GoFundMe Campaign Started For Comics Writer Bill Messner-Loebs
by Tom Smithyman
The comic book community is coming together to support one of their own.
Bill Messner-Loebs, a writer on The Flash, Wonder Woman and Batman and the writer-artist of Journey, The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, has had a string of bad luck and is now facing eviction from his apartment in Brighton, Michigan. Friends and supporters have created a GoFundMe campaign to help Messner-Loebs and his wife Nadine pay their medical bills and stay in their home.
In a Facebook post, Messner-Loebs revealed that he has been in and out of medical facilities after a fall left him with several broken ribs and an injured spine. During that time, his apartment fell into disrepair, and he is now in danger of losing his residence.
As of Thursday afternoon, the campaign was halfway to reaching its $25,000 goal. Comics pros Paul Levitz, Phil Hester, Andrew Pepoy and Matt Rosenberg have contributed, and several are also sharing the campaign through social media.
As a former comics freelancer, Messner-Loebs’ has dealt with similar financial difficulties for decades. This campaign follows a previous GoFundMe initiative for the family, which ran from 2018-2020. At that time, the couple had recently lost their house and were again facing significant medical bills from multiple surgeries and physical therapy sessions.
Messner-Loebs, who hasn’t written for a major published since the 1990s, said then that he had been making ends meet by working as a Panera deliveryman and as fill-in janitor at his church. He would occasionally sell sketches during Michigan-area conventions.
In the early 2000s, author Clifford Meth – who launched the most recent campaign – and legendary illustrator Neal Adams created an art tribute book and sponsored an auction to benefit Messner-Loebs.
