As the wildfires erupted in Los Angeles in January 2025, Rosie and I were focused on gathering supplies and donations for our neighbors up north who were most affected. Crafted at the Port of LA -- home to our comic shop, Cabrillo Beach Curiosities -- became an unexpected hub for donations, and we embraced the opportunity to help out.

At the same time, my pal Dev let me know that her employer was planning to publish a benefit book with proceeds going to LA comic creators in need. The publisher was looking for Angelenos to share what they were experiencing. I appreciated Dev's request but was focused on the task at hand, no intention of reaching out to Mad Cave.

But I awoke in the middle of the night shortly after her request and, frankly, I was stewing with frustration at the systems that continually let us down. Channeling those frustrations, I sent Mad Cave's editors an emotional paragraph about what was on my mind at that moment.

I received a kind response back from the editors and proceeded to forget about the interaction until the day Sarah Brunstad sent me a page of Pierre-Alexandre Comtois's gorgeous art featuring my words lettered by Jeff Eckleberry.

Along with publishing the anthology, Mad Cave coordinated a large signing at LA comic shop Revenge Of, including a charity auction to raise more funds. I was honored to have so many great friends in attendance and, although I didn't feel up to posting about it at the time, the event was a real pick-me-up following a couple of stressful months.

Rosie and I donated original art from our collection to the auction, Aquaman #2 Page 16 by Martin Egeland, Brad Vancata, Peter David, and Dan Nakrosis.

Pierre-Alexandre's fantastic original art from our page in LA Strong was also included in the auction, and it was wonderful to see this stunning piece in person.

In June, we received word that LA Strong would be honored at the 2025 Eisner Awards at San Diego Comic-Con, with Mad Cave accepting the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award. I was in attendance at the award ceremony as I have been for many years now, but it was the first time my work has been part of an Eisner-winning publication.

While I wish I could say our systems are functioning better 10 months after the LA fires, sadly it feels like we're continually living under systemic failure after systemic failure. As I state in my page from LA Strong, my hopes are parked on mutual aid being a shining light in this time when there are less and less institutions we can rely on.