics. And we love the people who create them. Because of that, I’m never surprised by our overwhelming ability to help each other during times of need. Being such a small industry with so many message boards, few tragic stories slip through the cracks. And if you’ve been to any of conventions, many of these people, you’ve met in person.

Now one of the looniest ones in the whole asylum, and thankfully so, the indomitable Lea Hernandez lost her house yesterday morning in a fire. From the Newsarama report by Gail Simone:

“Half her house is now gone, and the rest is smoke-damaged. In addition, she lost at least six of her family’s beloved pets, two dogs and four cats. If you knew Lea, you’d know how devastating that is. She’s lost a great deal of her family’s possessions, including irreplaceable art. She doesn’t yet know the full accounting of what’s been lost at this time.”

From Lea’s own blog:

“We have had a house fire. Our house. Girl woke me up and I got both kids out while dialing 911. By the time the fire department got the water on the fire, our roof was burning. Typing from a neighbor’s computer. At least four of the cats and both dogs died from smoke. The kids are okay. I don’t know how much art I’ve lost. We lost almost all our books, DVDs, entertainment stuff. Not important. I lost a piece of art I did fifteen years ago on a beautiful morning when I couldn’t sleep. I have no idea how much or what in my studio is burned or damaged. We’re trying to find some place to stay and some clothes. I am typing in my jammies. About half the house burned, and the rest is smoke-damaged. Mama dog was in the bedroom, farthest from the fire and still died from the smoke. My sweet Yuki is gone, too, and Sprocket, Mimi, Mocha and Frap.”

So how can we help? Let’s think short term and long term. On the short term, there’s a lot of basic getting-through-the-day kind of stuff. They need money. You can send it to Lea via her paypal address—

Please don’t just read this column, feel bad for Lea, post your sincere well-wishing, and move on to the next website. Go to paypal.com and send her some money, even if it’s just a few dollars. If everyone who reads this column gave a dollar, heck, that’s five dollars. If Frank Miller or Jim Lee read this column, they should probably give a little bit more. They can afford it. And you know, just because.

The long term. Scott Hinze from Fanboy Radio called me, and then a few minutes later Richard Neal from Zeus Comics called. They are putting together Cape 2.5. It will be a live art show hosted in Dallas at the Metro Grill on Saturday, September 30th at 9 PM. All the proceeds are going to benefit Lea and her family. Several artists have already agreed to participate in order to raise money. We could use your help to promote and participate. Any original art you’d like to donate? We could use it. If you have any idea on how to make this event as profitable as possible, let Richard, Scott, or myself know ASAP.

If you’ve ever met Lea, she’s a wonderful person – and a little mischievous, which I have always considered the highest survival skill necessary for a meaningful life. Talk with her for even a few minutes, and she’s always plotting, scheming, playing games, and joking around. Oh yes, she’s crazy like the rest of us. And I’d hate for this fire to take the mischief out of her.

We can help her, and we should, because that’s what a crazed inbred insomniac community does. I’m going to get in trouble for that first paragraph, aren’t I?

Next week: Yes, yes, I know! We’ll continue the It List. I haven’t forgotten.