Once again we see a comic creator hit hard times and, although there is no blame on the comics industry (despite what some say) it would be nice to see former employers who earned big time from his work actually do a humanitarian thing and help him out -charitable donations are tax deductible after all.
Best wishes to him and hope he is not going to lose his home.
Little did he know, his life would take a turn in 2017 when he was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. He says he couldn’t afford the treatments and his girlfriend’s mother died that same year.
“When that happened, everything got dumped onto our lap. We had no idea. It was that immediate," Tenney said.
Tenney says his financial situation has gotten so bad, that he will lose his home at the end of the month. He says he tried drawing again to make extra money, but had no luck.
“I see other guys in this business my age or a little younger, I can’t get any work. I don’t know why, I’m doing everything I can, I am drawing well. It’s the same old formula," Tenney said.
A week out from losing his home, Teeny says his legacy does not change the reality of what he is facing.
“They tell me 'I still read your books, I go back and read them.' But in the back of your head you hear that echo of 'Am I letting them down? Have I let them down? And then I get some who say, 'I understand man, because I am going through the same thing.' I go through a lot too.”
Tenney says at this point he’s relying on family and friends for help. A GoFundMe page has been created to help Tenney at this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-artist-tom-tenney-and-family
That's what happened to Bib. It was painful to see him wasting away like that. Hard to believe that he died ten years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a shame that creators who helped companies make a lot of money never see those companies help them when they hit bad times. It is not an obligation but it would be a humanitarian act and (if they need something out of it) it would be a charitable donation and good publicity.
ReplyDeleteYeah. A union style creators fund would be useful... the problem is the unstable nature of the work.
ReplyDeleteYes, and when I was doing the Fleetway, Marvel UK and Egmont work every artist and writer I knew was opposed to the idea of a fund like that. Made no sense at all but some had private insurance so sod everyone else
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