Since 2000, The Hero Initiative has been helping comic creators with emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying jobs. This important work is funded by contributions by fans and working artists through convention appearances, auctions, and sales of exclusive merchandise on their website.
We sat down with The Hero Initiative’s Regional Volunteer Board member Shannon Tucker to find out more about The Hero Initiative and the work they performed at TerrifiCon 2024.
How long have you been involved with The Hero Initiative and what’s your role with the group?
Tucker: I have been involved with The Hero Initiative for ten years, and I am the DC Mid-Atlantic Region head volunteer board member. Kevin Brogan used to be my mentor and now predecessor. He passed away last year. So, I took over the torch when Kevin passed. So most people are familiar with Kevin Brogan. And now I’m the new face for the area. At this point, I gather volunteers. I have a pretty set crew now. We come to any of the shows that The Hero Initiative is invited to. We set up and take care of the guests that are here on our behalf as well. We run around and we ask other people if they’d like to have a bucket and ask for donations on behalf of The Hero Initiative.
What is your favorite part of working for The Hero Initiative?
Tucker: It would be the fact that we’re ultimately helping the creators. That’s my favorite part. I also get to meet amazing people. I get to sit around and sometimes chat with the creators. When I first started my first year they asked if anybody wanted to sit with Jim Starlin. And in all honesty, I had no idea who Starlin was. And so I had texted a friend and I was like, “Hey, I’m sitting with Jim Starlin this week.” And he was like, “Oh my god! He created Thanos!” And he was losing his mind. And I’m just over there chatting with Jim. He had a sign that said, “Signatures are five dollars. I promise I won’t drink it all away. Half of it’s going to The Hero Initiative.” And I would be like, “Shove your money in Jim’s can!” like the whole weekend. And he loved it. So that was how I started.
How does The Hero Initiative bring in artists and writers to the convention? How does that work?
Tucker: That is really a Jim McLauchlin question. Jim McLauchlin owns and runs
The Hero Initiative. So basically he says to me, “Hey, we’re going to do this show and we’re going to bring these guests in.” And I go, “Great!” They have my contact information if they need anything from me. Sometimes they need a ride from the airport, things like that. We bring water and snacks and have them at our booth for the creators. Sometimes they’re like, “Hey, can I get up and take a break?” And maybe we’ll go sit at their table because they don’t always have volunteers to do that. Right now, if you went over to go see Walt Simonson, I have assigned a volunteer to help him with the line and take the money. So I have it all set and all Walt has to do is go, “Oh, I’m doing a sketch” or “I’m going to go ahead and sign.” I wish I had infinite people to do that for everybody, but we do it for the people who tend to get a really big line, and Walt and Louise will always have a big line.
What are the ways that you’ve seen The Hero Initiative grow over the 10 years you’ve been there?
Tucker: We have started going to more shows than we were before. So obviously you had the big ones like Baltimore Comic-Con and Terrificon. We’ve been branching out to the Galaxy Cons now. So basically we’re just trying to get more shows so there’s more awareness because you’d be surprised how many people stop by and have no idea what we do.
Speaking of awareness, why do you think it’s so important that comic fans are aware of The Hero Initiative?
Tucker: Because, unfortunately in America, we don’t have free healthcare and a lot of these guys don’t have healthcare. Unless you’re lucky enough to have a spouse, maybe, that can put you on their healthcare plan. They don’t have healthcare and sometimes they need emergency surgery. The Hero Initiative helps with that. I mean, to be honest, I go to the website sometimes and I watch the videos and about how many times The Hero Initiative has stepped in and helped people when they really needed it. I’m getting all misty just even thinking about it.
And something that a lot of people don’t know that I just learned recently is, you know, as some of the creators get older and age— it’s just like anybody when they get older— they kind of get forgotten and left at home. And I found out that Jim McLauchlin would sometimes have people just go every week to go out to dinner with them, take them grocery shopping, stuff like that. And nobody knows about that. That’s the stuff that people don’t even hear about. They know about the Facebook and being able to donate and go to auctions and things like that. But also they’re trying to spend time with them and let them know that they’re not forgotten.
Stay tuned to Conskipper for breaking news of more opportunities and check out The Hero Initiative website for how you can help comic artists through The Hero Initiative.