82nd Airborne Veteran Using Comic to Support Fellow Cops

DENVER - Nov. 11, 2021 - PRLog -- Joseph Arnold is a veteran of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne and currently supports his family as an law enforcement officer in Colorado. Arnold is also a talented illustrator and recently got a big break into comics publishing when Eisner-winner Mike Baron tapped him to pencil a new graphic novel "Thin Blue Line." After figuring out how to get it published, they decided to also use the project raise funding for some very important police causes that Joseph is passionate about.

Mike Baron is best known for his work at Marvel, taking on their street level hero The Punisher. After garnering critical acclaim at Marvel and DC, Baron left to focus on his own creations like Nexus and The Badger. When "Thin Blue Line" was conceived, he knew Joseph was the right artist.

"Joe's a great artist," Mike Baron explains, "it was a no brainer to have a talented cop take on the artwork."

The story focuses on an officer who's a single mom. Knowing the current political climate hasn't been kind to police, the team wanted to show another side of policing that's not often featured in entertainment these days.

"My first job is to entertain the reader," Baron says "but I couldn't avoid some of the tougher aspects of policing either. It's a gripping story that isn't always flattering to cops, but any reader will come away from it with newfound respect for the law."

None of Mike's previous comic publishers were willing to take a chance on the graphic novel, so the team moved to a crowdfunding model to raise funds to print the book and distribute it themselves.

"We had smashing success with Mike's last crowdfunded book." Chris Braly, the editor adds. Braly who helped Mike run an Indiegogo campaign for Florida Man, helped raised tens of thousands of dollars and for that book. "This isn't a funny book like Florida Man, yet we still hit our initial goal within three days for this one."

There are many fun rewards for backers, from ride-along-coins, stickers, patches, and even a variant cover by Sergio Cariello (Action Bible). But most importantly, a portion of all funds are being directed to support the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the National Fallen Officer Foundation, and the Adopt a Cop BJJ program which trains officers in martial arts techniques to better protect suspects as well as the officers.

"In this call to action, we hope to reach not comic book fans and police supporters, but people of all walks of life", Braly added said. "so I would encourage everyone to pledge whatever amount they can".

www.thinbluelinecomics.com

Artist Joseph Arnold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vXLsP_3g34