The origins of CAPTAIN AWARENESS can be traced back to 1991, my freshman year in college at Stetson University.  Looking to make my mark on campus, I decided to put my cartooning skills to work for The Stetson Reporter, the college newspaper, and created "Captain Stetson", a comic strip about a super-hero who fought crime on campus.  Captain Stetson was basically the same character as Captain Awareness is now, except that the costume was green-and-white (the Stetson colors) with a big "S" on the chest, as opposed to the "A" Captain Awareness wears now, and Cap also wore the trademark Stetson cowboy hat.

     As I was in the process of creating the strip, an anonymous letter was printed in The Reporter by a rape survivor who wrote in detail about her experience in an effort to dispel various rumors which had circulated around campus since she was assaulted.  Although I did not know the letter-writer's identity at the time, I was very moved by her words as well as by the courage she displayed in writing them.  I knew about rape, of course, but I was unaware of the emotional scars left behind on the survivors.  I began to consider the possibility of doing a story about rape for the "Captain Stetson" strip to further address the problem.  After all, other super-heroes like SPIDER-MAN and the TEEN TITANS had dealt with real problems such as drugs and child abuse.  Rape, however, was a subject that comics had never addressed to my knowledge--at least, not in any sort of educational manner.  But, I wondered if students would take a story about rape seriously in a super-hero comic strip.  How would rape survivors--in particular, the anonymous letter-writer--react?

     I allowed the idea to sit in the back of my mind, where it continued to grow over the next few years.  "Captain Stetson" quickly became the most popular feature in The Reporter, but a falling-out with new editors made it necessary for me to remove the strip from the newspaper and publish it as a one-shot comic book, which I sold on campus.  In time, I planned to publish more books with the character and change the title to "Captain College" (dropping the Stetson hat and "S" symbol, of course) in order to market it to other universities.

     By this time, I had forged a strong friendship with a female student whom we shall refer to as "Diane Lee".  One day, I was discussing  my plans for Captain College with Diane, when she suggested that I do stories in which Cap deals with real-life problems that students face, instead of the usual comic book super-villains.  I mentioned my idea of doing a story about rape, as well as my hesitation in going forward with it.  That was when Diane dropped a bombshell on me:  she was the anonymous letter-writer, and she wanted me to do the story!

     To me, it seemed like a sign from above that I was somehow destined to wind up doing this story.  Of course, it was a bittersweet revelation, because--as relieved as I was to finally find the anonymous letter-writer and receive her blessing--Diane was, and still is, one of the sweetest people I have ever known and just about the last person I would have wanted the anonymous letter-writer to turn out to be.  I became determined, then, to do this story for her--so that her own experience would not be in vain, but would serve some purpose in educating others about this problem.

     It has been several years since I first began working on this project, and there have been times when I began to think it would never be published.  Yet, in spite of numerous setbacks--such as the financial problems in raising the funds to get the book printed, the various colleges and organizations I approached for sponsorship which rejected the idea (since rape is a controversial subject and not one that many wish to acknowledge; which is unfortunate, because ignoring a problem does not make it go away), and even an auto accident which injured my drawing hand--this project has refused to die, almost as if it were somehow meant to be.  Indeed, whenever something would happen to seemingly put an end to my efforts, something else would come along to revive them.

     Case in point: George Perez.  One of the most popular and respected creators in the comic book industry, George has been a personal idol of mine for years.  When I decided to also make this book available to comic book stores, I reasoned that having an established artist involved would help sales and approached George at a convention about the possibility of his donating art for the cover.  Being the generous individual he is, George was glad to help.  It was especially gratifying to have George involved, as he worked on a TEEN TITANS drug awareness comic years ago, which was a major influence on my own work for this book.  Therefore, it was with much regret that I had to call George one day to tell him that funding for the book had been cut and to cancel the cover because the project was off.

     Well, George simply wouldn't hear of that!  This project was much too important to give up on, and he urged me to persevere.  I could hardly believe it--here was George Perez, whose work I had followed for years, encouraging me to do this book!  George even volunteered to do some of the inking, in the hopes that others in the comics industry would follow his lead and also donate work.  One by one, they came on board, and I soon found myself working with not only George, but with Norm Breyfogle, Colleen Doran, Dick Giordano, Dan Jurgens, Paul Mellette, Jimmy Palmiotti, Gordon Purcell, Trina Robbins, Joe Rubinstein, Jeff Whiting, and Mike Wieringo, too!  Writer Kurt Busiek also gave permission for artists Alex Ross and Brent Anderson to donate a pin-up of "Winged Victory" from his ASTRO CITY series, which fit in nicely with our theme.  When George's busy schedule prevented him from being able to do the cover as originally planned, Phil Jimenez stepped in to save the day at the last minute.  Several coloring studios agreed to contribute computer coloring for the book as well.

     Meanwhile, I sold ads, sought out alternate routes of distribution to get the book into colleges, and found organizations such as AWSDA and RAINN that were willing to sponsor the project in return for a portion of the profits being donated to promote rape awareness.  As the scope of the project grew beyond the originally-intended college audience to include high schools and middle schools as well, "Captain College" underwent a final transformation into... "Captain Awareness."

     Captain Awareness represents the ideal that anyone can be a hero by achieving awareness of their true potential, and the story behind the creation of this book proves that this is just as true in real-life as it is in the fantasy world of comic books.  This book exists due to the efforts of many real-life heroes who donated their time and work because they believe in what this book stands for.  The comic book industry is made up of a lot of caring, dedicated individuals--some of whom have become good friends of mine in the process of our working on this book--and I am proud to be a part of it.

     Anyone can be a hero--even YOU!  You don't need super-powers and a cape.  Even if you have been assaulted, or face some other problem in your life, you have the power to take control of the situation and turn things around, if you choose to wield that power.  You don't have to remain a victim.  This project began because of one woman who was courageous enough to come forward and tell her story in public.  Her words have been adapted into the narration given by the character "Diane" in CAPTAIN AWARENESS: ASSAULT ON CAMPUS.  The real-life Diane continues to be an inspiration, having chosen to become a police officer so that she can make a difference in the lives of other crime victims.  To her, this book is proudly dedicated.

     What does the future hold for CAPTAIN AWARENESS?  I, too, have been inspired to continue in my efforts to make a difference.  There are other problems in our society in addition to rape--problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, fire safety, pollution, bulimia, gun violence, and suicide--which we at 2-D Graphics would like to be able to address in future volumes of this series.

     This is where you, the reader, can make a difference.  Please write and let us know what you think of our efforts.  You can also send e-mail to capaware@yahoo.com or fill out the Readers' Survey form on this website.  How familiar were you with the subject matter before reading this book?  Have you, or anyone that you know, ever been assaulted?  Do you feel that you learned anything from this book?  Also, please feel free to tell us anything you can about yourself (such as your age, sex, and educational background), as well as about where you purchased this book and how you first heard about it, in addition to what subjects you would like to see addressed in future volumes.  Everyone who writes will be placed in an upcoming drawing to win a CAPTAIN AWARENESS-related prize, and this information will also help us to be able to better educate and entertain you--our readers--in the future.

    Remember: Knowledge Is Power!