Hero Initiative Partners with The Walking Dead for First-Ever Image Comics “100 Project” including original covers drawn by Charlie Adlard and (yes) The Walking Dead creator/writer Robert Kirkman

The Hero Initiative, the charity dedicated to helping comic creators in medical and financial need, has drawn great acclaim for its “100 Projects” in recent years, in which 100 artists draw an original cover on a special anniversary issue.

Now, after running projects with Marvel Comics, DC and Archie, Hero Initiative proudly announces that its latest and greatest “100 Project” will feature the best-selling comic of 2012—The Walking Dead #100. This marks the first time Hero has partnered in such a way with Image Comics and Skybound.

Artists including The Walking Dead illustrator, Charlie Adlard, will contribute original covers, as will other top talents such as Dan Brereton, Ian Churchill, Kevin Eastman, Joe Jusko, Dale Keown and Whilce Portacio. And yes, even The Walking Dead creator/writer and Image Comics partner Robert Kirkman will contribute. (He can draw a little!)

“The Walking Dead would have never become the success it’s become without the trailblazers who put in the hard work to make this industry live on into the future,” said Kirkman. “Doing things like this for The Hero Initiative, which helps creators who have fallen on hard times, is a way for Charlie Adlard and I to give back to the community that has provided us with countless hours of entertainment and also a pretty cushy living. Simply put, it’s the right thing to do.”

“They say charity begins at home. Well, I can’t think of one closer to that than the Hero Initiative,” said Adlard. “It’s great to be able to give back to the creators who inspired me.”

A public viewing of all 100 covers will be scheduled for winter of 2012-13, along with auctions of all the original covers. A book collecting all the art will be available in 2013.