I met Jeph Loeb several years back, when I was working on the WildStorms Collectible Card Game for WildStorm Productions (which was then part of Image Comics but is now owned by DC). We played in Jim Lee’s annual poker game at Comic-Con International, and I got cleaned out quick. I saw him again at the same convention in 2004, and he told me he’d given up playing in that game. “It’s easier just to hand those guys my money,” he said with a smile.
I don’t know Jeph all that well, but I admire his work as a writer, both in comics and on television. When I read last year that his son Sam had died, I felt horrible for him. As the father of five myself, the thought of a child dying drives a cold spike straight through me.
In an arrangement with DC Comics, Jeph has come up with a special benefit issue of Superman/Batman (#26). Sam was to write the issue, but he died before he could complete it. A roster of 26 of the top artists and writers in the comics industry rallied together to finish it, and each of them has pledged his or her proceeds from the book to the Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund.
See the Newsarama interview with Jeph for all the details. Then be sure to go out and pick up a copy (or several if you like) this April. And be sure to scroll down to the end of the interview page for a six-page preview sure to tear at your heart.
