Art by Skye Ogden.
A few months back, after the devastating earthquakes in Japan, Gutter Trash co-host Jason Young forwarded me an email from a man named Adam Paison, a cartoonist living in Japan. Adam had decided to put together a charity book of comics from artists around the world, recounting their personal experiences with Japan or Japanese culture. At first I wasn’t going to contribute, as I have found that I don’t enjoy drawing comics, and had no real experience with Japan other than reading very little Manga, watching some Anime and eating at a Japanese restaurant once. Jason reminded me that I actually did have a slightly more personal story, one that I thought might be kind of funny, and it would be nice to help out a good cause.
The book itself is nearing the final phases. It’s ready for printing and distribution, but needs a little help first. Over at this Kickstarter page, you can donate to get the book published. All proceeds from the sale of the book goes to help the ongoing disaster relief and rebuilding in Japan, and to help the citizens hurt most by the destruction. Jason has a great story in it, I have a story that makes me look like a selfish jerk, and something like 30 other artists from around the world have contributed stories, like Jeffrey Brown, Noah Van Sciver and Carrie McNinch.
Check it out, spread the word, donate, whatever you like. In addition to the Kickstarter page, you can also go to the Aftershock blog page and check out preview pages and art from the book.
