Thread by @GailSimone

Hello, all. A lot of people have said very kind things to me about the #ComicWritersChallenge and I keep saying it was totally a team effort, but I hadn't yet had time to sit down and REALLY explain what that means in this case.

So I'm just going to quickly embarrass them.

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What happened was, I had a goofy, sloppy idea to challenge some writers friends to donate art they cherished to raise money for Black support organizations.

To give you an idea who smart I am, I got the name of the hashtag wrong in the very first thread.

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It was a good idea but like a lot of well-intentioned stuff it could have gone absolutely nowhere, it could have fizzled out entirely. I again want to thank people like @mrtonylee and @mguggenheim who jumped aboard right away, without hesitation.

But there was no structure.

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I was hoping to raise like, say, $15,000. If we were really cooking, we might do $20,000.

But I underestimated everybody and that makes me incredibly happy.

But none of it, not any of it, would have worked without this group of impossible volunteers.

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The first morning, a reader called @amQueerHeda volunteered to help keep track. I hadn't asked for any help because I had no idea how quickly I would have gone under. At first I was like, 'Oh, I am sure I can handle it..' I was wrong, and it very quickly was obvious.
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Almost immediately after, a poster volunteered to help, and before I even turned around, had created a spreadsheet and an infrastructure for us to work with and keep track of things. This was @JadeMuse_ic

All of this was MILES beyond me, soon even those two weren't enough.

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They kept those plates spinning, but pretty soon, the donations way outgrew my little idea. And it outgrew the name, because soon it wasn't just writers, but artists, readers, crafters and retailers. Soon, it wasn't even just comics fans, but #Earpers, #critters, and more.

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Two became three, three became six, six became eight.

Pretty soon, including me, it took nine people keeping track of donations and bids. All volunteers, none of whom knew each other.

I just find it amazing.

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It was fun up front, but hectic. Backstage was fun too, but A LOT of work. We discussed every single auction no matter how small, several times. I wrote letters and did phone calls, we did research, the team tracked and validated and kept spreadsheets and made graphics.
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I had this funny idea that they all must be readers of mine but at least a couple didn't read comics and one had no IDEA who I was, I didn't find that out until they'd been working non-stop for a week.

He was, however, a brony and was delighted to find out I'd written MLP.

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Which to me, made it even cooler, they just wanted to support the cause of Black support organizations.

For a long time, no one knew what gender, sexuality, ethnicity, faith, nation, age, or anything the rest were. We didn't even know each other's names.
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We just knew we could rely on each other.

No one asked for credit, a LOT was done anonymously.

And we never had a single cross word in almost two weeks of intense round-the-clock pressure. Not one.

Weird!
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This thread is not about me. I would have been a puddle in a day and a half, and I'm not joking.

It's about them, we called them the Avengers.

They actually scheduled people 24/7, all volunteers. They had three separate work chat areas I didn't even know about.

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Beyond that, they went out and got more donations, they donated their OWN beloved items, and they bid and often overpaid the high bids on other items, fair and square.
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So I am very thankful, and if you see a 'Gail Simone Did a Fundraiser,' headline, please be aware that the Avengers shoveled ALL the coal and I mostly tooted the horn.

I love them all and that isn't saying nearly enough.

So I'm gonna thank them here. :)
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This was the First Avenger (don't believe that stuff about Cap). She's the awesome @amQueerHeda who is seen here drinking from a bathtub. She worked endlessly and has the grace of a mountain lion.

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This is @JadeMuse_ic who really put everything into a structure when we didn't have a plan at all, and was fantastic the entire time. Here we see him on the Hunt for Red October. Almost the LAST DAY, we realized we were both huge Animal Crossing fans!

This is Patrick, who is about to fight Black Panther and then be friends with him later when they fight Dr. Octopus. Patrick worked his butt off and was better at the announcements than I was but I STILL FORGIVE him because he is awesome! @pcahiwat

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This is the wonderful @Nica, whom I think might be a Skrull and I'll tell you why. She never seemed to get tired or lose optimism and that makes me SUSPICIOUS THAT SHE'S AN ALIEN anyway she worked non-stop and that's her dog Ludo, also a Skrull or maybe just a dog.

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This is @ahtweet who not only made himself essential despite having a cat stapled to him, he also bid a HUGE jump on the next highest bid for the second largest auction of the event, the Diane Nelson package.
He's incredible AND he's in Washington. PNW represent!

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This is the amazing @TheSciFiBard who kept us smiling and laughing despite the threat of an explosive hat. Aside from all the other work, Bard went into her other fandoms and brought like 20k of donations just on her own. Amazing!

A lot of people who have a dog glued to their head might be bitter, but not @NicetaMitra who was endlessly kind and wonderful despite having to work with a bunch of violent repeat offenders like the rest of us. Mitra! You are amazing!

But for god's sake get a different hat!

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And this is our final Avenger, who ALSO donated art including the Nightwing booty picture that lifted the spirits of a grateful nation. JOSEPH YOU ARE COOL BUT THAT CAT WANTS OUT.
Thank you, @JGiampietro!

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And then we have two final Substitute Avengers...I had a doctor's appointment out of town and I asked the two coolest people I know to fill in and they cursed at me for two days but did it anyway! Thank you to the great @AmyChu and @Jody_Houser!

Best nerds!

And finally, this guy was not involved at all.

The point is, without this group, I'd have raised eight cents and would be on the run from an alien cartel.

I am so grateful to them, and with all of you, we raised over $311,000 for some fantastic Black support organizations.

Team, I SALUTE YOU.

Feel free to join me, all!