Robots with a cause

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, senior editor over at Buzzscope, shared a part of his personal life this week in a column about Bots, a benefit book for the Autism Society of America:

Five years ago, when my son was born, both comic books and autism were the farthest things from my mind -- the former a fond memory from my childhood years; the latter, a term I’d heard of but had no familiarity with. In May 2004, nearly a year deep into my return to comics, I became very familiar with autism when my daughter, India, 2.5 years old at the time, was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), the medical term for a variety of symptoms that fall on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). My wife and I were simultaneously crushed and [mildly] relieved, finally having an explanation for India’s apparent speech delay, and after coming to terms with our situation, set out to learn and do everything we could to get India the help she needed.

Bots is a collection of robot sketches from 90 different artists, including Tim Sale, Craig Rousseau, Tommy Castillo, Cully Hamner and many more. It is the brainchild of Nic Carcieri, whose son has autism and who Guy interviews for Buzzscope.

For only $10, Bots sounds like a great deal for a great cause. It will be available both at MegaCon in Orlando and at the New York Comic-Con this weekend, the Portland Comic Show March 5 in Portland, OR; and The Emerald City Con in Seattle the first weekend of April. It can also be purchased via PayPal or money order; more information on buying it can be found on the Portal Productions website.

Read Guy's interview with Nic.