NAALPO EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Matt Miner, writer of new animal lib comic Liberator

http://animalliberationpressoffice.org/

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Matt Miner, writer of new animal lib comic Liberator

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Press Officer Nicoal R. Sheen interviews Matt Miner, writer and project manager to the new and very much anticipated animal liberation comic Liberator — a story of two dedicated yet everyday people who take up the mask and the dark to liberate animals and shut down the industries that exploit them. Support this unique and vital project at Liberator‘s Kickstarter page by pledging a donation and receiving generous gifts in return for your support.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattminer/liberator-4-issue-comic-series-by-matt-miner-and-j

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How long have you been an activist? Explain what you do.

I’ve been vegan almost a decade and early on I worked on a few campaigns here and there (like Ringling’s and stuff like that) until moving to New York where I got really active in the regular HLS and anti-fur protests.  I worked on those campaigns and a few others for years but in the last couple years I’ve been focused on animal rescue.  It’s more satisfying for me to actually see and meet the animals that I’m helping.  There’s a great feeling when you’re with an animal every step of the way from rescue to rehabilitation to placement in a loving forever home where they’ll live out their lives loved and happy.

Throughout this time I’ve also been a pretty constant prisoner supporter.  Writing a card or a letter takes very little time for me to do and it means a lot to the folks doing time for the animals.

Where did the idea for Liberator come from?

Hah, well, from real life of course.  I learned about the animal liberation underground almost right away after going vegan.  I saw the ALF videos online and thought to myself “holy shit, these people are like masked superheroes – like Batman – but for animals!”  I was so inspired right then and there that this idea formed to do a comic book that accurately portrays these activists as heroes and not the “T” word and has been growing in the back of my mind for almost a decade.  It’s about time that these nonviolent direct action heroes are given some positive mainstream portrayals.

The name “Liberator” is a direct nod to the old ALF Support Group ‘zine and the savvy activist will likely spot a ton of hidden “easter eggs” within the pages.

Tell us more about your work in animal rescue.  Has such work played any part in bringing this project to life?

Well like I said I’ve been focused on rescue lately and since Hurricane Sandy it’s been even more of a priority in our lives out here in the Rockaways.  There are a lot of displaced animals out here – people ditched their dogs and cats when they evacuated, so in some neighborhoods you have all these wandering house cats and stray dogs in an area where it’s pretty common to find animals beaten to death or set on fire.  It’s really nonstop out here – just today we rescued an emaciated and mangled pit bull puppy who was chained behind a building and abandoned for five days before anyone bothered to let us know.  Just heinous stuff.

The opening sequence of issue one deals with one of our heroes taking direct action against a dog fighting compound and my recent rescue work has definitely played a part in my inspiration there.

How long have you been working on this project?

From the time I decided to start writing the script to today it’s been a little over a year.  I’ve wanted to do the book for almost a decade and when I decided to actually do it I didn’t want to rush anything, so I took my time, saved money and found a professional art team (which is very expensive) and went back to school to hone my craft.  I studied under one of the most accomplished modern comics writers and that instruction really helped me bring the project to the next level.  People are going to be happy with the story that’s in store for them.

Explain the work involved in making a comic? What is your primary job?

I’m the writer, so my job is in plotting and writing the series.  It’s a lot like writing a screenplay, in fact the format’s very similar, but you have to really visualize every panel in your mind and write it visually.  Then you have to trust your artist and collaborate with them to make the story better – something you never could have accomplished on your own.  The things that the art team have brought to Liberator, the storytelling elements, even the color palette choices from the colorist – all enhance and really bring to life this incredible story of these two activists.

Since this is a creator-owned book (which just means I own the property) I’m also in essence the project manager who has to work to make sure all the pieces fit together.  This is all behind the scenes stuff but this part is a whole lot more work than the writing.  I wish I was only writing because I’d have a lot more free time and a lot less frustration while managing a thousand moving pieces.

Without giving too much of the story away, tell us how the plot unfolds.

