New Comic Book Anthology Looks at Raising Mental Health Awareness
Mental health is a serious issue that’s not taken seriously enough. Tee “Vixen” Franklin has organized a comic book anthology with a slew of creators who want to help change that.
Franklin, who you may follow on Twitter @MizCaramelVixen, is just starting her comics writing career and has another anthology already in the works (Afrofuturistic Anthology) but she’s not new to the comics community. Many know her from her website Vixen Varsity and from the other fantastic campaign she started, #BlackComicsMonth. She’s constantly talking, and getting others to talk, about diversity in comics.
With her newest undertaking, Franklin wants to help end the mental health stigma. In fact, it’s even in the name of the anthology – #EndTheStigma: A Mental Health Anthology. “This anthology is a passion project for me,” she said. “As someone who has been living with mental illness for decades, I want people to know that they’re not alone.” As you may already know, 1 in 4 people have some form of mental illness yet many don’t seek out help because no one wants to talk about it. Well guess what? A lot of people in the comics community are trying to make a difference with just that.
The project already has names attached like Gail Simone, Scott Snyder, Margaret Stohl, Marguerite Bennett, Tess Fowler, Taneka Stotts, D.J. Kirkland, Ma. Victoria Robado, Paulina Ganuchea, Matthew Rosenberg, Caitlin Rosberg, Paul D. Storrie, Tini Howard, Chris Dibari, Christina “Steenz” Stewart, Carla “Speed” McNeil, Brittney Williams, Erica Schultz, and Marcy J. Cook. More names seem to be added every day which shows you just how important this is to a lot of folks.
#EndTheStigma: A Mental Health Anthology will be funded through a charity Indiegogo campaign set to launch May 1st, 2017 and is scheduled to be released in November 2017. All the proceeds (minus shipping and printing costs) will be donated to New Jersey’s Youth Consultation Services.
[Youth Consultation Service] offers an array of nurturing therapeutic, and life skills teaching residences for children, teens and young adults with emotional/behavioral health challenges, developmental and intellectual disabilities.
If you’re interested in contributing they will be accepting submissions from September 30th through October 31st 2016. And you can find out more about that and get updates on the project at MentalHealthAnthology.com.
Ya know, in a medium where about 99.9% of the villains have at least one mental illness,, I have to say it’s genuinely refreshing and heartwarming to see someone using said medium to spread awareness and knowledge about the subject. All my support.
Yes! I’m so tired of “general mental instability” as a villainous trait. It perpetuates stigmas, but it’s also just lazy characterization. Really looking forward to seeing where this project goes on both levels, in terms of activism and creativity.