Comics for Causes: Untold Stories from Ground Zero and Beyond

September 11, 2001 tested American mettle like nothing since the bombing of Pearl Harbor or even since the Civil War. Everyone with a television could see the gravity, the scope of need so suddenly thrust upon those directly affected, and the rush from all over the nation or even the world to help made me dare hope our society would emerge from the ashes permanently transformed, and for the better.

The comic book industry responded by churning out no less than six books to support a variety of charities, all but one of them anthologies that represented the cumulative efforts of hundreds of creators. Dark Horse, Image, and Chaos! brought us 9-11: Artists Respond, Volume 1. DC published the second volume, with proceeds from both to go to the World Trade Center Relief Fund, the Twin Towers Fund, the September 11 Fund, and Survivors Fund. Marvel gave us Heroes and A Moment of Silence to benefit the Twin Towers Fund. Alternative Comics put forth 9-11: Emergency Relief and Joe Linsner did I Love New York Benefit Book to support the American Red Cross.

Just after the tenth anniversary of 9-11, it seems that most Americans haven't suffered from 9-11 beyond holdups at airports. If they even talk about the ongoing war that's resulted, it's to complain about how long it's taking and how much money it's costing. A lot of charities established in memory of 9-11 victims or to support those still suffering as a result of 9-11 have even closed their doors, including most of the ones the aforementioned books have supported.

Yet the need continues. Men and women who've worked rescue and recovery missions at Ground Zero are coming down with cancer at alarming rates. Fire departments all over have to step up training on reporting or responding to terrorist incidents and how to avoid being attacked themselves. Most of our nation's fire departments, like that of Shanksville, Pennsylvania are staffed by volunteers and get by with help from their communities, from donations, and sometimes even from charging their members dues. Even bigger fire departments that can afford paid personel cannot afford to meet all the needs their personel and the communities they serve may have. Too many firefighters still have to make do with old equipment and radios that too often prove ineffective. And as recently happened, when first responders are injured or sickened in the line of duty and ask for help with their medical bills, even if they take the matter all the way up to the federal government, they're too often out of luck.


Still, those who can run often keep at it and keep putting their lives on the line for us. Some of them still fall in the line of duty. Mercifully, many organizations remain to help out our firefighters, EMT's, police officers, and their families in their times of need. The comic book industry has not forgotten them either.

Heroes Fallen Studios, which brought us Untold Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan to support veterans and their families, is also directing their attention to our heroes on the home front. Work has already started on Untold Stories from Ground Zero and Beyond to benefit the law enforcement, fire, and emergency services of New York City, Washington DC, and Shanksville. The stories come from all over and, rather than just rehash the attacks, focus also on how people have chosen to remember, how lives were changed, and how people have coped over the years. Those confirmed to be working on this book include some familiar folks from all over the industry who worked on Untold Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan such as Peter Palmiotti, Richard O'Hara, Tom Orzechowski and Valerie Finnigan. Other notable volunteers include Paty Cockrum, who, besides having worked in the Marvel bullpen of old, also served as a volunteer firefighter in upstate New York. I will help provide updates as the work progresses. Until then, here's a reminder- just because ten years have gone by doesn't mean people aren't affected, aren't still hurting, and don't still need help. We still need to do all we can, especially to honor those who'd given all for us.

Comics for Causes: 9-11 Emergency Relief

In a Time editorial from December, 2010, James Poniewozic protested how the tickers cable news programs started running on September 11, 2001 continued ever since. While I agreed with the general sentiment, one quote stuck in my craw. "To remove the ticker, after all, would be to say life had gone back to normal," he wrote, "to reject the national shibboleth that everything had changed."

For a nation that hadn't seen an attack on its soil since the Pearl Harbor bombing, for a generation that witnessed with joy and optimism the end of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race, and especially for the thousands of families directly affected, "everything had changed" isn't just some shibboleth, some slogan, some litmus test of political loyalty. For them, there's no normal to go back to. There's only a new normal to which they have to adjust. That everything had changed is a harsh, grim reality.

A day after the death of Osama bin Laden was reported, a reporter asked a New York firefighter if the news brought him closure. He struggled as he said- with a greater show of composure than I felt- that "closure" was a horrible word. I wondered, loudly yelling at the TV, at the sheer insensitivity of asking a man who lost 343 brothers in one day about "closure." This and the relatively quiet, subdued, solemn reaction from other firefighters I've known clued me in to another fact that I've seen the media gloss over. Even as we've adjusted to our new normal, whatever it may be, the memories and feelings of 9-11 are still very raw.

And the response to 9-11 goes on- not just the war in Afghanistan, but the desire to do something positive to help a nation not so much get back to normal as to just simply heal. The 9-11 National Day of Service and Remembrance is one ongoing example. One of the first efforts from the comic book/cartooning industry came from Alternative Comics in early 2002 with over eighty creators on board to benefit the American Red Cross.

9-11 Emergency Relief includes work ranging from some really big, famous shameless-name-drop longtime industry pros (among them Will Eisner and the late, great Harvey Pekar) to no less impressive but lesser known talents of the small press and underground scenes. Their contributions range from reminisces along the line of "I remember exactly where I was when such-and-such happened" and an account of their reactions, to accounts from people who actually were there, to pure visceral outpourings of emotion.

I will get the one minor nitpick out of the way now. I noted that the term "cartoonist" was used to describe comic book artists, without noting the distinction. While some can do both cartooning and comic book art, the two are not interchangeable. Not all cartoonists can cut it as comic book artists, and not all comic book artists can do cartoons. But since I noted the inclusion of both cartoonists and comic book artists in this anthology, I could give the wildly varying styles and quality of art a pass. It's what I would expect when cartoonists and comic book pros get together. Besides, the whole point are the stories. A good enough story is a good story, and good art is icing on the cake. And the stories are so numerous and all so gripping that I really can only cover the highlight.

The one story that consistently stands out every time I read the book is "Treasure" by Gregory Benton, who shares the account of one family trying to help out a neighboring family by babysitting their youngest child. The little boy doesn't yet understand the gravity of the situation or quite why everyone's being so nice to him. He even receives a gift of a decorated cardboard treasure box, which he says proudly he'll show his mother, and brother, and, to quote, "When my Dad gets home, I'm going to show him, too."

His father was a New York firefighter.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I bawl like a baby every time I read that.

Those of you who have read this book, please share what story stood out most to you. Those of you who haven't read it, I highly recommend you do so. You can order it here by clicking the Amazon button, or you can request it through your local comic book retailer.