Roughly, the book follows the adventures of two heroes, one is an Hispanic mid 20s slacker barista who finds his calling in life behind a mask while reeking of gasoline.  The other is a shy and introverted college student who got a look at what was going on in her university’s laboratory and it rocked her worldview.  Both are driven by separate but equally disturbing past traumas and they meet up and work together on targets abusing and exploiting animals, with volume one focusing on shutting down a fur farm outside of their town.

The imagery you have already released for Liberator has us begging for more. How and where did you find these astounding artists?

Social networking is an amazing thing for some purposes.  Twitter is fantastic for meeting folks in the comics industry.  My tip is to talk to comic creators like normal folks and not like gushy overexcited fans.  Act like a professional and you’ll be treated like one in return.

When can readers expect to get their hands on a copy of Liberator?

Well the Kickstarter to fund the rest of the art is running now.  Liberator has found a publisher who wants to bring the book to the mainstream market, but as is the case with all creator-owned properties, I have to fund the art myself.  I’ve already spent 10k of my own money to get this far and now that I’m tapped out I absolutely have to raise the rest through crowdfunding.  If the Kickstarter doesn’t reach funding then the book won’t be made.  If it does reach the funding goals you can expect the first issue in stores in April of 2013.

If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, what you do is you pledge money to a project that you want to see happen and in return you get sent rewards once the project is completed.  So it’s kind of like a pre-order system where you buy the book now and that money raised is used to finish the book.

Something unique about our Kickstarter project is that we’ve partnered and collaborated with tons of likeminded organizations, activist groups, filmmakers, bands and the like.  So where a “normal” comic book Kickstarter campaign may have prints and limited edition versions of the comics, we have all that stuff AND kickass swag from tons of folks including SHAC, Because We Must, Bad Religion, Propagandhi, Beagle Freedom Project and you all.

There’s way too much good stuff to list here, so I ask anyone who sees the potential outreach in comic books and graphic novels whose heroes take action to defend abused animals to please hit the Kickstarter up before Feb 1 and pledge to see it happen.  You’ll help make the book a reality and you’ll get some awesome stuff in return.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattminer/liberator-4-issue-comic-series-by-matt-miner-and-j

Your card isn’t charged until the end of the campaign on the first of February.

Any idea of how many volumes readers should expect?

The first volume is four issues, but I have stories already for several volumes.  I’ll keep making Liberator comics as long as I can.

What audience are you targeting? Why and how?

Liberator is written in a way that isn’t preaching to the converted.  I’m writing this in a way that stays true to the hell that animals endure, portrays the activists as heroes and saviors, but first and foremost Liberator is an adventure that anybody regardless of their worldview can pick up and enjoy for what it is.  If the reader learns a thing or two along the way that’s great.  If the reader sticks around after the comic pages and reads the extra articles and interviews we’re packing in to the book then hey, even better.

I want non-activist folks to know they won’t feel lectured, but I want activists to know that I’m doing this story right.  It’s a story that needs telling and it’s too important to be fucking around and doing it half-assed.

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Support the Liberator by pledging today! Visit: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattminer/liberator-4-issue-comic-series-by-matt-miner-and-j

Dylan Smith Dead: Surfer, Hurricane Sandy Hero Drowns In Puerto Rico

Posted: 12/24/2012 11:29 am EST  |  Updated: 12/24/2012 12:16 pm EST

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

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A young surfer-- who previously made headlines when he rescued several people stranded by Hurricane Sandy-- apparently drowned this week off the coast of Puerto Rico. From The AP:

A police statement Sunday has identified the tourist as 23-year-old Dylan Smith, whose body was found floating Sunday morning near his surfboard in waters off Maria's Beach in the western Puerto Rican community of Rincon. The town's beaches attract surfers from across the world.

Smith, you may remember, was on People magazine's "2012 Heroes of the Year" list, for his heroics in Queens during the storm.

According to NBC New York, "The night of the storm, Smith, who is from Belle Harbor, helped rescue six people using a homemade rope bridge and his surfboard as fires spread across the flooded Rockaway Peninsula."

FDNY Chief Michael Light, who knew Smith since he was a baby, told The Daily News, "The same sport -- the sport of surfing -- that he used to save all those people, it's so shocking that he perished that way."

According to the AP, the U.S. Caribbean territory's police are investigating the death.

