Benefits

Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson has a been a notorious recluse for 16 years or so; however, he has broken his visual silence for a pretty worthy cause, Michael Cavna reports. Watterson has donated a painting -- yes a painting -- of Richard Thompson's Petey character from Cul-de-Sac to a Parkinson's disease benefit. (Thompson suffers from that illness.)

Hey peeps, we'll try to give you a bit more warning about awesome events and here's a do not miss: A benefit reading for Tom Hart and Leela Corman's new school in Florida with an all-star lineup. A great night for a great cause.

Holy shit, James Jean. His latest show of paintings is up at the Martha Otero gallery in Hollywood and it runs until April 30. We're jealous of those who get to see it in person. Jean has also just released this limited edition silk scarf which you can buy at the link. ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE RED CROSS. THe scarf retails for $385. Only 50 were made. There is a B&W version as well, same price, same run.

A few weeks ago we were ragging on Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy for insensitive tweeting, and business mistakes, but now he's in Sendai, helping with relief efforts, tweeting about it:

We've seen trading cards for everything from NASCAR to bakeries, so why not cartoonists? Trading cards were a huge fad in the '90s, so it's not surprising that most of the cartoon trading sets we've seen hail from that era. But now, the current crop of superstars is getting its OWN trading card legacy, courtesy of the CBLDF and Cryptozoic Entertainment, called The Liberty Trading Cards. The set will spotlight the Fund's exploits in defending the First Amendment and include sketch cards, chase cards and autographs, along with more than 70 of today's top creators.

The CBLDF is auctioning off a very interesting item: Frank Miller's Drawing Chair, SIGNED.

Girl-Wonder.org, the mostly superhero-focused organization for female readers and characters is looking for new board members.

In the proud tradition of Superman fighting landmines and other great didactic comics of the past, Marvel and the Mayor's Office of NYC have teamed for a comic book teaching New Yorkers about resources available for their job hunts. "Spider-Man, You're Hired" "features an unemployed Peter Parker starting his job search, is the Administration’s latest effort to connect out-of-work to New Yorkers to job training and placement services."

There have been many grassroots "cartoonist benefits" of late and the way things are going, there are bound to be many more. One of the most alarming recent calls to action was the news that Steve Rude was in danger of losing his house, and a resulting art sale. In his newsletter, The Dude reports that the house has been saved, and he's overwhelmed:

The Fire Dept. of New York -- and other fire safety organizations -- promote the time changes in fall and spring as a reminder to change your smoke detector batteries -- doing so saves lives and property. As someone who lost a lot of her childhood comics in a fire that was undetected by a fire alarm, I can testify that this is a really great cause and a good reminder.

Times are tough, people. Several folks in our comics community can't pay the rent this month and are raising funds via selling cool things. Help them out if you see fit.

In Portland, OR and Flemington, NJ.. Celebrate the season and please give to help stop domestic violence.