Debbie Button

From the Scoop Archive: 4/17/2008

In Memoriam: Joe Button

	Joe Button

The passing of Joe Button, who most of our readers never got a chance to meet, let alone know, is one of those immeasurable imponderables that turns the question What if? simultaneously into a bitter pill to swallow and the unit of measurement that should be used to gauge hope.

An aspiring comic book, animation, and screenwriter who seemed just on the verge of making it, Joseph Brian Button of Jarrettsville, Maryland, died April 10, 2008 at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, Maryland. He was 24.

His age would render his passing sad enough even if he hadnt yet found his direction in life. He would have hardly been the first young man to be looking around at 24, wondering what he was going to do with himself. That wasnt the case with him, though. He not only knew what he wanted to do, he actively pursued his dream.

What makes his aspirations and level of achievement remarkable was what he had to overcome to get as far as he got. Born in Baltimore in 1983, Joe defied the odds and lived nearly 25 years with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare medical condition. Doctors predicted he wouldn't live past age two.

He did his writing from a bedside computer. He had been confined to his bed since he was eight due to his profound muscular weakness. Whether there or at a comic book convention in a wheelchair, though, there was no restraining his spirit.

According to his family, He lived each day with enthusiasm and accomplished so much in life, always with the desire to help others.

This sentiment is echoed by those who met him at conventions and creators he interviewed for SilverBulletComicBooks.com (now www.ComicsBulletin.com).

When you work in the entertainment industries you become aware of just how many talented people are making moves just below the surface. They are the hot new creators who are taking meetings and doing spec scripts and doing rewrites of spec scripts and helping established writers and artists with their deadlines. They are almost there. Some of these people never make it beyond that promising moment. If you've worked as long as I have you start to get the feel for who might make it and who might not. You can see when the talent is there but the will is weak - or the times are not right, the opportunities are not there. For whatever reason, they are always just on the verge of the big sale. Joe Button was so close to that big sale we could all see it in his future. He had talent. Joe Button had more drive and energy, more belief in himself than 90% of the aspiring artists and writers who show me their work.He embodied the concept of: You can only fail if you give up. He never gave up. And the frustrating thing is - if his body had been strong enough to last for another year or two - you would have been reading his comics and enjoying them, said Mark Wheatley, a veteran comics creator and head of Insight Studios Group. Joe had something to say and comics will be poorer for never having heard him. I always enjoyed our conversations and I will miss his wit and humor. Too many talented young people in our industry have died in the past year and comics can't afford the loss.And it is a major shame that we lost Joe Button.

Initially, Joe impressed you with his passion for comics, his work ethic when it came to writing, and his steadfast refusal to allow his condition to hinder his pursuit of his dreams. But if you took the time to actually read what he was writing, the biggest surprise of all was that he could actually write well. He faced so much adversity, but transcended it, with courage, grace, and good humor, said writer-director Robert Tinnell.

His family said his enthusiasm for information and thirst for knowledge were the basis for his writing career.

From his youth, Joe had a love for comics and superheroes, who were not bound by the law of reason and ordinary principles. Superheroes are able to fly above the ordinary circumstances of life. Always loving the story of Aladdin and his magic carpet, Joe's bedside access to his computer allowed him to take a magic carpet ride every day into countries around the world, from Harford County to New Zealand, they said in a statement for local papers.

Among other projects, he had written a romantic comedy, "Forest Hill", which had placed in the quarter finals in an international screenplay competition. His family related that in the judge's comments, Joe was told that his writing style reminded them of the comedy film writer Kevin Smith, who Joe was happy to have met for a signing at a New York Comic Convention.

More about Joe's work can be viewed at http://www.josephbutton.com.

In death, he chose to donate his body for medical research with the hope that something might be learned about his disease. His family would like to continue Joe's wish of helping others and have created a memorial fund for those that would like to contribute in Joe's name.

Joe Button is survived his parents, Robert and Debbie Button, his brother, Robert, Jr., and sister, Jennifer, a nephew, Brian, and his grandfather William F. Custer, Sr., as well as several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

We join fellow fans and the creators who knew him in expressing our sympathy to the Button family for their loss.