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A Long Journey Home and Now The Voyage Begins -- Commentary by Captain Paul Watson

A Long Journey Home and Now The Voyage Begins

A Long Journey Home and Now The Voyage Begins

Commentary by Captain Paul Watson

Sunday was my birthday and a wonderful day it was indeed because I received the best of all possible gifts. The deck of the Steve Irwin is again under my feet. I have an awesome crew and our ship is on course for Antarctica.

It has been a long journey from Germany to where I am now.

Across two oceans. A total of some 12,000 miles covered from Frankfurt, Germany to the Southern Pacific Ocean.

A trifle inconvenient without a passport or any form of identification and all the more difficult without credit cards or access to ATM machines, without access to the internet or even a cell phone.

Dark to the point of invisible but it was this invisibility that has kept me out of the clutches of Japan. Despite their resources, their small army of lawyers and their ability to use their economic clout to place me on the Interpol Red List on politically motivated bogus charges.

It has been seven months since the Germans detained me at Frankfurt airport and four months since I left Germany.

I would not have made it here without the loyalty and resourcefulness of crewmembers, supporters, friends, and family.

And because of them, I now have returned to the Steve Irwin, traveling through the largest and most free nation in the world – The Ocean!

I can’t go into details of my travels over the last four months. I may have to do it again sometime in the future.

More importantly, we need to now focus on the immediate future and not the recent past.

Our ships and our crew are on the move. The Steve Irwin and I are at sea. The Bob Barker left on November 30th from Sydney. The Brigitte Bardot is also at sea and the Sam Simon remains in an undisclosed location amidst rumors and speculations as to what and where it is. All I can say is that Locky MacLean a citizen of both France and Canada, is the Captain.

I am now the Captain of the Steve Irwin once again. Peter Hammarstedt a citizen of Sweden and the USA is the Captain on the Bob Barker and onboard the Brigitte Bardot is world famous French sailor, the legendary Jean Yves Terlain.

Four ships with four captains and officers and crew, 120 people from twenty-four nations: Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Great Britain, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United States,

The objective of Operation Zero Tolerance is to intercept and intervene against the intent of the Japanese whaling fleet to murder 1035 whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Our purpose is twofold. To save the lives of whales and to cost the Japanese whaling industry as much as we possibly can in financial losses. Last year we cost them $22 million U.S. dollars despite the fact that they received a $30 million dollar subsidy stolen from the victims of the Japanese Tsunami Relief Fund.

And as always, our actions are undertaken in the Buddhist spirit of Hayagriva where we do not cause physical injury to our opponents. We target their intentions and thwart their lethal ambitions, but we never harm them. Unfortunately they do not share our compassion and thus the risks our crews take are considerable.

We have never been stronger, nor more determined. Our dedication to defending the integrity of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is undiminished, for we know that the key to success is persistence, patience and perseverance.

We have succeeded in bankrupting the whaling fleet. We have sunk them economically. Now we need to sink them politically.

Back in 1977 we opposed the slaughter of whales in Western Australia when Australia was a stubborn whaling nation. Today Australia is the leading nation in the world defending the whales. That gives me great hope for Japan. Japan can be a great force for good with marine conservation, and more and more Japanese are supporting us every year. I believe that one day Japan will be a nation that also protects the whales and no longer kills them, just like Australia has become today.

Whaling is becoming unpopular in Japan. Only a few years ago, the Japanese whaling fleet would depart from the dock with cheering crowds, bands, ribbons and widespread media coverage.

They departed this week from an obscure location, without fanfare, shamefully sneaking out to sea for fear that we would see them.

Earlier in the month we issued a statement saying that we would confront them off the coast of Japan and apparently they believed it. Their Coast Guard mobilized and they went to a great deal of expense and effort to sneak quietly out of port.

Of course we had no intention of heading North at all. We are waiting for them in the South, but before they reach the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Our ships will spread out to guard the approaches to the Sanctuary and once the Nisshin Maru is found we will block any attempt to undertake whaling operations.

I do hope that this will be the last year we must make the long, expensive and dangerous voyage to the Southern Ocean but we will return again next year and the year after that, and every year thereafter until the whale killing is ended.

