Marathon Dan

I ran my first marathon for my father. I'm running this one for Gene Colan and Dave Cockrum and tons of other men and women who have been a huge part of my life even though I've never met them. Comics have been important to me a long time and I really want to give something back to the people who make them.

The Hero Initiative is a non-profit that raises funds for comic book professionals in need. If you love comics, it's a great way to give back to the creators. If you don't love comics, it's a great way to help someone who needs a hand. If you like me, it's a good excuse to help me out. If you don't like me, it's a good excuse to watch me run 500 miles over the course of a few months and then 52.4 miles at the end.

A Few Things that might make you want to donate to the Hero Initiative through my runs:

• Back in the day, comic creators worked for tiny page rates only, with no royalties, no retirement plans, and almost zero chance of ownership.

• Take a look around and see all the Green Lantern and Spider-Man T-shirts you see on people walking down the street. Comics books are a MASSIVE part of our culture and have contributed greatly to our shared cultural landscape. But again, the men and women who CREATED the stories and entertainment that went in to that do not share in the reward.

• Every time there's a new Batman movie, it's quite literally a BILLION dollars in worldwide box office. Billion with a "b." But the guy whew was drawing Batman in 1959 sees NONE of that.

• The Hero Initiative has literally paid people's back rent when they're 24 hours from eviction and the street; paid to keep the heat on in winter so that folks could stay warm; paid for crucial medicines that creators couldn't afford due to their circumstances. What we do is largely simple, walk-of-life stuff that simply keeps people alive.

Many comic professionals work freelance and, while they sometimes create or work on multi-billion dollar franchises, they can run into financial trouble at any point. Let's show them that we're grateful and help them out.