Posted in: Comics | Tagged: cancer, Comics, entertainment, kickstarter

Celebration Of Life: A Cancer Anthology

Published Sun, 05 Apr 2015 11:00:55 -0500

Creators: Federico Avella, Caritza Berlioz, Chris Colquitt, Matthew Crehan, Megan Crehan, Keith Edmunds, John Freeman, Stephen Groves, Austin Hamblin, Emily Lambert, Iain Laurie, Jessica Mungia, Chris Nicholson, Orion Petitclerc, Jon Slater, Michael Westcott. Close Date: 18^th April 2015. Publish Date: November 2015

Celebration of Life: A Cancer Anthology, celebrates the lives of those affected by cancer, telling the stories of the happiest moments in the darkest of times, with all sales going to a cancer charity chosen by the backers.

Matthew Crehan writes,

Cancer affects us all, be it ourselves or a loved one, and for me it was my father that I had to see battle the evil disease.

My dad, was a top national runner all of his life and an Olympic coach to my mother, who competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympic marathon. His attitude towards everything was to always look for the good, to support and inspire those around them to aim for the goals and to never doubt themselves. But in 2006, he suffered a major heart attack, with a 99% blockage in his coronary artery, even the doctors were scared. But three years later he had got himself fit once again and was ready to run the Great North Run. He was feeling a little ill the week before so he rested up, but on the day he competed and ran a time of 85 minutes for an over 55 year old, who three years previously had suffered a major heart. The next day however he was at the doctors receiving some test results, which told us all he had bowel cancer that had spread to his liver. It was also revealed the reason he'd felt a little ill the previous week was because he'd suffered another heart attack.

For 5 years my dad battled the cancer, running for as long as he could, always remaining positive and optimistic, but when the time came and his health began to rapidly slip, he happily sat and planned his funeral, picking songs to be played such as "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Spirit in the Sky" at the same time me and my fiancée planned our wedding, which we'd brought forward in the hope he could be with us. Sadly he couldn't but he marvelled in our plans for the day, in the songs and the food, to the speeches and even, my wife's wedding dress, which she brought and put on, to show him. At that time he struggled to speak, but he managed to say, "It looks nearly as beautiful as the woman wearing it".

And so the Celebration Of Life: A Cancer Anthology for me is to celebrate my father's life, one in which I look at as a race, not to be first to cross the finish line but one where the winner is the person who takes the most beautiful route.

And as a comic writer, and it being something my father supported me in doing, I wanted to celebrate his life and give other writers and artists the chance to celebrate their lives and their loved ones, to be able to tell the inspiring stories, of real life superheroes, to show those happy, joyful moments in what are the darkest hours of our lives.

So please come and check out Celebration of Life: A Cancer Anthology, we are looking to raise £1,000.00 to print the 120 page anthology, with 100% of sales of the book going to a cancer charity chosen by the backers and the artistic teams.

For your support there are a number of amazing rewards, from getting your loved one or yourself drawn onto our dedication page for £12 or more, to receiving a hard copy of the book for £20, or having me and one of the artists on the anthology work with you to help tell your story for £75.

And for Bleeding Cool readers we'll have a special Bleeding Cool Vs Cancer 'Thank You' page and you'll all receive a special bonus postcard print from the anthology, just mention Bleeding Cool in your backer survey.

Thanks in advance for all your support.

Matthew

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