The Forge Fund, established with a donation to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation by Lion Forge last year, and DC’s donations to support comic store relief in the coronavirus crisis, have been brought together into the ComicBook United Fund, to be administered by Binc, the organization announced.

Lion Forge began the Forge Fund at Binc last year (see “Lion Forge Donates $100K To Begin the Forge Fund”).  Last month, DC announced a $250,000 donation to fund comic store relief, and DC CCO and Publisher Jim Lee began auctioning a series of sketches, which are likely to bring in more than the DC corporate contribution (see “DC Donates $250K, Jim Lee Donating Art to Help Comic Retailers Via Binc”).

Now those large donations are backing a new fund that can serve as a way for the entire industry to come together and support comic store relief, the ComicBook United Fund. 

“If this pandemic has taught us anything it’s how precious and fragile the things that bring us happiness are, so we must protect the lifeblood of our industry,” Lee said. “Oni-Lion Forge saw the need for this type of relief before there was a crisis, which is why DC is proud to now stand alongside them in this time of need for our retailers.”

“Little did we know when we launched the Forge Fund that the world would be plunged into such a dreadful pandemic, but here we are, and happy there was a starting point for relief,” said Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group Chairman David Steward II. “Binc and DC are powerful allies who we admire, commend and feel bonded to through this effort. This is an epic team-up in the grand comic book tradition and we look forward to welcoming more publishers to this effort over the coming days and weeks.”

“By working together to create the Comicbook United Fund, Oni-Lion Forge and DC are demonstrating their dedication to comic retailers across the nation,” said Pam French, Binc Executive Director. “The outpouring of support and innovative ideas we’ve seen from across the industry has been inspiring and gives us great hope for the future.”

Other auctions to support comic store relief through Binc were conducted over the past week under the hashtag #Creators4Comics (see “#Creators4Comics Organizing Massive Fundraiser for Comic Stores”).

ICv2 interviewed French and Kate Weiss of Binc to learn more about the origins of the organization, how it came to support comic stores, and how it awards grants (see “Binc Has Distributed Over $350K in Covid-19 Relief Since Mid-March”).