We lost a lot of icons in 2016. Here are 10 wonderful things you may not know they did.

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On the first day of filming "Star Wars," George Lucas walked up to Carrie Fisher to explain why Princess Leia couldn’t wear a bra.

From her memoir, "Wishful Drinking":

"'You can't wear a bra under that dress.'

So, I say, 'Okay, I'll bite. Why?'

And he says, 'Because ... there's no underwear in space. What happens is you go to space and you become weightless. So far so good, right? But then your body expands??? But your bra doesn't — so you get strangled by your own bra.'

Now I think that this would make for a fantastic obit — so I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra."

Let’s just say it. 2016 has been the kind of year that people compare to giant, flaming containers of garbage.  

Carrie Fisher was strangled by her own bra. The election was ugly. World events were uglier. And when it comes to beloved icons, it was like 2016 had a grudge against humanity and was actively plotting against our most beloved pop culture icons.

And while everyone knows what they are best known for, here are 10 important things you may not have known about many of our most beloved icons this year.

1.  Carrie Fisher was a screenwriter who secretly fixed other people’s broken movies.

As a kid, I only knew her as Princess Leia, the leader of the Resistance with flawless aim and passion for rebellion and freedom. It wasn't until later that I learned about the layers of depth she had within her. First and foremost, Carrie Fisher was a writer.

Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney.

She spent much of her career doing nearly anonymous work, quietly fixing movies, as one of the most sought after script doctors in Hollywood. She fixed movies like "Hook," "The Wedding Singer," and "Lethal Weapon III." She added jokes. She'd flesh out two-dimensional women characters. She wrote books. She spoke openly about mental illness. She also happened to be one of the funniest people in Hollywood. And the only one to drown in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.

2. Prince was legendary ... at quietly giving to local charities.

Prince is considered one of the greatest rock stars of all time.

Photo via Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for NPG Records.

But according to EOnline, he was also a remarkable philanthropist. He funded YesWeCode, an organization that helps kids become coders. The State reported that he donated $250,000 to the Eau Claire Promise Zone in Columbia, South Carolina, which helps fund childhood education. Another news organization reported that he donated $1,000,000 to the Harlem Children’s Zone. He was passionate about Black Lives Matter, too, fundraising and performing for their cause before he died.

3. Gene Wilder was not just Willy Wonka. He also testified before Congress to help fund cancer research.

Gene Wilder was an alcoholic gunslinger in "Blazing Saddles," a mad scientist in "Young Frankenstein," and a sketchy producer in the show (cleverly named) "The Producers."

Photo via M.J. Kim/Getty Images.

And of course, he also played a disturbed candy company wizard named Willy Wonka. His professional life was going amazingly well, and then his personal life got even better. When Gene Wilder met "Saturday Night Live" cast member Gilda Radner in 1981 on the set of the movie "Hanky Panky," he knew he had found his true love. She was funny, charismatic, and lit up any room she was in. When she died from misdiagnosed ovarian cancer, he was struggling to find meaning, to make sure her suffering never harmed anyone else ever again. From an essay he published in People magazine:

"For weeks after Gilda died, I was shouting at the walls. I kept thinking to myself, 'This doesn't make sense.' The fact is, Gilda didn’t have to die. But I was ignorant, Gilda was ignorant—the doctors were ignorant. She could be alive today if I knew then what I know now.

Gilda might have been caught at a less-advanced stage if two things had been done: if she had been given a ... blood test as soon as she described her symptoms to the doctors instead of 10 months later, and if the doctors had known the significance of asking her about her family’s history of ovarian cancer. But they didn’t. So Gilda went through the tortures of the damned and at the end, I felt robbed."

He wanted to channel his pain into something productive. He helped Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre create the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Program. He also helped start Gilda’s Clubs and according to The Los Angeles Times, his congressional testimony helped fund $30 million in cancer research.

4. David Bowie started an internet service provider before it was cool.

David Bowie was a rock legend, even among rock legends. He was always on the bleeding edge of rock music. He created characters. He pushed the boundaries of music and influenced musicians in every genre.

Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images.

But you know what else he did?

While other rock stars were scared of the internet, before most people even had access to internet, in 1998, David Bowie started BowieNet, a place for Bowie fans to access to the internet AND have a rockstar email address. He moved on. And became a goblin king or something. Because he’s David Bowie.