We have become the guardians of the whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and we will never surrender to these killers.

A special thank you to all of you who have donated to Sea Shepherd and made it possible for our ships to be where we are now. We still need your help to refuel the vessels to allow us to keep our stations down here at the bottom of the planet as the guardians of the great whales.

We do what we do so the whales may live. We do what we do for the children of the future that they may live in a world with whales for when the whales are no more, the sea will die and when the sea is no more – we, all of us, will die!

As I stand on the bridge wing of the Steve Irwin looking over the vast inky blue shroud of the ocean, I see between the sea and the amber cloud speckled golden sky - a single spout directly ahead and that spout symbolizes life.

As the sun sets to the west, a flash of green sparks on the horizon and I feel that there can be no place I would rather be or anyplace that I could be more happy than upon these life sustaining waters on a quest to defend Leviathan.


Whales Weep Not!

They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains
the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent.

All the whales in the wider deeps, hot are they, as they urge
on and on, and dive beneath the icebergs.
The right whales, the sperm-whales, the hammer-heads, the killers
there they blow, there they blow, hot wild white breath out of
the sea!

- D.H. Lawrence

Thoughts and Observances from the High Seas by Captain Paul Watson

Captain Paul Watson

Sea Shepherd/Bob Barker Antarctic Mission 2009/2010

Jo-Anne McArthur/Sea Shepherd

Thoughts and Observances from the High Seas

The Steve Irwin is at sea and the Brigitte Bardot has departed from Los Angeles. The Nisshin Maru remains in dry dock in Hiroshima. The Bob Barker is preparing for departure from Sydney and the Sam Simon and myself remain in an undisclosed location. The manager of the El Torito restaurant in Marina del Rey reported to the crew of the Brigitte Bardot that a Japanese man with a video camera kept asking to move his seat to get different views of the Brigitte Bardot. The restaurant was overlooking the berth where the Brigitte Bardot was moored.

The Japanese spy for the whaling companies would have seen hundreds of supporters visiting the Brigitte Bardot bring donations of food, equipment and cash to support the campaign to stop the Japanese whaling fleet.

He may also have been looking for me, but I was not there.

The Japanese whalers can send in their spies but our spy network is much more effective, because our spies are whistleblowers who come forward to volunteer information on their own, like the manager of the El Torito restaurant in the Marina. By the way, if anyone goes for a meal there remember to thank him for looking out for the whales.

One very generous and moving donation came from Robin Pozniakoff, who brought down and presented the Bardot's crew with binoculars used by her father in the United States Navy in 1944. It is an honor indeed to have onboard binoculars that were used in the fight against Japanese military imperialism nearly seventy years ago. The crew reports that these binoculars, made especially for the United States Navy by Bausch and Lomb in 1943, are superior than most of the modern binoculars on the market today.

The Sam Simon and I remain in an undisclosed location making preparations for the upcoming interventions against the Japanese whaling fleet. Despite the cadre of lawyers with lawsuits and bogus charges they have thrown at us, despite their diplomatic pressures, despite their public relations expenditures all financed by the money they stole from the Tsunami victims, they have not shut down our campaign and they have not stopped me.

But we fully intend to stop them, because I intend to demonstrate that passion trumps money and my crews are more passionate about defending the whales than the whalers are about killing them, because we are driven by compassion, whereas they are driven by greed.

I have to say that the Solar eclipse yesterday was a fascinating sight for those of us fortunate to see it. It won’t happen again until 2015.

I was thinking today of the few people who write to tell me that they hate me because of what I do, or how I do what I do. They do not like that I protect whales, or they just don’t like the way I go about saving whales, apparently. Not that I care, since I work to protect whales for the sake of the whales and not to please people, but it is a curiosity as to why people take the time to write to tell me that they hate me because of what I do and how I do it. 

Not that this is a revelation. I have received thousands of hate messages and hundreds of death threats over the years, and for the most part, I have found it all very amusing. 

I especially like the ones that accuse me of being violent and follow up with the accusation that they hope someone kills me.

In my entire career I have never injured a single person, but these people don’t want to confuse their ideology with reality and thus the simple fact that they don’t like what I do or how I do it translates into me being a violent person.

