Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Drew Ford, gofundme, it's alive press

Drew Ford, Founder of It's Alive Press, Has Died From Coronavirus

Dimitrios Fragiskatos, owner of the comic book store Anyone Comics in Brooklyn gets in touch with Bleeding Cool regarding It's Alive Comics publisher, Drew Ford. Recently, we reported that Drew Ford had been admitted to the NYU Langone hospital in Brooklyn. Drew Ford's wife Kiki De Coeur has been posting about his situation on Facebook and has asked people to share the news.

Dimitrios tells Bleeding Cool that he has been in touch with Kiki and it seems that Drew contracted pneumonia complications from COVID-19. That he has been declared brain dead and, in line with his wishes, his organs are being donated, and that it is likely he will be declared dead today. He has just turned 48.

A GoFundMe has just this minute been set up to help Kiki. As anyone who worked with Drew Ford might be aware, his finances wee's exactly in the most organised state. Dimitrios tells me "from what I gathered, he handled the majority of It's Alive Publishing himself, so I don't know what it will mean for order fulfilment to crowdfunding backers or Diamond, though I think Kiki, his wife, will do her best. I will help out however I can, as well. He was a customer of mine at Anyone Comics in Brooklyn and was there to support me when I opened up the new store in Queens, Everyone Comics and Books, earlier this year."

Kiki writes for GoFundMe, about her life and her life with Andrew. It's an emotionally powerful read, the below extract is just about Drew Ford's current condition, but I urge you to read the whole thing.

"Andrew (Drew Ford) was found September 26,2022 on the street of Brooklyn. He was in the car and had a COVID-related pneumonia. He went to storage to work with his recent book and pick up both of us lunch on the way home. He never come back. He always text me every hours but he never did. They found him on the road of Brooklyn. His heart was stop working for over 20min. People who found and help him, try there best to make his heart work again. They took him to Emergency room in Sunset park Brooklyn. They moved him to ICU September 28, 2022. Doctor told me Andrew (Drew) is brain dead and he will never wake up to see me again. According to NY state law, he is dead. He is on machine right now so I can do an organ donations. But I will never see him, talk to him, tell him that I love you again. His brain has so much damage because it was no oxygen for really long time. It show no sign of recover. He was healthy and he is so young. He don't drink, smoke or any drug. Sadly, doctor told me his COVID related pheumonia was really bad. He coudn't breathe. His lungs didn't produce enought oxygent to his brain. His heart stopped working due to the brain dead. Unfortunally, his life insurance can't pay. It was cancelled due to missed payments."

Drew Ford created the comic Rib at Caliber Comics, and the graphic novel Steam from Dark Horse. But his greatest contribution was creating archive lines of comic books and graphic novels, first at Dover Books while he was a Special Projects Editor at Marvel Comics,  then at IDW before setting himself up as It's Alive Press solo in 2016. A graphic novel publisher that specialised in bringing out-of-print indie comic books back into print, as well as continuing and concluding stories where it could, and generating brand new ones, It's Alive Press recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to revive the eighties black-and-white comic book series, Fish Police. Drew Ford had struggled with fulfilment issues of late, but there is no doubt he was a major contributor to the American comics industry in honouring its past heroes and bringing deserved attention to projects and people that time had forgotten – or at least not thought about for some time.

I am heartbroken to hear the news about Drew Ford, and I wish all my condolences to Kiki. I will be making a donation to help her at this time of trial, and I ask you to do the same if you can.

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