The Four Color Media Monitor

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs points to a very impressive article in the Jerusalem Post about how a Florida-based publishing company is working on a compilation to help raise funding in support of children in northern Israel following the recent attacks by the Hezbollah:

Children in northern Israel are to receive support from some of America's most famous superheroes - or at least the artists who created them. Mahrwood Press, a publishing company with offices in Florida and Jerusalem, has initiated the compilation of an anthology, Balm in Gilead, featuring short stories and illustrations that will be sold in support of children in northern Israel affected during the recent war.

"I had been contacted by an American Jewish publisher to do an insert to solicit funds for children in the North, but I wanted to do something bigger, something in the US," said Eric Mahr, Mahrwood's president, who enlisted for the project the help of artists including Stan Lee, the creator of Spiderman and The Fantastic Four, and Neal Adams, a leading contemporary comic artist most famous for his work on the Batman and X-Men series. Other participants include Marv Wolfman, the creator of Blade, Robert Silverberg, a popular science fiction writer, and Dave Cockrum, a co-creator of the X-Men series.

Clifford Meth, a well-known writer and editor in the comic book and science fiction world, will serve as the project's editor.

Meth said he had enjoyed similar past work on charity projects "because you don't have to worry about a budget when dealing with top artists."

He's focused his energy this time on finding writers and illustrators for the anthology, and said "we are pleased and proud that some of the most respected people in comics and literature have stepped forward to join this project."

Adams, the Batman artist, spoke about his motivation for participating in the charity project. "As a comic book artist, there is a certain guilt factor because we are paid money to draw pictures ... When an opportunity to contribute to society arises, we take it up," he said.

Adams, who is not Jewish, said he has a special affinity for Israel because "our association to Israel as Americans is very strong. It's a first-string relationship."

Neal Adams, man, do I owe you many thanks for this. Also to Lee, Wolfman, Cockrum and Silverberg. And I also gotta say, God Bless America!

Update: Silver Bullet offers a press release on Eli Eshed and Uri Fink's Golem strip, and how it's going to be published in English.

You can also go to this article on YnetNews' English site to learn more about the comic strip they're doing.

Labels: Europe and Asia, politics