Heart kids and their parents know that doctor and hospital visits are rarely fun experiences.
When first concieved, The Zipper Club was a story I'd envisioned as the sort of story I needed when growing up and overcoming my own heart complications. Comic books and cartoons became my lifeblood of escapism, and as much as I loved all the Ninja Turtles, or He-Men, or Spider-Men of the world, I never really had a hero I felt I could fully relate to, with being bed-ridden and eat a steady diet of salt-free everything all day. When I was originally asked by Grayhaven
Comics to pitch a series of short stories aimed at younger readers, the first two pages of The Zipper Club immediately jumped out of my brain and onto the page. After collecting those shorts for print in the pages of The Zipper Club - Year One, and now the second volume with the help of readers like you, via our previous Kickstarter and IndieGoGo campaigns, a funny thing started to happen. Like Brave Hearts and the Children's Hospital Foundation out of Louisville Kentucky deciding to feature the first volume prominently in their welcome bags for kids recovering from surgery. It was a very flattering thing to see the books included in these care packages, and has since become a main goal I'd like to aim for with The Zipper Club, moving forward.
​
As much as we love our expanding readership outside of the CHD community and hope they'll keep following our adventures well into the foreseeable future, the central goal of The Zipper Club is to provide an inclusive experience for and about kids growing up with congenital heart defects. We want to make sure that we can get a copy into the hands of each and every child out there who's dealing with the same struggle I did. Kids who need friends like Cliffy, Chester, Rosie, Michael, Ernie, and the rest of The Gang in their lives so they can realize they're not the only one's who were born fighting every day of their young lives.
​
The central goal of The Zipper Club is to provide an inclusive experience for and about kids growing up with congenital heart defects.
To put it simply, I want The Zipper Club serve as a guide to turning any perceived weakness into a profound sense of strength. To help kids growing up under extreme circumstances realize the benefits of growing up outside the norm and maybe even embrace the scars on their chests like Superman wears that big red "S".
​
If you run a pediatric doctor's office that could benefit from some new reading material, or a school library that wants more educational material about kids with health issues, or a CHD support organization looking to add some extra fun to your care packages, we want your help in expanding our reach.
​
If you'd like to help, we ask that you contact us through our contact page.