Curls in Comic Creators for Freedom 2013

This is the fourth year I'll be taking part in a fundraiser event called Comic Creators for Freedom: Fighting Together to End Human Trafficking.

Over 150 comic creators from around the world come together to raise funds in support of Love146. Most of us spend our days (or nights!) writing and drawing stories about brave heroes. Banding together to form the Comic Creators for Freedom, we finally have a chance to become the heroes.

Superheroes come to the rescue. That is why we are raising money specifically for Love146 and their work in providing care to survivors of child trafficking and sexual exploitation.  

This year's theme is Awkward School Photos, as you can see in the image above, my character, Curls, is representing the awkwardness. We hope you are able to donate December 2-14, 2013 to receive the complete downloadable wallpaper featuring several comic characters. Want to participate? Find out what you need to do to get involved and donate on the Curls fundraising page - my goal is $30 because if each comic creator raises $30, we will beat our overall goal of $5,000! Everybody chipping in can make a large impact.

If you are curious what has been done in the past for this cause, here is the art for 2012, 2011, and 2010: http://curls-studio.blogspot.com/search/label/Comic%20Creator%27s%20Alliance

Thanks to Lora Innes and Crystal Yates for organizing this mission.

Comic Creators for Freedom Fundraising is JAN 9-20

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
-Margaret Mead

Wednesday, January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. To participate, we formed the Comic Creators for Freedom– a group of over 100 comic book creators who volunteered our artistic talents to raise money and awareness for this cause. You may not know it, but there are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide- more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year. Unlike slavery in the past, what is happening today is happening in secret. It won’t end until awareness is raised, and people like you and me take a stand.

So here’s what we did: each creator contributed an original drawing of one of our own female characters, and combined them into a single wallpaper image! The wallpaper features characters from all over the web, including Girls with Slingshots, The Dreamland Chronicles, Kukuburi, Earthsong Saga, Looking for Group, Love and Capes, The Dreamer, and my comic strip- Curls, plus tons more! Starting this Monday, you can donate to download this unique, once-in-a-lifetime wallpaper.


Above you can see a small version of the wallpaper you will receive if you donate. You can get a sneak peak of a full body Curls in CCF 2012 here: http://www.curls-studio.com/curls/?p=1466

The Donations Drive will last for two weeks, from Monday January 9th – 20th. All proceeds will be split evenly between Love 146 and Gracehaven House- two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.

To learn more about the CCA visit www.comiccreatorsforfreedom. To learn more about the problem, visit http://love146.org/slavery. (Note: contains adult themes and actual accounts of sex slavery.)

Curls in Comic Creators for Freedom 2012

In January, I'll be taking part in a fundraiser event called Comic Creators for Freedom: Fighting Together to End Human Trafficking. (You may remember this organization for the past two years as Comic Creators Alliance, but they have since changed names as to not be confused with AOL's Comics Alliance.)

We’re a group of Comic Book Creators, who have come together, volunteering our artistic talents to raise money for the purpose of ending human trafficking in the world. Each comic creator who participates contributes an original drawing of one of their female characters. We compile all of these images into one single wallpaper, available for download when people donate to the cause! The hope is that readers will be excited to participate in our donations drive, and that the wallpaper will be used to generate interest in the project. All of your favorite characters on one screen!


This year's theme is Epic Snowball Fight, as you can see in the image above, my character, Curls, is prepared to fight! We hope you are able to donate January 9-20, 2012 to receive the complete downloadable wallpaper. Want to participate? Find out what you need to do to get involved here!

The Problem:
There are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide -- more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year.

Here is the art for 2011 and 2010: http://curls-studio.blogspot.com/search/label/Comic%20Creator%27s%20Alliance

Stay tuned for more information during our January 9-20, 2012 donation drive. I'm excited to see the complete wallpaper!

Comic Creator's Alliance 2011 Fundraising is JAN 11-24

Today, Tuesday, January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In honor of the event, I teamed up with the Comic Creator’s Alliance–a group of over 100 comic book creators (both web and print!) who volunteered our artistic talents to raise money and awareness for this cause. You may not know it, but there are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide- more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year. Unlike slavery in the 19th century, what is happening today is happening in secret. It won’t end until awareness is raised, and people like you and me take a stand.


So here’s what we did: each creator contributed an original drawing of one of our own female characters, and combined them into a single image! This year's theme was "The Brady Bunch." There is so much going on in this image--you can look at the wallpaper for a long time and still find something new! All of the artists included in the drive are amazing and some of the fan favorites are: Scott Sava (The Dreamland Chronicles), Adam Hughes (Star Wars, Wonder Woman), Sarah Ellerton (Inverloch), Bryan Glass & Victor Santos (Mice Templar), Beau Smith (Wynonna Earp: The Yeti Wars), Billy Tucci (Shi), Mookie (Dominic Deegan), Crystal Yates (Earthsong), Lora Innes (The Dreamer), Thom Zahler (Love and Capes), Alison Action (Bear Nuts), and Carolyn Belefski (Curls). View the full listing of contributors here: http://comicalliance.weebly.com/the-people.html.

