Jack Kirby’s granddaughter Jillian made this video to get the word out about the Kirby4Heroes campaign to raise money for the Hero Initiative, a nonprofit group that’s devoted to helping comic book creators, writers, and artists in financial or medical need. Several industries have organizations like this — I know broadcasting has one — and it’s a way to show appreciation for the people who create the art you love. Geoff Boucher wrote an article about the initiative and this video in the L.A. Times this week; read it by clicking here. Why is this campaign necessary? Because comics creators, usually employed in a work-for-hire arrangement, didn’t get cut in on the marketing bonanza from comic characters over the years, making it all too easy to end up in a financial bind. The Hero Initiative is trying to provide a safety net for them.

Jillian’s Kirby4Heroes campaign is doing a donation drive on August 28th — which would have been Jack Kirby’s 95th birthday — at comic book stores across California and at Midtown Comics in Manhattan, and is also taking donations at heroinitiative.org (type “Kirby4Heroes” in the slot for “special instructions”) and by mail at Kirby4Heroes Campaign, c/o The Hero Initiative, 11301 Olympic Blvd., #587, Los Angeles, CA 90064.