But the reason I bring this up is because of the fact that many people, especially on internet social networks, are attacked and bullied by others. For some this is intimidating, threatening, and depressing.

As someone who has been most viciously attacked for decades, I simply would like to offer some advice.

Ignore these people. They are simply energy sucking vampires.

As Chris Guillebeau wrote in his book The Art of Non-Conformity: “If you want to make a lot of people hate you, all you need to do is be successful doing something you love.”

And the more you succeed, the more vicious become the critics.

What I have found is that those who waste energy attacking the deeds of others do not themselves contribute anything positive to the world.

As Albert Einstein once observed: “Great spirits have always been violently oppressed by mediocre minds.”

And don’t worry if people talk crap about you. As Oscar Wilde once wrote: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”

So the more haters and the more angry critics that you recruit, the more reassurance you will have that you are on the right path and doing the right thing.

These are my rules for dealing with haters: (1) If you don’t know someone personally i.e. if they are not close friends or family, their opinion of you is irrelevant. (2) If you are criticized positively by friends and family, listen to them, if criticized negatively, or with malice, ignore them also. (3) Any comment left on internet postings by people you don’t know, are unimportant and should not even be read. (4) If someone leaves a negative comment on your Facebook page all you need to do is delete the comment and ban them. DO NOT respond because that just encourages and empowers them. (5) Most importantly of all, remember that you need not answer to anyone but your own conscience. Thus you need not respond to any criticism unless you can determine if there is anything positive to be gained by responding, and usually there isn’t.

The one thing I have found is that these kind of hateful people absolutely despise being ignored, and thus, that is the best way to deal with them.

I used to respond sometimes to people I did not know because I found it amusing to do so, but over time I realized that giving encouragement to these kind of faceless people was not a positive thing, no matter how amusing I felt it to be.

I do, however, respond to some of my traditional enemies, people I knew or know, that have actual faces, like corporate public relations whores like Patrick Moore or the public relations lackey for the whaling industry Glen Inwood, for example, because I know them and what I can gain is to expose their hypocrisy and provoke thought about their championing of industries assaulting nature.

Update from the High Seas by Captain Paul Watson

Update from the High Seas


The Steve Irwin has departed from Melbourne and Operation Zero Tolerance has officially begun.

That floating industrialized slaughterhouse called the Nisshin Maru is still in dry dock in Hiroshima but the Japanese Fishery Agency and the Institute for Cetacean Research are boasting that they will get their quota this year of over one thousand whales.

I really don’t

 think so, but hey, let them dream.

My dedicated officers and crews on our four ships intend to see that they don’t take a single whale.

The ships are ready. The crews are ready.

And I am ready, although I remain in an undisclosed location.

A spokesperson for the Japanese government told the media this week that he “hopes” that I will be arrested before the whaling fleet departs.

Well, good luck with that, and all I can say is “hoping” is the best they can do.

Japan has not stopped us in the courts. They have not stopped me. They have not stopped our ships from sailing and when they see our new ship the Sam Simon they will be most assuredly awestruck and shocked.

The Brigitte Bardot was escorted into Marina del Rey last week by none other than Baywatch superstar and fellow Canadian, Pamela Anderson on her jet ski. After repairs and provisions the crew of the Brigitte Bardot will head out to meet the other three Sea Shepherd vessels as we bring the campaign North towards Japan.

The Bob Barker will soon be departing from Sydney and the Sam Simon will soon be departing from an undisclosed location much closer to Japan than the other three ships.

All systems are go, and all ships and crews are on schedule.

It will be a most interesting year.

Melissa Seagal has been doing an incredible job as leader of the Cove Guardians in Taiji, Japan. Operation Infinite Patience has saved hundreds of dolphins despite the legal and physical obstacles. Sea Shepherd is committed to remaining in Taiji for as long as this horrifically cruel slaughter continues. We are the eyes of the world and the Japanese fishermen and the politicians are very much aware of this. We are also dedicated to maintaining a legal non-violent presence in Taiji, and this allows us to continue despite the threats, the dangers, and the constant exposure to one of the most cruel massacres of wildlife on the planet.

