More Comic Creators join ongoing Comic Art Auction fund raiser for Syrian Refugees

By John Freeman on January 19, 2016

Great art by Gavin Mitchell offered in the latest round of Emily's auction to raise money for Syrian refugees.

Great Adventure Time-inspired art by Gavin Mitchell offered in the latest round of Emily Owen’s auction to raise money for Syrian refugees.

Emily Owen is on a mission to help those directly facing the consequences of the terrible war in Syria by raising funds for victims through sales of comic art. She needs help – from artists willing to donate work – and the support of comic art fans by buying it.

A business analyst for a finance company, based in the valleys near Cardiff, after last year’s House of Commons vote to bomb Syria, Emily tells us she felt “bloody angry!”

“I felt very strongly that I needed to do something to raise some money for charities that help the refugees who would be effected by the actions of our government,” she says.

“Having little artistic talent myself (I write more than I draw, and I don’t do much of that!) but being good at organising and wrangling artists, I thought I’d get some of my mates and anyone else I could talk into it to donate art for an auction.”

Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn by Chris Imber

Enlisting the help of several comic creators with support from Lou Scannon co-creator Jim Bampfield and boyfriend Gavin Mitchell (artist for Santa Claus vs. The Nazis and The Trolltooth Wars), a first batch of art offered via eBay started at the beginning of December raised £113 for the Good Gifts: Help Syrian Refugees campaign, which is offering practical help with lasting benefits by providing things like warm clothes and bedding for some 600,000 victims of the war.

“There have already been some great artists involved,” Emily tells us. These include Jenny Brown, Alfie Gallagher, Rob Ellis, Mike Jackson, Nick Prolix and Jim Bampfield.

Art by Anastasia Catris

Now, she’s about to start the second wave of the auction after pausing it over Christmas. The first listings have gone live today (19th January) here and include work by artists like Operation Boom creator Chris Imber, Anastasia Catris creator of the Colour Me Mindful colouring book series, Alex Crawford and Samuel C Williams.
Emily is hoping more artists will join the ongoing project.

“Any artists that would like to donate pieces for the auction can contact me via emiekennATgmail.com or through twitter (@TomboyPrincess),” says Emily. “I’ll keep listing and adding to the auction as long as people keep donating.

“I have more great artists who have promised to donate, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for new work which I’ll link to through twitter and using #SyriaArtAuction.”

• Check out the Syria Comic Art Auction here on eBay

• If you would like to donate some art to help the charity, you can contact Emily on Twitter @TomboyPrincess or by email; emiekennATgmail.com

• Emily will also be collecting donations of art at True Believers in Cheltenham on 6th February and London Super Comic Con in London on 20th February. More auctions will be added to eBay over the next few weeks

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.