The webcomics blog about webcomics

On The Topic Of Carly’s Awesome-o-Rama

From time to time, this page notes the efforts and work of Ms Carly Monardo, animator on Venture Bros., illustrator, original Dr McNinja colorist, poster designer, superhero character (re-)designer, etc., etc. Well, she’s back, and this is a big one.

Spurred by various fundraisers from creative types to support cleanup and restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, Carly has decided to organize an auction of originals from webcomickers, which was announced Saturday afternoon via Twitter and is just now ramping up. Ms Monardo took time from her busy charity efforts to talk with Fleen about it.

Fleen: Let’s start from the beginning — give us the 30 second version of what your project is all about.

Monardo: My friend Tom Bayne started out selling production drawings he had from Venture Bros. to raise money for the Gulf Coast. When he saw how well that went, he decided to expand his efforts and organize an animation art auction that would accept donations of original art from any cartoon. I thought it was an amazing idea, and I wanted to bring the webcomic community into it.

Fleen: Who’s donated so far?

Monardo: Besides me, there’s Chris Hastings, Jon Rosenberg, Dean Trippe, and Alice Hunt & Tracy Williams. You can see my work on my design blog later this week, and Dean’s is here. Of course, the more people that donate [artwork], the more money we can raise. I really want this auction to be a success.

Fleen: When will you close the submissions part and move to the auction?

Monardo: I’d like to see where submissions stand by the end of this week. If I get a lot of people, I may hold several auctions. If the numbers stay low, I’ll probably stage the auction for, say, the last week in June. It’s all pretty up in the air at the moment; I’m trying to hold out for more people.

Fleen: eBay and PayPal have some famously complicated rules for charity auctions — what are your plans for forcing them to submit to your will?

Monardo: Well, I’m going to be taking a lot of cues from Tom; he’s contacting [funds recipient] The Gulf of America Fund and asking them to register with eBay so they won’t take a cut of the money. I’d also like to look into possible alternatives to eBay, just so there are options. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’d gratefully accept any technical help that anyone would like to donate, in lieu of or in addition to artwork.
[Editor’s note: At this point in Ms Monardo’s email, I detected a slight echo of muscles flexing, so if eBay knows what’s good for it, it’ll do like she wants and nobody gets hurt.]

Fleen: What made you choose the Colbert Nation Gulf of America Fund as the beneficiary for your efforts?

Monardo: I read up on them and I feel confident they are a trustworthy organization. The Colbert Nation Gulf of America Fund is being managed by Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which you can read about here.

Fleen: I guess you can’t go wrong with Stephen Colbert. Thanks for all …

Monardo: Kate Beaton just pledged a drawing of Aquaman!

Fleen: Wow, that’s great, you don’t see many Kate Beaton originals. Thanks for your hard …

Monardo: Another update! My sister, Lauren Monardo will be donating a page or two from her comic The Slightly Askew Adventures Of Inspector Ham and Eggs.

Yes, it’s true — while the interview was being transcribed, Ms Monardo was sending through updates, because creators keep pledging. We’ll wrap this up so she can get back to organizing things.

If you want to get in on the auction and support the best of causes, contact Carly, whose family name is Monardo, and who keeps an email account at the Google-run email service, which is a dot-com.

[…] Guy’s Gary Tyrrell has news that several cartoonists are banding together to hold an auction of original art to raise money for Gulf … and restoration efforts. Gary interviews Carly Monardo who is one of the main organizers. Fleen: […]

[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by David Steele, Nina Lords. Nina Lords said: From time to time, this page notes the efforts and work of Ms Carly Monardo, animator on Venture Bros., illustrato… http://bit.ly/9HKHPp […]

It’s nice to see people taking the initiative to raise money for the gulf coast. So sad to see the photos of it.

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