That’s right ComicAttack.net fans, Len Wein, the man who created Wolverine, will be the guest of honor for the Hero Initiative Charity Benefit Party held at Collector’s Paradise in Los Angeles tonight, December 5th from 7pm-10pm! The event is being sponsored by The Hero Initiative, a not-for-profit charity 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.”
It’s a great organization, and the event is in appreciation of Wein’s most popular creation, Wolverine. On display in the store’s art gallery will be a number of the original sketch covers created by the industry’s top artists for the Wolverine: Weapon X 100 Project, which was produced by Hero Initiative. The project called upon 100 different artists to render their take on a blank wrap-around cover to Jason Aaron’s Wolverine Weapon X #1. Some of the artists who participated in the project include J. Scott Campbell, John Cassaday, Frank Cho, Ron Garney, Dale Keown and John Romita Sr. In addition to Wein, the following artists will also be in attendance at the Benefit tonight: Joe Benitez (Titans, The Darkness), Danny Miki (Ultimatum, Curse of the Spawn), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Dave Bullock (Wednesday Comics: Deadman), Christian Gossett (The Red Star, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi: Redemption), Aaron Sowd (Weapon Zero, Star Trek/X-Men), Chris Moreno (Grimm Fairy Tales April Fools) and Scott Koblish (Excalibur vol. 1, Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds).
The Collector’s Paradise staff will be serving snacks and refreshments free of charge, with more adult beverages available on the house as well!
To really add some gusto to the charity event, LA County proclaimed December 5th, 2009 as the official Len Wein Day, and the comic Legend will be receiving a special proclamation from the county sometime during the evening. Wein is best known for his creating of Wolverine, and for co-creating the X-Men members Storm, Nightcrawler and Colossus, DC’s Swamp-Thing, and for editing Alan Moore’s classic, Watchmen.
For sale at the Benefit will be a 152 page book containing all 100 covers as both a soft cover ($12.99) and hardcover ($25) edition. This will be the only printing of the book, so be sure to get a copy while you can! If you have a really good excuse and can’t make the event tonight, you can order signed copies through the Collector’s Paradise online store. The artists in attendance will be doing sketches with proceeds going towards Hero Initiative, as well as signing autographs along with Len Wein.
The art gallery at Collector’s Paradise is truly a sight to behold. It features a gigantic mural painted by pop-culture phenom, Jim Mahfood when the gallery was opened back in June, and is jam packed with original comic pages, art pieces, signed prints, and an entire wall of sketches made by artists who have visited the store!
Now for a few more sketch covers:
If you’d like to buy any of the original sketch covers, many are still available for bidding on the Hero Initiative eBay page. Click here to check it out. See you tonight!
SNIKT!
Andy Liegl
andy@comicattack.net
I love Len Wein! I’m so jealous of LA right now!
Sounds like a great event Andy, wish I could attend
What a cool event to be a part of. You lucky dog!
It’s going on right now and the place is PACKED!!
Lucky dog is right! Wish I could have gone!
If you want to see photos from the event, check them out here:
http://comicsandcards.net/wordpress/2009/11/meet-wolverine-creator-len-wein-8-artists/
AWESOME!!