photo stolen from paralada.org; hope they don't mind.

Many of you know John Ostrander from Grimjack, or Suicide Squad. From his wonderful run on The Spectre. Or his many Star Wars scripts. Or for, along with Kim Yale, turning Barbara Gordon from a wheelchair-bound ex-Batgirl into Oracle, and making her a mover and shaker in the DC Universe on a scale she'd never approached before. Me, I first encountered John as one of Supergirl's neighbors back when she lived in Chicago for a while, then as the guy who plotted Legends and wrote freaky stories for Wasteland, and eventually as a genial, gregarious guy I spent some time talking to on Karl Kesel's porch, and have been glad to count as a friend ever since. He's an excellent writer and a very, very good guy.

John's been suffering from severe glaucoma for years, and recently underwent eye surgery to help. It involved two week-long stays in Boston, two surgical procedures, and multiple trips for follow-up and adjustment. And it wasn't cheap. John and his doctors are hopeful of good recovery, but the medical bills have been staggering, and his health insurance can't come close to covering them.

But John's got friends, John's got readers who've loved his work for years, and John's not going to be in this alone. There's a fund-raising drive, for anyone who'd like to chip in, and with the assistance of Wizard Entertainment, there'll be an auction at this year's Chicago Comic-Con on August 8th, to help raise funds to cover John's medical bills.

There's more at:

I've made a contribution, and will be sending something in for the auction as well, and I encourage everyone to chip in. Send a few bucks, or bid on something, to help out a guy who's brought so many of your heroes to life over the years.

And if for no other reason, please chip in to keep those adventures coming, from John's mind and John's keyboard. Because it's hard to write comics if you can't see.

Like I said above, it's a worthy cause, for a very worthy guy.