Thundercats writer roommate charged in his death

[BobR]

According to a posting on the Comic Book Resources Web site, police in Zephyrhills, FL, have charged James William Davis with the murder of his roommate Stephen Perry. Perry is best-known for his writing on the 1980's animated Thundercats and Silverhawks series produced by Rankin/Bass. He also worked on Marvel's Time Spirits and Psi-Force along with Wally Wood's THUNDER Agents for Deluxe.

Perry suffered from bladder cancer, and while jobless and without health coverage was forced for a while to live in his van with his 5-yr old son. During the last 8 months of his life he received help from "Heroes Initiative", a nonprofit organization that creates a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.

When you read about things like this (and Perry's fate as a creator isn't that uncommon in the industry), you can't help but understand the actions Ken is taking to make sure he and his family have a stable future from his works. For Ken's creations, indeed that of any creator, is his job, how he earns a living, and cares for his loved ones.

[Antarctic Deity]

So the reason is because he's jobless and can't create anymore?

Heroes Initiative is an interesting organization I didn't know about before. That's actually quite a nice gesture.

[SynjoDeonecros]

So the reason is because he's jobless and can't create anymore?

Heroes Initiative is an interesting organization I didn't know about before. That's actually quite a nice gesture.

Well, he still has his two self-projects, but it doesn't look to me like they're garnering the kind of support or interest in them as his work on Sonic is, so maybe he's concerned that, without these royalties, his current projects won't garner the money he'll need to support his family. Considering the increased emphasis on remakes and redesigns that the entertainment industry is going for, nowadays, that's not entirely unfounded of him.

[Miko]

The comic industry is an industry that's highly competitive and there can be long gaps in between some major bread winning employment. This is reality.