On Giving Tuesday, the comics community is stepping up.

A comics retailer has pledged to match the first $10,000 in donations to the Book Industry Charitable Fund (Binc), beginning on December 3, 202. 4 matching gift comes during Binc’s end-of-year fund campaign, I Stand with Book and Comic Stores, which aims to raise $150,000 by December 31, 2024.

“Comics, games, and books have been a delightful part of my life,” the retailer, who chose to remain anonymous, in a statement accompanying the announcement. “The stores that support them have been my job, my passion and my relief. Binc helps give back in support of independent stores when we need it most.”

Binc supports booksellers and comics retailers in a variety of ways, including travel grants for conferences, free mental health services (see “Binc Offers Mental Health Support for Retailers”) and, most recently, hurricane relief (see “Binc Gears Up to Help Retailers Affected by Helene”).

Meanwhile, the co-creators of Nexus have both stepped up individually to offer support for ComicBooks for Troops (CB4T). Artist Steve Rude has donated $7,000 worth of books, each of which will go into a care package for troops overseas; he has also partnered with GoGenerosity to allow people ordering books directly from his website to make a donation to CB4T. Rude also included a CB4T donation as a reward in a recent crowdfunding campaign (see “Steve Rude’s ‘Nexus: Battle for Thuneworld Crowdfunder’ Supports ComicBooks for Troops”)

Writer Mike Baron and artist Richard Bonk have included a tier in the Kickstarter for their graphic novel Sherlock Holmes: Leviathan that allows backers to purchase a copy for CB4T. The graphic novel teams up the legendary detective with Captain Nemo. Baron has included a CB4T donation in previous campaigns as well (see “Mike Baron’s ‘Nexus: Scourge’ Kickstarter Supports ComicBooks for Troops”).

ComicBooks for Troops (CB4T) is the sister organization to ComicBooks for Kids (CB4K), which provides comics to children in hospitals and cancer centers.  In 2023, CB4T donated over 125,000 comics to the troops (see “ComicBooks for Troops Event to Be Held Veterans Day Weekend”).  Both charities are 501(c)3 organizations.

Two other organizations also offer a way for the comics community to help itself: The Hero Initiative helps comics creators who spent their lives in an industry that makes little accommodation for illness and old age, helping creators such as Gene Colan, Steve Gerber, and William Messner-Loebs (see “William Messner-Loebs Is Home at Last”).

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund stands up for the First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, retailers, and other members of the community, offering legal advice, representation, and referrals. The CBLDF has taken part in several successful lawsuits challenging state laws that affect comics retailers (see “Judge Halts Enforcement of Texas Book-Rating Law” and “Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Arkansas Law”) and represented Maia Kobabe in a court case that struck down Virginia’s obscenity statute (see “‘Gender Queer’ Case: Judge Finds Obscenity Law Unconstitutional”).