5. George Michael was a proud gay icon and a musical legend but stayed quiet about his charitable work.

George Michael was known for his LGBTQ rights advocacy, HIV/AIDS fundraising work, his strong political beliefs, and his pop hits ranging from "Father Figure" to "Faith" to "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me."

Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.

But what wasn’t known about him, prior to his death, was his anonymous kindness and charity to everyday folks. The New York Daily News compiled a list of people who came forward after his death to share the kindness he didn’t want publicity for in life. He had given millions to Childline, a children’s charity. He once gave a free concert to the nurses who took care of his ailing mother. He volunteered, anonymously, at a homeless shelter. He once tipped a waitress $5,000 because she was in debt and a nursing student. I have faith there are others out there who were on the receiving end of his generosity that we’ll never know about.

6. Vera Rubin was not just a science legend, but also a witty crusader for women’s equality.

Vera Rubin may not be in the celebrity magazines, but she’s a astronomer and visionary who confirmed significant scientific findings and who dealt with sexism with bluntness and wit.

Photo by Carnegie Institution of Washington.

She was the first female astronomer to observe the skies at Caltech’s Observatory, but there was no women’s bathroom at the observatory, so she cut out a little paper doll of a dress and slapped it on the men’s room door. She said, "There you go; now you have a ladies’ room."

And more importantly, she confirmed the existence of dark matter and has been hailed by many in the scientific community of someone who deserves the Nobel Prize for physics, which no woman has won in 50 years.

7. Muhammad Ali was an incredible fighter but, more importantly, also a civil rights activist.

Muhammad Ali was the greatest. He told you that. And it also was true. And while many people remember him for his achievements in the ring and his lighting of the Olympic torch at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, most people tend to gloss over the other side of his story.

Photo via Kent Gavin/Keystone/Getty Images.

He was an unapologetic civil rights activist who refused to fight in the Vietnam War. In his words:

"My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother or some darker people or some poor, hungry people in the mud for big, powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn't put no dogs on me, they didn't rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Poor little black people and babies and children and women. How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail."

He was stripped of his title and banned from boxing for that. He also was banned from traveling overseas. So he spent four years speaking out at colleges to earn money and bring attention to the issues that almost no one was willing to address. In 1971, the Supreme Court overruled his draft dodging conviction and he returned to regain his title.

8. Ron Glass was a fictional cop, a fictional space priest, and a real-life college education fan.

He got there with grace, humor & enormous heart. He was, among so many other things, my Shepherd. Raise, appropriately, a glass. Rest, Ron. http://pic.twitter.com/yzPly7TmgE

— Joss Whedon (@joss) November 26, 2016

If you aren’t totally sure why Ron Glass’s name sounds familiar, let me refresh your memory. If you grew up in the 1970s, you might know him as Detective Ron Harris from "Barney Miller." If you grew up in the 2000s, if you are like me, then you love him for his role as space preacher Shepard Book on "Firefly." But if you are a kid living in poverty who up in Los Angeles from 1992 until now, you probably know Ron Glass as the guy who spent over 20 years mentoring children and making sure hundreds of them got the resources to go to college.

After witnessing the Rodney King riots, he wanted to make an impact on the community. So he joined the board of the Wooten Center, which helps kids get on the path to a college education. He started mentoring and reading to kids, emceeing events, raising money, and getting kids the resources they needed. You can donate in his name here.

9. Harper Lee wrote one of the most important books ever. (And one of the best snarky letters ever.)

In 1966, the Hanover County School Board in Richmond, Virginia, took offense to Harper Lee’s pivotal work "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

To them, the coarse language and discussion of racial  was, according to one board member, "immoral literature." They unanimously voted to ban it. When Harper Lee found out, she decided to voice her expert opinion in an open letter to the editors of the local paper, the Richmond News Leader.  It read:

"Recently I have received echoes down this way of the Hanover County School Board's activities, and what I've heard makes me wonder if any of its members can read.

Surely it is plain to the simplest intelligence that 'To Kill a Mockingbird' spells out in words of seldom more than two syllables a code of honor and conduct, Christian in its ethic, that is the heritage of all Southerners. To hear that the novel is "immoral" has made me count the years between now and 1984, for I have yet to come across a better example of doublethink.

I feel, however, that the problem is one of illiteracy, not Marxism. Therefore I enclose a small contribution to the Beadle Bumble Fund that I hope will be used to enroll the Hanover County School Board in any first grade of its choice."

