Posted in: Comics | Tagged: ai, charity, comicbooks for kids
ComicBooks For Kids Launches ComicBooks For Schools, Shame About A.I.
ComicBooks For Kids charity launches ComicBooks For Schools for their tenth anniversary, shame about the A.I.
Article Summary
- ComicBooks For Kids marks its tenth anniversary by launching ComicBooks For Schools to boost literacy and support reluctant readers.
- The charity says ComicBooks For Schools will serve K-12 students and neurodivergent children, including kids with autism and dyslexia.
- ComicBooks For Kids credits major publisher and retailer support as it expands programs, events, and fundraising plans through 2027.
- Anniversary celebrations are shadowed by criticism over A.I.-generated branding and website art, despite plans to replace some images.
Mark Weiss and his daughter Michelle Weiss‘ ComicBooks For Kids! (CB4K) is celebrating its tenth anniversary and launching a new arm, ComicBooks For Schools. The charity, founded in 2017, has grown into the largest comic book charity of its kind, shipping books and pop-culture items to hospitals. Much like its sister charity, the mission of ComicBooks For Schools is to involve children in reading, promoting not only literacy but also the engagement of reluctant readers. To that end, the organisation has created initiatives not only for K-12 but also for neurodivergent children with autism, dyslexia, or just reading anxiety.
They launched ComicBooks For Troops almost six years ago. Just two weeks ago, they announced what is believed to be the largest single drop of comic material to military families: 100,000 Digital Lizards of Doom graphic novels. A UK launch followed in 2022.
Weiss said the growth reflects the industry’s support and noted feedback that hospital boxes were also helping K-12 and autistic kids. One testimonial describes a child with autism going from not reading to looking forward to reading daily. They have refreshed branding, a new logo for 2027, monthly plans throughout next year, and support lined up from DC, Archie, Oni, Dark Horse, IDW, BOOM!, BCW, Voyage, Universal, Lunar, Zenescope, CGC and others. A 2oz challenge coin is being given to 100 supporters who helped reach the ten-year mark.
They say they will be using it throughout 2027 and have plans for something special during every month in 2027 and DC, Archie, Oni Press, Dark Horse, IDW, Boom Studios, BCW, Voyage Publishing, Universal Distribution, Lunar, Zenescope, CGC, and more have activities planned to support CB4K throughout 2027, including the current Rick and Morty Humble Bundle by Oni Press. This will be followed by the ComicBooks For Troops weekend event, which involves retailers, e-tailers, influencers and more. December will include a live stream by Zenescope to raise money for the organisation, featuring Mark and Michelle at the CB4K office.
Mark Weiss said, “Our growth is a reflection of this industry and all of those who have enabled us to do what we do every day. While we may be the face of this organization, it is the publishers, retailers, e-tailers, influencers and those who love comics and pop culture who are the real heroes here. They are the ones who have kept us moving forward and support our programs. We launched ComicBooks For Schools when we started receiving feedback that our boxes, which we normally send to hospitals, were also making an impact on K-12 students as well as children with autism. Our schools page has a testimonial that the materials we have been sending helped a child with autism become academically stronger to the point that he went from not reading to where he now looks forward to reading every day.”
That’s the good news; the bad news is that they have created a 10-year anniversary logo using A.I.; a quick check reveals a Synth ID. And checking, the entire new website seems to be full of A.I. This really is depressing. I hope they change that soon; they are a charity, and they could get artists to do this for free. I talked to Mark Weiss, who told me, “We did wrestle with this. At the end of the day, the thought process and in talking to many people was that we are not selling this in any way, but using it to promote the industry.” I am not sure using work that steals from artists without permission helps that cause much, but your mileage may vary. After I expressed my complaints, he told me “Honestly, rich, we went round and round on this. We are also talking to artists quietly about having them create some art to replace some images. We just also didn’t want to raise our hand and cause attention to it, just to cause controversy. With the variant craze going on, artists are in incredible demand right now. It is very tough to get their time. So we’ve been up against the wall. Trust me, this has been the number one issue on my mind as we’ve developed this. But at the end of the day, we’re talking about how the industry comes together to make a difference.” For comparison, this is their old logo from a few years ago, long before A.I. joined the conversation…
And this is the version, confirmed with a SynthID, they are using now. Which is very close to the original, but the transformation clearly had that “look.”
And across their site, loads of images such as these which are all clearly A.I. The UK version of the site is still old school, but hasn’t been updated in over a year.
The new logo will also be appearing on a minted 2 oz/6g challenge coin with the new logo on the front and Troops on the back. CB4K will be providing 100 of these throughout its anniversary to those who have helped the organisation achieve its ten-year milestone.
If you are interested in helping CB4K celebrate its 10-year anniversary, wish the organisation well, or maybe volunteer your own artwork to replace their A.I. versions, you can reach out to the team at Mark@comicbooksforkids.org
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