Ann Nocenti and Klaus Janson join The Hero Initiative board

Klaus Janson and Ann Nocenti (Image credit: The Hero Initiative)

Writer Ann Nocenti and artist Klaus Janson have joined the board of comic book industry charity organization The Hero Initiative as part of their disbursement committee.

Both Nocenti and Janson are longtime comic book veterans.

Nocenti began working for Marvel Comics in the early '80s, gaining notoriety for killing off Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman as the writer of the final issue of her ongoing series. Like Janson, Nocenti went on to work on Daredevil, co-creating Typhoid Mary. Nocenti also co-created Longshot, Mojo, and the Mojo-verse alongside artist Art Adams, and was a longtime editor of the X-Men line. She's also written comic books for DC, Vertigo, Dark Horse, Berger Books, and more.

Janson's career began in the '70s, with the inker making his name working alongside writer/penciler Frank Miller on Daredevil in the late '70s and early '80s, before working with Miller on the formative Batman story The Dark Knight Returns. Janson has since worked regularly for both Marvel Comics and DC since, while also teaching at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

"Ann and Klaus are both talented veterans of the comic book business, which alone would qualify them as welcome additions to the Hero Initiative board," says Hero board member Howard Chaykin. "In addition, they each bring empathy and intuition to what can often be a challenging enterprise."

"The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need," reads The Hero Initiative's description of its cause and mission. "Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterday’s creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment."

For more information, please visit us at www.heroinitiative.org.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)