Alan Moore is famous for writing incessantly ground-breaking graphic novels and comics such as V for Vendetta, Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell, and Lost Girls. David Lloyd is best known for creating the iconic Guy Fawkes mask during his work with Moore on V for Vendetta. Their infamous and anonymous Guy Fawkes mask has become the symbol, once again, for revolution.
While Occupy Wall Street and its sister movements have spread like wildfire across the globe, the Occupy Comics project, organized by Halo-8 Entertainment and its founder, film director, screenwriter, and producer, Matt Pizzolo, strives to be an artistic support project for occupiers that simultaneously documents the emotional and political mindset throughout the movement. “Since it’s a movement that was born in art, we intend to use art to tell the stories of its participants, to explore some of the overall themes and the activists’ inspirations, and to raise money to support them,” says the final line of a promotional video for the Occupy Comics project.
Occupy Comics is enthusiastically funded by Kickstarter, an online crowd-funding site that uses the public pledge system to gain funding for independent projects. Moore and Lloyd will be using the multifaceted talents of a still growing group of 54 artists to create an anthology that can serve as “a time capsule of the passions and emotions driving the movement,” states the project’s Kickstarter profile. The final anthology, anticipated for release around September of 2012, hopes to “tell the stories of the people who are out there putting themselves at risk for an idea.”
The beautiful thing about Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Comics’ pairing is their cyclical relationship. Fueled by politically thought provoking and questioning works like V for Vendetta, occupiers are now being supported by the comics that their inspirations stemmed from. “All of the writers, artists, business executives, and the publisher are being paid to produce this book… and they ALL are donating 100% of their revenue (not profits, but ALL monies they receive) to the occupiers,” exclaims the Kickstarter page.
The artists’ wholehearted efforts are not going unnoticed; Occupy Comics, selfless and dedicated, has grabbed the respect and support of many. After the donation window had closed on the Kickstarter page, 715 backers had donated a total of $28,640, nearly three times the goal of the page.
From the student perspective, this project defines the power of artistic expression, or rather, has the possibility to. Not only does it bring a whole new approach to political activism which inspires and informs through the a comic book instead of a megaphone, and funds itself through public monetary support rather than corporate sponsorship, but Occupy Comics also takes a very honest and sympathetic stand, especially from the Occupier’s positions. This project has the potential to encapsulate a vivid snapshot of our country’s chaotic mindset during the next few years, and perhaps set an example of the collaborative support that we as humans should provide for one another.
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