According to the story, Lee included $10 for The News Leader’s Bumble Fund, which distributed 50 free copies of the book to Hanover students. The fund, named after a character in Charles Dickens’ "Oliver Twist" who proclaimed "the law is a ass," was started in 1959 by News Leader Editor James J. Kilpatrick "to redress ludicrous cases of patent injustice."

A month later, the board un-banned the book and claimed they never intended to in the first place. We’ll miss you, Harper Lee.

10. Gwen Ifill was a crack journalist but a private mentor to dozens and dozens more.

Gwen Ifill worked at The Baltimore Evening Sun. She did a stint at The Washington Post. She reported for The New York Times. She hosted "Washington Week" for 17 years. She hosted "NewsHour" for the last three years as half of the first all-woman national network news anchor team. She was, simply put, a legend.

I recently had the opportunity to meet Gwen Ifill. The 2016 presidential debates were around the corner. I asked her, "Knowing that candidates tend to ignore questions if they don't want to answer them, with the bizarre election we are currently in, how do you deal with a candidate who refuses to answer questions, or makes up facts out of whole cloth?"

Her response impressed me. This isn't verbatim, but essentially, she said trying to get candidates to answer questions they are trained to dodge is a waste of time. You can try a follow up, and if they still dodge, then you gently acknowledge to the audience that you're on the same page as them. Let the audience know you know the candidate didn't answer. Then move on to the next thoughtful question.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images for "Meet the Press."

During the taping, on a break, she specifically sought out and took time to meet a young woman of color studying to be a reporter. Then I discovered what many already knew, that it’s something she actively did her entire career. She took her job as a role model and mentor very seriously. So much so that a vast community of journalists wrote about how she helped them get to where they are after she died.

Gwen Ifill had a pretty damn impressive career, but what’s more impressive are the dozens of journalists of color she mentored and inspired whose work will live on as a testament to her selflessness and passion.

Just to say it, I’m super ready for 2016 to be over.

It’s hard to say goodbye to so many powerful icons of our culture, but it’s encouraging to know their good works will love on well past their own lives.Obviously, this isn’t a comprehensive list. Many other great people were lost. Who meant the most to you and why? When you share it, let us know.

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This country has only 10 psychiatrists. That's where 'professional grandmothers' come in.

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Getting mental health care in America can be difficult. In Zimbabwe, it's near impossible.

The country is home to 15 million people and only about 10 psychiatrists. For comparison, the United States has at least 24,000 psychiatrists. But depression and anxiety are not just a first world problem.

"Common mental disorders impose a huge burden on all countries of sub-Saharan Africa," said health researcher Dr. Dixon Chibanda in a press release.

Zimbabwe has a secret weapon though: the Friendship Bench.

Image from The Friendship Bench Project, used with permission.

Developed from over 20 years of community research, The Friendship Bench Project is a different and smart way to tackle mental health care.

You can find one of the inviting benches outside some of Zimbabwe's many health clinics. Sitting down, you might get a visit from an older woman. These women are known as golden ladies or grandmothers. You can talk to them. They listen. Then, they might help you identify problems in your life or give you advice to help you feel positive and in control.

Its might seem simple, but these grandmothers are health workers — and very effective.

Photo from Grand Challenges Canada/Flickr, used with permission.

They're not just dispensing random advice. The grandmothers are health care workers who've have been trained in what's called problem-solving therapy. And it turns out it could be a pretty effective strategy.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the grandmothers against the usual care options, including a nurse assessment or optional medications. The study found that after six visits to the Friendship Bench, visitors were three times less likely to have the symptoms of depression six months later (50% versus 14%). The results were even more striking for anxiety or suicidal thoughts.

There were, of course, a few limitations to the study. Not a lot of men signed up, for example. And there's some more nuance, like exactly how the comparison was done. If you're interested, the full text is here. But the bottom line is that it seems to have worked.

Better mental health care is important for everyone, but low- and middle-income countries may need it especially badly.

"In many parts of Africa, if you are poor and mentally ill, your chances of getting adequate treatment are close to zero," said Karlee Silver in a press release about the Friendship Bench Project. Worse still, in many places in Africa, there's still a stigma — sometimes very serious stigma — around mental disorders and mental health care.

