Official Press Release
The Gil Kane Memorial Scholarship has been established by the Green
Lantern/Hal Jordan fanclub H.E.A.T. at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
As a co-creator of the Silver Age Green Lantern, Gil Kane was a favorite
artist of ours. As Eli Katz, Gil studied at The School of Visual Arts before
going on to become one of the industry's most innovative comic book artists.
Over his long career he drew virtually all of the major comics' characters
and invented the graphic novel. Gil Kane passed away in January 2000. The
late Rich Morrissey was instrumental in securing the blessing of Gil Kane's
widow, Elaine Kane, for this project.
The Scholarship has been fully funded for the next academic year by donations
from H.E.A.T. members. The recipient of the award will be a talented third
year student that has a financial need and has expressed the intention and
has the potential to work in comic books and/or graphic storytelling. We have
directed that the recipient of the award is to be the most deserving student
without regard to any particular drawing style. The Faculty of the Cartooning
Department will choose the recipient this spring.
H.E.A.T. is an acronym that stands for Hal's Emerald Advancement Team. We
have a diverse membership that is united behind this mission statement: "As
Green Lantern fans, it is our goal to encourage and advocate the return and
exoneration of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, the restoration of the Green
Lantern legend, and the revival of the honorable Green Lantern Corps." In a
broader sense, we stand for quality comic books, responsible storytelling and
respect for traditional comic book characters and their preservation for the
enjoyment of future generations of fans. We do not expect the School of
Visual Arts or the recipient of the Scholarship to endorse our mission
statement.
H.E.A.T. was formed in 1996 out of frustration with DC Comics editorial
indifference to fan reaction over the treatment of Hal Jordan. We were
instrumental in raising the airfare for John Broome (Green Lantern's other
co-creator) to attend the 1998 San Diego Comicon. It was the only con he
ever attended before his passing. In 1999, we collected over 7400 comic
books that we donated to children's hospitals
It is beyond our resources to establish the Gil Kane Memorial Scholarship as
an ongoing award. We are in the process of seeking corporate sponsorship to
enable the Scholarship to be awarded annually. For more information about
H.E.A.T. go to our website: http://www.glheat.cjb.net/