Hey readers, sorry for the unexpected late page this week. I simultaneously ran out of buffer pages and got the worst cold I’ve had in a long while, and today is my birthday! So in between missing comics and being sick for my birthday, I’m just not up for putting together a page, but I will make up the missing page in addition to regular updates, so stay tuned.

What I’m really here to post about today is the Comic Creators Alliance! To better explain what it’s all about, here are some words from the project’s founder, Lora Innes:

“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

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), and Alison Action (Bear Nuts). 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.)

Lora Innes
The Dreamer
Nominated for two Harvey Awards: Best New Series and Best New Talent
Adventure. Romance. War. 1776 is back.
www.thedreamercomic.com

Please consider donating to this awesome cause! All donations should go through Comic Creators Alliance, not me. If you donate to the CCA, forward a copy of your Paypal confirmation to bug@messenger-comic.com (you can blank out your last name and personal information if you want) and I’ll email you a copy of the Messenger winter wallpaper as an extra thanks for participating in the CCA drive this year! ♥