Artists Affected By COVID-19 Gets Help From Creative Team Behind 'Venom'

People everywhere had been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in more ways than one. “Venom” writer and self-confessed “Miracleman” fan Donny Cates reached out to artists whose livelihoods are affected by the pandemic.

In a tweet, Donny Cates said that he was collecting commissions of “Miracleman” and was looking for people “who had time” to do one. He was willing to pay for it, according to CBR. In his mind, it was his own way of helping artists make ends meet.

Not long after, Venomized Ryan, a fan and a product reviewer, tweeted something similar. This time, he was looking for artists willing to do paid commissions of Venom. He said he was looking similarly for artists who were looking for gigs.

These offers were met by fans who made their own commissions and fan art of the two characters. The coronavirus pandemic has greatly affected sci-fi artists and some fans of the genre, who find themselves without comic or sci-fi/fantasy conventions to go to. It is in these conventions that fans find commissions and other works from fellow fans.

As per Screen Rant, the situation is the same in Hollywood having two big-scale blockbusters postponed. Cinema chains have also been closed temporarily, leading to the cancellation of various annual film festivals.

Disney and other film studios have called for production to grind to a halt. Disney, for its part, has postponed the initial production of films like Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, “The Little Mermaid” and “Nightmare Alley”. “The Matrix 4”, “The Batman”, “Avatar” sequel and “Jurassic World: Dominion” are some of the other productions with delays.

For Cates and Ryan, an artist also needs to earn a livelihood. Thinking up content is already hard enough, and the delays and cancellations during the coronavirus outbreak are not helping anyone. The duo thinks that this is only a small help to artists during this time.

Cates has written for Marvel titles like “Venom”, “Absolute Carnage”, “Thor” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”