Posted in: Comics | Tagged: gofundme, Gustavo Vargas

A Christmas Miracle For Comic Creator Gustavo Vargas

Published Thu, 22 Dec 2022 07:57:08 -0600

Gustavo Vargas is a Peruvian comic artist based in Edinburgh, who has been self-publishing Peruvian Cyberpunk comics Puno, Manu, L1ma and Trujillo since 2017, currently working on his fifth volume Pilcuyo, as well as working with Dan Abnett on the sci-fi comic Crayta, Heavy Rotation by Shelly Bond and Time Before Time by Declan Shalvey, as well as UK publishers Accent UK, Mad Robot Comics, Cabal Comics, Sassafras Press, Madius, Future Quake Press and Time Bomb Comics. Yesterday he wrote of tragedy striking a week before Christmas.

"On Monday (19th of December) my wife and I, in exciting spirits, embarked on the ferry from Newcastle to Germany to spend Christmas with her family. During the train ride from Amsterdam to Germany, one of our rucksacks was stolen. Inside the rucksack were all my digital tools and devices for work. We are both freelancers/self-employed and rely on our laptops to make a living. With the steep rise in cost-of-living, we live month to month. It was for this reason that we had our laptops (and my digital drawing tablet) with us, as we were planning on working through the holidays."

"The contents of the stolen rucksack were:
17-inch laptop
Wacom Intuos drawing tablet, medium size
Android 10.1 inch tablet
A chrome book
(not to mention Christmas presents)."

"Obviously, the robbers tried to hack into our email, Google and other accounts from our devices. We think we were able to stop their attempts (fingers crossed). To get back to work as quickly as possible, I'm asking for your help: The cost of replacing our working tools is around £ 2,400. We know this time of year is tight for most people, and as freelancers, the same is true for us. We're simply unable to replace our stolen items with our current bank balances. We're in a tight spot moneywise, and without our tools, limited in means to earn the funds necessary to cover the cost of the items. Any support you could provide would be a tremendous act of generosity and greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration. Feliz navidad. Frohe Weihnachten. Happy holidays."

Within mere hours, he closed the GoFundMe as the amount Gustavo Vargas needed had been surpassed, over £2500. He wrote "I'm teary and smiling, overwhelmed with gratefulness. Yesterday evening I was almost in shock by seeing the campaign receiving so much love. But in the night we were away with family and I couldn't reach my phone so often to see any updates… and this morning we were filled with pure joy and thankfulness, what a stunning surprise to realise we reached our goal!! We've been on a rollercoaster of emotions, frustrated and let down by what happened, and now we're uplifted, inspired, smiling, and hugging. And this all happened thanks to each one of you!! You are the best!! What a beautiful and inspiring community to be part of!! Thank you so much, from the bottom of our hearts!! I stopped the donations as the campaign reached its goal in record time. I will now be able to replace my laptop and other tools!! Thanks also to everyone reaching out asking if there were more ways to help us, it truly means a lot!! We love you all. Feliz navidad. Frohe Weihnachten. Happy holidays. Gustavo & Tine."

Donations received by Gustavo Vargas included £500 from Declan Shalvey, £100 from Roger Langridge, Romeo Vargas and Sofia Luyo as well as more from Aditya Bidikar, Daniel Whitehead, Mark Abnett, Eduardo Romero, Martin Simpson and others

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