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STARLIGHT RUNNER CREATES "GANYMEDE," NEW COMICS SUPERHERO TO DEBUT IN WATERKEEPER MAGAZINE'S SUMMER ISSUE
Waterkeeper Alliance Introduces Environmental Champion
New York, NY – July 6, 2006 – Move over, Batman, Spider-Man and Catwoman! A new guardian of justice is on his way, and he’s not happy! Polluters of America’s waterways, prepare to be struck by a Tidal Blast from Ganymede the Waterkeeper. See a picture of Ganymede here.
Ganymede is the brainchild of Jeff Gomez, president and CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc, and artist Savark DicupĂ©. “We conceived Ganymede because he is the mythological cup bearer to the gods,” says Gomez. “Water is the source of life.” The new superhero has turned out to be a lifesaver for Waterkeeper Alliance.
“Waterkeeper needed magazine cover art to creatively illustrate the problem of illegal sewage spills,” says Gomez from his office in Manhattan. “My first thought was how valiant the people of this organization really are. Waterkeepers patrol and fight for their lakes and rivers, bays and coastlines. What Waterkeeper Alliance needed was a new superhero who could raise awareness in young people about this critical issue.”
“Waterkeepers are superheroes,” says celebrated environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., president of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Pollution is as insidious and evil as any comic villain, only it is real. Waterkeeper has 153 leaders around the world standing for their waterbodies, confronting polluters and fighting for clean water and strong communities.”
So Gomez and DicupĂ© created a comic book serial to illustrate the real-world problems and solutions environmentalists face each day. Celeste Swan, an African-American Waterkeeper, while testing the water in her local river, finds human waste. The illegal sewage spawns a huge hideous monster…and FWAASH! The blue superhero Ganymede strikes like a storm to vanquish the beast.
Swan knows better, however. It takes more than just a muscle-bound water elemental to get to the heart of the pollution dilemma. She vows to fix the problem using whatever legal means necessary.
“Swan, like all Waterkeepers around the world, takes personal responsibility for her waterways and is proactive in her approach,” says Eddie Scher, communications director of Waterkeeper Alliance, from his office in Irvington, New York. “Sewage spills are not an easy problem to illustrate. Comics allow us to show how Waterkeepers work: confront the problem, solve it and move on to the next problem.”
The comic strip adventures of Ganymede and Celeste Swan are featured on the front cover of the Summer 2006 issue of Waterkeeper magazine, available for $5.95 from www.waterkeeper.org. The further adventures of the dynamic duo are set to continue in subsequent issues of the quarterly magazine.
Waterkeeper Alliance was formed in 1999 as a grassroots advocacy organization and boasts 153 local “Waterkeepers” around the world who patrol their waterways ferreting out and combating sewage leaks and other violations of clean water laws.
Waterkeeper president Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions. He was named one of Time Magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for successfully leading the fight to restore the Hudson River. The achievement helped spawn the growth of Waterkeeper Alliance chapters across the globe.
Under the aegis of Starlight Runner Entertainment, a leading developer of cross-media fictional worlds, Jeff and his team have created fantasy universes for Mattel’s Hot Wheels franchise, Hasbro’s Magic: The Gathering franchise, and Acclaim Entertainment’s Turok Dinosaur Hunter video game franchise. Most recently Starlight Runner has joined with Disney Publishing Worldwide, Gravity Entertainment and Hand Picked Films on entertainment franchise projects.
# # #For more information on the Waterkeeper Alliance, see www.waterkeeper.org. Waterkeeper is a registered trademark of Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc.
For more information on Starlight Runner Entertainment, see www.starlightrunner.com.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Jeff Gomez, please contact Christi Cassidy at +1-505-986-1142 or christi@mantrapublicrelations.com.
About Starlight Runner Entertainment
Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc. is a leading creator of highly successful fictional worlds, maximizing the value of intellectual properties by preparing them for extension across multiple media platforms. Starlight Runner also produces animated and live-action feature films, shorts, advanced media content and alternate reality experiences. The company also packages books, comics and graphic novels, and develops video games with world-renowned partners and clients.
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