Doom Patrol and New Gods Writer Rachel Pollack Hospitalized

Beloved comic writer Rachel Pollack, known for her work on titles like Doom Patrol and New Gods, has been hospitalized and is currently in the ICU. The news was broken via a GoFundMe fundraiser created by Patricia Nolan, which hopes to seek funds to help with Pollack's medical bills, and potentially provide her with around-the-clock care. The GoFundMe has already surpassed its goal of raising $15,000, with (at the time of this writing) nearly $19,000 raised. The campaign remains open in order to raise additional funds.

"Zoe and I (Pat Nolan) are asking for financial help for Rachel Pollack's health care," the GoFundMe reads. "As many of you know Rachel is in the ICU. If she is able to go home, she will need 24-hour care. Up to now, we haven't needed your help. It is time now. If we are wrong, your pledge will not be collected. We love and honor you …. But you already know that. Keep up the prayers, rituals and love too. All is real and appreciated."

Born on August 17, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York, Pollack is a tarot expert and a prolific writer in the fields of comics and science fiction. In the comics realm, she is best known for her cult-classic run on DC and Vertigo's Doom Patrol, which she took over as writer from Grant Morrison in 1993. Pollack, who is transsexual, made history within the Doom Patrol run for creating Kate Godwin / Coagula, the publisher's first trans superhero.

"The introduction of Kate was an important moment because they were going to go to town and Cliff and Dorothy come up and say, how can you stand it?" Pollack said of Coagula in an interview with The Comics Journal earlier this year. "What do you mean? Going down the street and having people stare at you and look at you because you're freaks, how can you stand doing that? They said, we feel like we have two choices. One is to stay home and hide. The other is to go out and have a good time. To us it's pretty obvious what to do. That was to me a very important statement. If you're different, so what? So what if people will look at you? Go and have a good time!"

In addition to Doom Patrol, Pollack's comic work includes eleven issues of New Gods, the five-issue miniseries Time Breakers, and stories in Vertigo Visions and Dead Beats.