An interesting news story out of Eastern Canada today: The Canadian government finally cut through their own red tape and obtained a court order to seize the sack of doubleloons that I presented as ransom to them in 2008 to secure the release of Captain Alex Cornelissen and First Mate Peter Hammarstedt of the Farley Mowat.

Alex and Peter were arrested and charged with the heinous crime of witnessing the slaughter of a seal, thus violating the Seal Protection Act. Farley Mowat put up the bail money of $10,000 and I delivered the ransom in a large heavy sack filled with 5,000 Canadian two-dollar coins. Since the one dollar Canadian coin is a Loon, it stands to reason that the two dollar coin is a Double Loon and thus it was fitting way to secure their release with the currency of the great pirate age.

Both Alex and Peter were prevented from returning to Canada by Immigration Canada but the trial began without them, with the Judge citing that it was the responsibility of the defendants to attend the trial and that being barred from entry into the country was no excuse.

Thus, it was no surprise when both Alex and Peter were found guilty, having not been allowed to present a defense. The fines totaled $46,000 and the government imposed a fine on the Farley Mowat of $75,000.

I told the government that I was not interested in paying the fines. They responded by saying that if the fines were not paid, they would seize the Farley Mowat.

Now since it was our intention to retire the Farley Mowat, and the cost of retiring a vessel is about $250,000, it was in our financial interest to have the Canadian government take care of the retirement for us.

The government sold the Farley Mowat at auction for $5,000 after racking up a bill of over one million dollars for 24 hour security for two years plus berthing fees. The vessel was bought by a private party and taken to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia where the new owner neglected to pay berthing fees racking up a bill of some $50,000, causing the vessel to be arrested once again.

The Farley Mowat was truly our gift to the Canadian government that just keeps on giving.

So the government got a total of $15,000 from the bail and the sale of the ship. It cost them over a million dollars in losses. They failed to collect their fines and there was, of course, the cost of the trial including the cost of flying in sealers and putting them up at hotels and feeding them so they could provide evidence against the two men not allowed into the courtroom to defend themselves. Now they have another $50,000 in uncollected fees and more legal costs.

On the other hand, Sea Shepherd saved $240,000 by not having to retire the ship because our only cost was the $10,000 Double Loons.

All in all a very good deal from a financial point of view.

And most importantly the arrest and the seizure of the Farley Mowat in 2008 got a great deal of publicity in Europe. This contributed greatly to the passing of legislation in Europe banning seal products from Canada.

So in addition to saving Sea Shepherd a great deal of money, we also scored a great political and legal victory for the seals with the European ban on seal products.

It was a great trade-off for the old ship and a worthy sacrifice.

Apparently despite being given $30 million dollars last year from the Tsunami Relief Fund, the whalers are begging for more. These glorified welfare bums are once again claiming entitlement and that their right to slaughter whales is some sort of act of Japanese patriotism that is deserving of taking the food out of the mouths of the homeless victims of the earthquake, the tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear negligence.

Will the Japanese whalers obsession with hating Sea Shepherd deprive the victims of the tsunami of another $30 million dollars?

With governments there never seems to be enough money for acts of kindness, mercy and goodwill but there never seems to be a lack of money for war, destruction and hate.

The question is for how long and for how high a cost will Japan continue to subsidize their illegal and unethical slaughter of whales and dolphins. How much will they continue to spend in their attempts to destroy the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society? How much humiliation are they prepared to endure as Sea Shepherd continues to make them lose face every year by stifling their ability to kill whales and dolphins?

They must realize that after some forty years of intervening against the killers of marine life that Sea Shepherd is an organization with a great deal of patience and we have no problem with prolonged campaigns. Because we are not motivated by profit we cannot be hurt financially and because our clients are whales, dolphins and other marine species, we are not deterred by public opinion, governments or media.

And finally a big thank-you to all of you who have contributed to the fueling and outfitting of our ships for Operation Zero Tolerance. Every dollar, euro, yen, rand, real, pound, peso, etc helps to further this cause and our efforts to end the killing of the magnificent minds and beautiful sentient beings in the sea.

You make it possible for us to intervene and to make a difference.

Mahalo, merci, danke, gracias, and thank you.

©Eric Cheng