Posted in: Comics | Tagged: aclu, Adam Lemnah, Alex Hernandez, Alfonso Martin, Ariel Kahtan, Barbara 'Willy' Mendes, Ben Granoff, Bill Sienkiewicz, Christian 'Meesimo' Meesey, David Ostow, dean haspiel, Doug Latino, Eli Neugeboren, Eli Schwab, Emil Ferris, Gerard Mantese, Gideon Kendall, Gregory Benton, Ian Cinco, J.T. Yost, Jeremy Nguyen, Keith Henry Brown, Kevin Alvir, koren shadmi, Lad Decker, liza donnelly, Michael Ricci, Monique Hernandez, Nick Forker, Peter Kuper, Peter Rostovsky, protest, Rachel Merrill, rachelle meyer, RD Murphy, rick parker, Ro Higashi, Shaun Riaz Mohammed, Spencer Alexander, Stan Mack, Steve Brodner, Steve Stegelin, Tarik Rashaan Davis, Thomas Gryphon, Times Like These, Tony Wolf, trump

Times Like These: Bill Sienkiewicz Helps Raise Money for the ACLU

Times Like These, a comic by Bill Sienkiewicz, Peter Kuper, Emil Ferris, Jeremy Nguyen, Tony Wolf & Dean Haspiel, raises money for the ACLU

Tony Wolf is publishing Times Like These, a new comic book art project put out by Cosmic Lion, partly inspired by the Art Spiegelman/Françoise Mouly/Nadja Spiegelman RESIST! one-shot special created directly after President Donald Trump's first 2016 election. And solicited thus, with a cover by Bill Sienkiewicz, who also created three pages inside the anthology.

TIMES LIKE THESE
43 creators. 7 Eisner winners/nominees.
Assembled in 6 weeks. 80 pgs, $20.
Initiated & edited by Tony Wolf, with associate editor Eli Schwab. Published & distributed by Cosmic Lion.
An 80-page protest giant! At this critical time in history, celebrate progressive artists, free speech, and healthy dissent! This unique art gallery & comics one-shot takes on some of the key issues of our time.
As we face rising authoritarianism, iconic artists & new voices alike are called to reflect on… TIMES LIKE THESE. All proceeds (after printing costs recovered) will be donated to the ACLU.
THE ROSTER: Bill Sienkiewicz, Emil Ferris, Peter Kuper, Gideon Kendall, Liza Donnelly, Rachel Merrill, Keith Henry Brown, Jeremy Nguyen, Dean Haspiel, Alex Hernandez, Koren Shadmi, David Ostow, Tarik Rashaan Davis, Kevin Alvir, Ben Granoff, Alfonso Martin, Stan Mack, Ariel Kahtan, Monique Hernandez, RD Murphy, Steve Brodner, Thomas Gryphon, Barbara 'Willy' Mendes, Lad Decker, Ian Cinco, Doug Latino, Rachelle Meyer, Rick Parker, Ro Higashi, Eli Neugeboren, Gregory Benton, Michael Ricci, Steve Stegelin, J.T. Yost, Nick Forker, Adam Lemnah, Shaun Riaz Mohammed, Spencer Alexander, Gerard Mantese, Eli Schwab, Christian 'Meesimo' Meesey, Tony Wolf, and Peter Rostovsky.

Tony Wolf tells us the whole story from start to finish.

"As I assembled the book: at first, I wasn't sure if this would end up being more of a zine with me & 7 friends contributing. Within 2 weeks, I had 12 contributors. Within 3 weeks, I had 27 contributors. I reached out to Eli Schwab, head of Cosmic Lion Productions, for help with book design, Photoshop work, and to see if Eli would like to sign on as official Publisher & distributor. At that point, I had several Eisner winners involved. Eli said yes, and the rest is history! Well, more like a snapshot / time capsule of protest and dissent art, capturing the moment. When I secretly began this project approximately 2 months ago, there was no war. Three weeks into quietly and privately inviting contributors, Trump began his elective war on Iran… and I felt an even greater sense of urgency among the contributors."

"When Bill Sienkiewicz agreed to do the cover, I was thrilled. When Emil Ferris agreed to contribute a page, I was over the moon. When Peter Kuper, Dean Haspiel, and Gideon Kendall were some of the first to sign on, I plotzed. When Keith Henry Brown, an award-winning childrens book illustrator who was personally selected by Wynton Marsalis to be the Art Director for Jazz at Lincoln Center during Marsalis' tenture (and who also just illustrated a graphic memoir written by Raymond Santana, one of the Central Park Five, titled PUSHING HOPE), my mind was blown. When Koren Shadmi agreed to contribute a piece, I was eternally grateful. When Tarik Rashaan Davis, an actor / writer / cartoonist / producer / improv expert and co-host of NBC / Peacock's The Amber Ruffin Show, who has performed multiple times with Lin-Manuel Miranda and in a major Nicole Kidman / Hugh Grant / David E. Kelley HBO miniseries, wanted to take part… I was ecstatic. When multiple stellar New Yorker illustrators Liza Donnelly, Jeremy Nguyen, Steve Brodner, Rachelle Meyer, and David Ostow signed on… I was stunned at my good fortune. Kevin Alvir (Top Shelf / IDW) went from contributing 1 piece to creating 2 pieces in just a handful of days, and I was thrilled with his clever & insightful contributions under pressure. The list goes on. I felt lucky to also be able to throw the spotlight on artists I felt deserved more eyeballs, including Ro Higashi, Christian Meesey, Fonzo Martin, RD Murphy, Gregory Benton Adam Lemnah, Alex Hernandez, Ariel Kahtan, Ben Granoff (who also served as Special Editorial Advisor for the project), Monique Hernandez, Eli Schwab (in his capacity as an illustrator & comics maker), and more. 43 contributors in total, 7 Eisner winners/nominees among them, as well as multiple Mocca Award of Excellence winners and Society of Illustrators & National Cartoonists Society honorees. And all thrown together in just 6 weeks for the BICS debut. When you have a worthy cause, and when fascism is on the rise, artists step forward to be counted and rally together."

"The idea was to debut this protest art book at BICS, the Brooklyn Independent Comics Showcase, on April 18th. Coordinated by Aynsley Leonardis with Mitch at St. Mark's Comics, this year was the 5th annual BICS. I had been let go by my old corporate office job around Thanksgiving, and decided to use the proceeds from the severance package to pay for the print run myself, so we wouldn't have to do a Kickstarter. I figured there was a kind of poetic justice in using the severance from my 18 years of service at a corporate law firm to print 700 copies of a new protest art book, which I saw as an energetic donation to progressive causes and ideas. All profits (after I recover my printing costs) will be donated to the ACLU."

Copies are currently on sale at Cosmic Lion for $20 each.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!