The charity using comic books to tell their story

In 2022, health charity Re-live announced it is launching a comic book series called Coming Home to highlight the mental health issues facing military veterans.

 

This innovate way for the charity to raise awareness of the challenges military personnel face is based on their real-life stories. The project also involves a raft of notable comic book artists and distributors.

 

While social media, video content, and podcasting have been staple weapons in charities’ marketing armoury for several years, it is interesting that Re-Live is turning to a medium that is more than 150 years old to tell their stories.

 

Here we look at Re-Live’s innovative use of comic books. We also explore how the continued popularity of comic books can offer an exciting way for charities to tell their stories.

 

In addition, we look back at history to show the strong collaboration that has already taken place over the years between good causes and comic book artists and writers.

 

 

Coming Home

 

Wales-based charity Re-Live has teamed up with Diamond Comic Distributors, one of the biggest distributors of comics in the UK, to publish a comic book series to detail the challenges facing military veterans.

 

Called Coming Home, each issue is released in the UK for £5 and in the US for $5.99 in 2022.

 

The traumatic stories in the comic have been adapted from the real-life experiences of the charity’s military veterans’ group “to develop their own narrative and work with a professional cartoonist to realise it as a finished story”, says Re-Live.

 

Others involved include Supergirl artist Emma Viecheli. It also features painted covers by the late Ian Kennedy shortly before the comic book veteran’s death this year. His credits include notable British comics including Dan Dare, Commando, and 2000AD.

 

Also involved in this project to use comics to raise awareness of a good cause are Positive Pathways, Cardiff University, and the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

 

 

Comic books’ continuing appeal

 

Re-Live is arguably right to look to the continuing appeal of comic books to tell their stories. The medium began in the nineteenth century in newspaper comic strips. It was through these into the twentieth century that many enduringly popular characters, such as Belgian detective Tin Tin, were introduced to readers.

 

During the 1930s comic books stepped up a gear through publisher DC’s creation of superheroes such as Batman and Superman.

 

Within 30 years comic book publisher Marvel took the medium even further. Through its editor, Stan Lee, it created a raft of exciting new heroes, such as the X-Men and Spiderman, who also dealt with everyday social problems such as discrimination, bereavement, and poverty.

 

Such socially conscious storylines go someway to explain these characters continued relevance to people and show how comics can be a natural fit for charities and the messages they are looking to convey.

 

Comics also offer a wide appeal for all ages, with graphics novels developed from the 1970s onwards. Modern comic book series in recent years feature a range of real-life stories and characters, including cancer patients, not just superheroes in tights and capes.

 

Latest estimates suggest the global comic book market could be worth as much as £11bn by 2028. This market includes digitisation, offering readers new ways to enjoy comics. For example, Marvel’s Marvel Unlimited online platform has more than 30,000 comics online.

 

 

Comic books and good causes

 

Comic books have long dealt with social issues. Spiderman’s alter ego Peter Parker endured poverty and bullying at school as well as bereavement.

 

Meanwhile, X-men, a group of so-called mutants born with special powers, were discriminated against, and harassed during the 1960s, as they held a mirror up to the emerging civil rights movement in the US.

 

Over the years comics have also linked up more formally with charities and campaigners.

 

One of the most famous is when Superman took part in an anti-smoking campaign, where in the early 1980s he fought The Evil Nick-O-Teen “the hijacker of health and foes of the fit”.

 

This was paid for by the UK government’s Health Education Council and designed by advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi and featured in comics as well as on TV advertising campaign.

 

 

Another was Marvel’s 1985 Heroes for Hope comic featuring the X-Men to raise awareness of famine relief in Ethiopa. Proceeds from the sale of the comic went to the American Friends Services Committee’s work to tackle hunger in the region. The initiative raised £130,000 for this cause.

 

Artists involved included some of the biggest names in comics at the time such as Frank Miller and John Byrne. Elsewhere, Stephen King, George RR Martin and Stan Lee were among the notable comic writers and authors involved in creating its famine relief themed plot.