Donate today to download this unique, once-in-a-lifetime wallpaper. Or, this year you can buy a print! The Donations Drive will last for two weeks, from January 11th – 24th. All proceeds will be split evenly between Love 146 and Gracehaven House- two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.

To learn more about the CCA and to donate visit www.comicalliance.weebly.com. To learn more about the problem, visit http://love146.org/slavery. (Note: contains adult themes and actual accounts of sex slavery.)

Curls for Comic Creator's Alliance 2011

In January, I'll be taking part in a fundraiser event called the Comic Creators Alliance: Fighting Together to End Human Trafficking. Last year 87 comic creators united to create one desktop wallpaper image featuring all their different characters, and together raised $10,000 for the purpose of fighting Human Trafficking! I've been asked to take part this year, so I'll be adding Curls to the wallpaper along side everyone else.


This year, instead of doing full body shots (last year's Curls contribution to CCA), we're going to be drawing busts "Brady Bunch" style. The wallpaper will feature all creator-owned female characters with the characters looking around at one of the other squares, or making a silly face. My contribution of Curls is above!

What is Human Trafficking? Human Trafficking is a sanitized term for slavery. There are over 27 million people enslaved in the world today, and most if it is young girls being sold into forced prostitution--both over seas and yes, in the United States. In the United States there are only 39 beds at facilities for victims in the entire nation--and at least 16,000 people being trafficked into the US from other countries each year! Not to count the domestic victims already living here.

The money that the CCA raised last year was split between two organizations, one global--Love 146, and a local shelter trying to get up and running--Gracehaven in Ohio. (Toledo, Ohio is one of the largest trafficking hubs in the U.S.) Both organizations were able to expand their particular fights against this heinous problem in 2010. Love 146 is setting up Task Forces around America, local groups of concerned citizens bringing the fight and awareness to their own corners of the nation. Internationally, Love 146 set up the Cambodia Border Officers Project . This is total prevention: officers patrol the border crossing, looking for possible victims and the kids they rescue will never know the horrors they might have. Gracehaven used our funds in the ongoing renovations that are necessary to bring the house up to code--plumbing and air conditioning were installed, along with two new bathrooms. They hope to be up and running soon but must first have six months of operating expenses in the bank. They are currently at one fifth of their goal--let's see what we can do to help them!

If you're a creator and would like to participate, the deadline for contributions is December 31st, 2010. Email ComicCreatorsAlliance@gmail.com to be added to the list. And the Donations Drive goes live January 11th on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and will last for two weeks. See you then!

Comic Creator's Alliance Donation Drive 2010

The Comic Creator's Alliance Donation Drive is LIVE January 11 - 24!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead

Monday, January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. To participate, we formed the Comic Creator's Alliance--a group of over eighty comic book creators (both web and print) who volunteered our artistic talents to raise money and awareness for this cause. You may not know it, but there are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide- more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year. Unlike slavery in the 19th century, what is happening today is happening in secret. So it won't end until awareness is raised, and people like you and me take a stand.


So here's what we did: each creator contributed an original drawing of one of our own female characters, and combined them into a single wallpaper image. The wallpaper features characters from The Phoenix Requiem, Girls with Slingshots, Earthsong, Looking for Group, Curls, Shadowgirls, Marsh Rocket, The Uniques and three IDW Publishing titles: Fallen Angel, The Dreamland Chronicles and The Dreamer, and lots, lots more! Donate today to download this unique, once-in-a-lifetime wallpaper. The Donations Drive will last for two weeks, from January 11th - 24th. All proceeds will be split evenly between Love146 and Gracehaven House - two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.


Character List (Curls is #32)

To learn more about the Comic Creator's Alliance visit www.comicalliance.weebly.com. To learn more about the problem, visit http://love146.org/slavery. (Note: contains adult themes and actual accounts of sex slavery.)

Curls for Comic Creator's Alliance 2010

This image is my contribution to the Comic Creator’s Alliance. It’s a collection of many webcomic artists from all over to raise awareness in the fight against human trafficking. Curls has teamed up with other creator-owned female characters to create one single wallpaper image, available for download after people donate to Love 146 and Gracehaven. This project was conceived by Lora Innes.

The hope is that readers will be excited to participate in our donations drive, and that the wallpaper idea will be used to generate interest in the project. All of your favorite characters on one screen!

January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States. The goal will be kick off the donation drive on that day. Visit Comic Creator’s Alliance to get more updates on the project and find out how to obtain the wallpaper for your donation.

For more information on the problem, read what Lora wrote here: http://comicalliance.weebly.com/the-problem.html