A portfolio booklet released by Marvel Comics in October 2001, to commemorate the victims and celebrate the heroes of the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. All work on the project, from art to writing to coloring to printing to distribution, was donated, and all proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Twin Towers Fund.
The book features artwork by a host of top comics creators, including Alex Ross, George Perez, Joe Quesada, Todd McFarlane, Joe Kubert, Sam Kieth, Alan Davis, Frank Miller, Mike Deodato, Jr., Frank Quitely, Carlos Pacheco, Dan Jurgens, John Romita, Sr., Tim Bradstreet, J. Scott Campbell, Jim Lee, Walter Simonson, David Mack, Dave Gibbons, Neal Adams, Humberto Ramos, ChrisCross, Steve Rude, Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Joe Madureira, Bill Sienkiewicz, Salvador Larroca, Jae Lee, Paul Pope, Dale Keown, Adam Kubert, Stuart Immonen, Mike Allred, and many more, with text and essays provided by Stan Lee, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Kurt Busiek, Kevin Smith, Jim Shooter, Fabian Nicieza, Paul Dini, Jim Krueger, and Gail Simone.
For something that was put together this quickly, the quality of the art is nearly universally superior. Much of it is intensely personal. Some of it is shockingly beautiful.
While this is a Marvel book, superheroes are few and far between. In fact, in most cases, the use of comic book characters only cheapens the art presented -- the only exceptions being Sam Kieth's subdued art of the Hulk kneeling and examining a lone firefighter's helmet, Mike Deodato's vision of Captain America weeping over a smoking New York City skyline, and Dale Keown's quietly enraged Hulk, standing amidst the wreckage and gripping a flagpole in one massive fist (the caption is the shortest one in the book: "Strongest one there is." No arguments from me, Dale).
Most of the focus is, rightly, on the real people who were involved in the events of 9/11. And most of the best artwork lies in these pictures: from Alex Ross' lushly painted cover of a fireman carrying a victim from the smoking wreckage; Karre Andrews' impressionist painting of rescuers at work; Tim Bradstreet's photo-based artwork of face-masked cops and firemen at rest; Jim Lee's depiction of firemen at the heart of the inferno; Greg and Tim Hildebrandt's you-are-there study of a businessman carrying an injured woman from a collapsing building; Joe Quesada and Todd McFarlane's collaboration on a weary and heartsick firefighter; Graham Nolan's art of a lone cop charging back into the fire and smoke; Phil Hester's light-and-darkness abstraction of the Towers; Bill Sienkiewicz' inspiring painting of the Twin Towers converted into beacons of light shining through a city of smoke; Michael Avon Oeming's bittersweet sketch of a fireman closing a fallen compadre's eyes; and perhaps the most shocking and emotional piece of art in the book, Igor Kordey's raw artwork of frightened airline passengers grimly advancing down the aisle toward terrorists armed with knives and box cutters.
It only costs $4. Buy it. I bitch about Marvel a lot, but they did a damn fine job on this one.