Valiant's FAITH to promote breast cancer awareness

Valiant Entertainment and Keep A Breast Join Forces to Fight Breast Cancer with New Ongoing Partnership
Valiant’s Breakout Heroine Faith to Debut as Leading Non-Profit’s Official Comics Ambassador at New York Comic Con 2016   

Valiant Entertainment – the award-winning publisher of the largest independent superhero library in comics – and The Keep A Breast Foundation – the leading global youth-based breast cancer prevention organization – are proud to announce a new ongoing partnership dedicated to furthering the California-based non-profit’s ongoing mission with new initiatives in educational publishing, fundraising merchandise, convention and exhibitions outreach around the world, and much more.

As detailed today at Fast Company, the new face of this first-of-its-kind collaborative partnership will be Valiant’s own leading super-heroine, Faith, who will make her debut as Keep A Breast’s official “comics ambassador” at New York Comic Con 2016. Faith will then subsequently be utilized throughout a number of Keep A Breast promotional endeavors globally in 2016 and beyond.

“The foundation of everything Keep A Breast does is art, and it absolutely thrills us to team up with people, like Valiant Comics, that are breaking the norm in their own industries,” said Keep A Breast Founder & CCO Shaney jo Darden. “When we read Faith, we were so excited to see a hero that was so funny, real, and full of self-love. Art has the power to heal and impact people in the best way, and this partnership will further prove how art can put a spotlight on real issues and start important conversations that can save lives.”

“Creativity can be the catalyst for great change, and it is often said there is no medium more creative than comic books,” said Valiant Chief Operating Officer & CFO Gavin Cuneo. “With Faith at the forefront of a wide variety of upcoming Keep A Breast programs, we look forward to aiding them in their vitally important and all-too-needed cause of combating breast cancer through art, education, and the creative spirit. As one of the most optimistic heroes in comics today, Faith is already an inspiration to many. Now, in her new role as an ambassador on Keep A Breast’s behalf, it is our sincere hope that her unbeatable spirit will inspire a new contingent of fans and enthusiasts to join their campaign against this tragically common condition.”

Additionally, Valiant and Keep A Breast’s joint mission to promote breast health and cancer prevention across all facets of comics fandom and culture will continue with special fundraising endeavors throughout New York Comic Con 2016. From Thursday, October 6th through Sunday, October 9th, Valiant’s Faith will appear on two limited-edition collectibles, specially produced to benefit Keep A Breast and available exclusively at the publisher’s NYCC booth #1635:

• FAITH #3 KEEP A BREAST #CHECKYOURSELFIE VARIANT ($10)

 

Faith, X-O Manowar, Livewire, Ninjak, and many more of the Valiant Universe’s greatest heroes unite to promote Keep A Breast’s #CHECKYOURSELFIE social media campaign – a hugely successful promotion embodied by placing three fingers to their breast, symbolizing an individual’s monthly commitment to selfcheck.

Find out more with the Keep A Breast Check Yourself! app – available as a free download on iOS and Android mobile and tablet devices via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The Keep A Breast Foundation Check Yourself! app helps you to establish your own routine and approach to the breast selfcheck.

Artwork by Diego Bernard.

• FAITH/KEEP A BREAST BUTTON BADGE ($1)

 

Support Keep A Breast one dollar at a time by purchasing a collectible Faith button badge, as Valiant’s leading heroine demonstrates #CHECKYOURSELFIE for the world!

Artwork by Diego Bernard.

Additionally, Keep A Breast Founder & CCO Shaney jo Darden will appear at the VALIANT: SPOTLIGHT ON FAITH panel presentation on Thursday, October 7th at 6:45 pm in Room 1A05 to further detail plans for the newly minted partnership, alongside Faith writer Jody Houser, comics legend Louise Simonson, multiple Harvey Award nominee Rafer Roberts, and Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani.

Future collaborations between Keep A Breast and Valiant will include specially designed Faith comics content promoting breast health and cancer prevention, an array of co-branded Faith/Keep A Breast merchandise, and, most notably, Valiant-sponsored Keep A Breast programming at more than 50 live events and comic book conventions nationwide – furthering Keep A Breast’s noted and longstanding mission to empower young people around the world with breast health education and support.

