Hero Initiative Raising Money for "Static" Co-Creator's Burial

Robert L. Washington III, who created Static for Milestone along with Dwayne McDuffie and Jean Paul Leon, is facing a pauper’s burial on Hart Island unless a fund-raising drive spearheaded by the Hero Initiative is able to raise enough money for a decent burial. Washington, who died from a heart attack on June 6th, will be buried without ceremony in a pine box in an unmarked grave dug by Rikers Island inmates, unless enough money can be raised via the Hero Initiative to provide for a decent internment.

Washington was unable to find work as a writer after the comic book industry imploded in the mid-1990s. Washington was reduced to homelessness several times in the past decade and had received some help from Hero Initiative while he was alive. The outhousers.com site is leading the charge to see that Washington gets a proper send-off. Those interested in helping can contribute via the Hero Initiative Website in order to spare Washington the bleak send-off of an indigent burial on Hart Island with no services or ceremonies.