Vegan strongman Patrik Baboumian has launched a 40-day fundraiser to release Earthraiser: Voice of the Voiceless – an ‘animal-rights themed comic book’ illustrated by David Padilla.

The athlete, who featured in the acclaimed documentary The Game Changers, has already exceeded his original fundraising goal – receiving more than £14,000 ($17,288) in donations.

‘A badass hero’

“I was always a bit disappointed that there was no popular comic book with an animal rights theme and a badass hero with fantastic powers,” Baboumian wrote.

“Sure, there are a number of vegan-comic book heroes, but as a true comic enthusiast, I have to tell you that a super-hero whose defining characteristic is his diet is not very compelling to the non-vegan general audience.”

‘Suffering’

Baboumian said he wanted to depict his message in a way that wouldn’t alienate non-vegans, stating all animals ‘deserve a hero powerful enough to create real change and that is only possible by appealing to a broad audience’.

“Instead of emphasizing veganism, I put the emphasis on the actual problem that has to be solved: suffering!” he said.

“What if there were a hero whose superpower (rather his curse) was that he would inadvertently feel the suffering of others as if it was his own. This would force our hero to fight against that which unnecessarily creates suffering in the world.”

You can find out more about the project here