And all this adds up. In addition to adding to human suffering, the cost of treating mental health problems and lost productivity are estimated to cost low- and middle-income countries $870 billion a year. The number may grow to more than $2 trillion by 2030.

That's why it's so heartening to see clever programs like The Friendship Bench Project at work.

Photo from Grand Challenges Canada / ZAPP.

So far, over 27,500 people have used The Friendship Bench Project.  

The program's been working with a number of other organizations too, such as the Zimbabwe Ministry and Health and Grand Challenges Canada. They are currently located in a few of Zimbabwe's cities, including Harare, the capital, but are planning to expand to even more clinics.

They also plan to reach out to more vulnerable populations, such as youth or refugees, in the future.

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The women working with The Friendship Bench Project are trained, supervised, and employed by health clinics, but they aren't doctors or medical professionals. While they are not a replacement for physicians, like psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, they do provide access and opportunity for care where otherwise there might be none.

7 unreal photos of America's 2 newest national monuments.

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On his way out the door, President Barack Obama is leaving America with two brand-spanking-new national monuments.

Gold Butte, Nevada. Photo by Ron Mader/Flickr.

The areas surrounding Nevada's Gold Butte and Utah's Bears Ears Buttes, which include hundreds of thousands of acres of canyons, fragile rock formations, and ancient Native American structures, are now protected by executive order.

The designations were controversial — many local politicians opposed the measure, describing the designations as federal overreach, while others, including Native American tribes, were thrilled.

"We have always looked to Bears Ears as a place of refuge, as a place where we can gather herbs and plants and as a place of sacredness," Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye told The New York Times.

Part of what sets the new monuments apart are hundreds of Native American petroglyphs — pictorial art and writing from centuries before the European colonization of the Americas — carved on rocks and written inside ancient structures within.

The newly christened Gold Butte National Monument is full of petroglyphs like this one.

Some of the pictograms were defaced with graffiti and bullet holes during rancher Cliven Bundy's standoff with federal authorities in 2014. The new designation will give additional protection for the ancient art and writing.

Photo by Cheryl Hobbs/Bureau of Land Management.

Newspaper Rock, which lies within Bears Ears National Monument, includes hundreds of petroglyphs like the one below — carved by Puebloan people over hundreds of years, beginning as early as two millennia years ago.

Modern Native American scholars believe the etchings include family symbols, territory markers, and religious iconography.

Photo by Rick Bowmer/AP.

The Moon House, also in Bears Ears and so named for the full and crescent moons on the interior walls of the structure, was likely built in the 13th century.

The structure contains numerous examples of Native American pictography inside, where archeologists believe as many as 30 people lived. The house is incredibly fragile, and only a few daily permits to see the building are currently issued.

Photo by Rick Bowmer/AP.

The house is located in McCloyd Canyon, a steep hike that gives way to this stunning view of the house under layers of rock.

Photo by Rick Bowmer/AP.

Mule Canyon, Utah, contains these Anasazi dwellings and granaries, known collectively as the "House on Fire."

Photo by Rick Bowmer/AP

Of course, the national monuments are also full of just-generally spectacular rock formations untouched by ancient construction, art, or writing — like this one in Gold Butte.

Jeff Sheild/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP.

Some local residents remain, understandably, concerned that monument designations will close down possibilities for recreation and development in the areas. But the importance of preserving these American Indian treasures, and the land they occupy, is impossible to overstate.

Ensuring that art, writing, and buildings are around for future generations is critical to building a United States of America that owns the full breadth of its history.

Thanks to our Native American forebears, these lands contain a key component of that story. And thanks to Obama, they now belong to all of us, together.

Unfortunately, photos can only show so much.

So ... who's up for a hike?

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Who can you trust? A black artist shows how hard it is to answer that post-election.

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For some people, nothing really changed in the weeks after Election Day. But for others, everything changed.

Just ask Cory Thomas, an illustrator and graphic designer based in Atlanta, Georgia. After Trump's election, Thomas couldn't shake the swelling trepidation that crept around the edges of his life. As a black man who spent a lot of time in spaces that were predominantly white, even in a majority-black city, he was worried.

"In 2017, we’ll have people in power whose social agendas (consciously or not) either reject or ignore the concerns of minority populations," Thomas says. "Do I think it’ll literally make me go insane and fear every white person I meet? Well, no. But the heightened protectiveness that it'll require is probably unhealthy."