Over a decade ago, Keep A Breast’s founders, then involved in their own arts organization, rallied to support a friend with breast cancer. They developed an idea to express the female experience of breast cancer by reimagining the traditional canvas as a participatory sculpture. After some experimentation and partnerships with the right people, they developed and tested a technique for capturing the female bust in a plaster. The result was a white cast that was then customized by artists, such as Shepard Fairey, Mike Giant, Dalek and many more. The success of these breast casts as conversation starters, awareness builders and fundraising tools ultimately led them to what is now the non-profit The Keep A Breast Foundation. 

Their mission is simple: equip young people with breast health education early on in their lives. They do that by talking to them face-to-face about breast cancer in their own voice and on their own turf. As the latest promotional affiliates dedicated to enabling Keep A Breast’s vital mission, Valiant joins a long list of individuals and organizations past and present that also includes 100% Pure, bareMinerals, Harveys, Pacifica, preen.me, Spy Optics, Stance, and the Vans Warped Tour, as well as musicians Blink 182, Devo, Foo Fighters, Katy Perry, Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, and dozens more.

“Keep A Breast is an incredible organization with a long and storied history of using music and the arts as a vehicle to educate and inform untapped and often underserved audiences about one of the true scourges of our age – breast cancer,” said Valiant’s President of Consumer Products, Promotions and Ad Sales Russell A. Brown. “Valiant is honored to assist in that mission as Keep A Breast now prepares to expand its efforts into the comics community, and Faith is the perfect ambassador to help them accomplish just that.”

Created by former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter and Eisner Award-winning writer and artist David Lapham in Valiant’s acclaimed HARBINGER series in 1992, Faith has long been a central icon of Valiant’s award-winning publishing line. Then, in January 2016, Faith took her long-awaited, much-demanded first step toward solo stardom with FAITH #1 (of 4) – a groundbreaking debut that quickly became the first and biggest breakout hit of the New Year from any major comics publisher. In the months since, Faith’s first solo adventure has garnered near-universal critical acclaim; generated attention from a host of international media outlets, including The Atlantic, The A.V. Club, Cosmopolitan, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, The Huffington Post, The Independent, MTV, The New York Times, NPR, PBS Newshour, People, Seventeen, Today, Vox, The Washington Post, and dozens more; and become the first series of 2016 to reach a much-vaunted fifth printing – making it one of only a handful of hit series in the past decade to achieve that pivotal benchmark of fan and commercial demand. 

Then, Faith’s streak of unprecedented achievements hit a new high with the freshly sold-out FAITH #1 – a first issue that has already rocketed onward to become the highest selling superhero debut of 2016 from any independent publisher in the industry today.

For more information, visit http://keep-a-breast.org and http://valiantuniverse.com.
 

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According to American Cancer Society:

• Besides skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among American women. It accounts for nearly 1 in 3 cases of cancers.
• Only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths among American women.
• Today, about 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime.
• A woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes.
• The chance that a breast cancer patient will be alive five years after diagnosis is lower in women under 40. Statistics indicate that tumors diagnosed in younger women may be more aggressive and less responsive to treatment, making early detection key.
• 40% of breast cancer lumps are self-detected

About The Keep A Breast Foundation:

The Keep A Breast Foundation™ is a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower young people around the world with breast health education and support.

Since its inception in 2000, KAB has worked with young people to remove the shame associated with breasts and breast cancer health. Through various initiatives such as breast cast art exhibitions, the “Non Toxic Revolution” and “I love boobies!” campaign, KAB has opened up the dialog about breast cancer, and has proven to be a doorway to breast self-awareness and education. 

Keep A Breast has grown into the leading global youth-based breast cancer prevention organization, with global affiliates in Japan, Canada, France, UK and Chile. Constantly pushing the boundaries of the pink ribbon status quo, Keep A Breast has always encouraged young people to love their boobies, get to know their bodies and be aware of changes.

About Valiant Entertainment:

Valiant Entertainment is a leading character-based entertainment company that owns the largest independent superhero universe in comics. With more than 80 million issues sold and a library of over 2,000 characters, including X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong, and many more, Valiant is one of the most successful publishers in the history of the comic book medium. Today, the company’s characters continue to be forged in publishing, licensing, film, video games, and beyond. Valiant consistently produces some of the most critically acclaimed comics in the industry and has received numerous industry awards and accolades, including a Diamond Gem Award for Comic Book Publisher of the Year. In 2015, Valiant announced a multi-picture deal to bring Bloodshot and Harbinger to the big screen as feature films.