When Fanbase Press is not providing you with the latest in geek news and entertainment, the Fanbase Press staff hopes to offer our readers myriad opportunities to give back to the community. We love reading comics, watching movies, and playing video games, but we are never happier than when we are able to help others in need. With Geeks Care: How You Can Help, Fanbase Press will provide you a variety of causes that would greatly appreciate your time.
For the latest edition of Geeks Care, the Fanbase Press staff would like to highlight a new fan project called Darkest Image which is being spearheaded by an eclectic group of talented creators to pay tribute to the early days of publisher Image Comics. The proceeds from the sale of the fan project will be going to benefit The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. In the past year, The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has come under new management with a new Board of Directors including comics industry pillars Amy Chu, Pam Noles, and Joe Illidge.
When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, cartoonist Ed Piskor (Red Room, Cartoonist Kayfabe, X-Men Grand Design) gave his fans a call to action to make a fan-fiction comic utilizing the Grand Design treatment, focusing on the early days of Image Comics. The fans’ response was to create Image Grand Design, as well as the companion piece, Image Grand Disaster. A huge success, the projects raised thousands of dollars for The Hero Initiative, an organization that creates a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.
As a sequel to Image Grand Design/Disaster, Darkest Image is a play on Darker Image from Image Comics with an anything-goes approach. The project will be over 200 pages and will feature the work of nearly 60 contributors, including Michael Fitzgerald Troy, Brian Payne, Matthew Hawes, Sam J. Royale, James Windsor-Smith, Dr. Ben Anthony, Sam Blanchard, Milo Trent, Anthony Andujar, Jr., Renel Roque, Francisco Vilela, Kasey Bouchard, Andrew Kahak, Daniel Moler, Michael J. Scully, John Cohon, Andrew Deluca, Omak Vera, Royce Viso, Claudio Selulveda, Josh Mendez, David Escobar, Christopher Rogers, Kyle Pinion, John Burkett, Barry Tan, and many more.
Darkest Image is currently available as a downloadable PDF with a donation of $5.00. In addition, a physical copy of the book is also available for a donation of $20.00. All proceeds will go to benefit The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the fundraising event will be hosted through Thanksgiving 2021.
If you have a volunteer opportunity or an important cause that could use the assistance of a few geeks, please email the details to barbra (at) fanbasepress (dot) com.