Thomas turned to pen and ink with his feelings, just as he had so many times before. He wanted to articulate the strange, unsettled feeling that now consumed his daily life.

Taking a brief hiatus from his ongoing webcomic, "Watch Your Head," Thomas published this new comic on Fusion to express his apprehension. "It's not necessarily new, but it's a conversation that many people of color feel is frustratingly unheard," he says.

Check it out below:

Image by Cory Thomas, used with permission.

Image by Cory Thomas, used with permission.

The comic was an immediate hit, bringing in an overwhelmingly positive response from millions of people.

"That shows how eager people are to have the conversation," Thomas says. He wasn't trying to speak directly to white Americans or for black Americans; he was just trying to articulate what he'd been feeling, to communicate and connect with other people.

But the honesty and humanity of that experience resonated more than he expected with a wide range of people of all different skin tones. People of color thanked him for capturing what they themselves had been struggling with since the election; others found a new understanding of their responsibilities as neighbors and allies instead of being passive bystanders with good intentions.

The comic's ambiguous ending is powerful because it shows that the problem still persists. Now, it's up to us to do something about it.

"Listen, acknowledge the disadvantages that exist, and support the dismantling of racist systems in whatever way they can," Thomas says.

"The work to reset the pendulum doesn't start four years from now. By then it's too late," Thomas adds. "Figure out your role in restoring balance and get active. Even if your only calling is to go into a booth and vote, do that. Do something."

If you were waiting for a call to action? Now you have it. Let's get to work.

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Before he leaves office, Obama is helping cold case murder victims get justice.

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14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped, beaten, and brutally murdered by two white men after whistling at a white woman during a trip to Mississippi in 1955.

Image by Mamie Till Bradley/Wikimedia Commons.

The men tried for his murder were acquitted by an all-white jury, but later confessed their crimes to a reporter but the case couldn't be re-tried.

While Till's brutal murder shocked the country, racially charged murders were all too common then. Between 1877 and 1950, there were almost 4,000 cases of lynching of African-Americans, and that's just in the Southern states. Like Till, many were beaten, shot, or tortured to death well past the mid-century. Many of the perpetrators were untried or acquitted by all-white local juries.

But with the help of new legislation, some of these families may finally see justice served.

In one of his last moves in office, President Obama signed a bill that may finally help these murder victims and their families get justice.

Hundreds of racially-motivated cold case murders may be investigated with fresh eyes thanks to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016.

The new bill indefinitely extends a 2007 law that calls for a full review and accounting of civil rights statute violations that took place before 1980 and resulted in a death. The 2007 law was set to expire in 2017.

President Barack Obama speaks during a conversation on community policing and criminal justice in Washington, D.C. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

The law gives local police and district attorneys access to federal resources to investigate crimes that occurred before 1980, a 10-year extension on the 2007 law. Since many of these cases were picked up by civil rights groups, nonprofit groups, and universities after local jurisdictions marked them cold, the bill requires the FBI and/or the Justice Department to meet regularly with these entities to share information and keep investigators and the victim's families on the same page.

Since 2005, the FBI has investigated more than 100 cold cases, and this reauthorization will finally give jurisdictions the resources they need to successfully investigate these crimes.

In a powerful example of bipartisanship, the bill was also sponsored by legislators on both sides of the aisle.

Iconic civil rights activist John Lewis, D-Georgia, Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, and John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan, ushered the bill through the House. And Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, and Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, sponsored the bill in the Senate.

“As we work to address current questions about racial violence and civil rights, we should be mindful of our history and why so many in the African-American community raise the issue of whether black lives matter,” Rep. John Conyers Jr. said to USA Today. “Passage of the original Emmett Till Act represented a commitment to resolving the unanswered questions from one of the darkest periods in modern American history.”

Rep. John Lewis (L) and Rep. John Conyers (R) greet each other during the Congressional Black Caucus swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. Photo by Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images.

The reauthorization of the Emmett Till Bill is a small, but important, step toward racial equality.

It's clear race-based violence, harassment, and intimidation didn't end with the civil rights movement. Protests, demonstrations, and marches continue as black Americans and their allies join together to fight for justice at every level.

To move forward, we must remember victims like Emmett Till and honor their memories by demanding equality and bringing their killers to justice once and for all.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

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He asked how to confront his racial bias. She responded with a powerful gesture.

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Garry Civitello called into C-SPAN with his heart and insecurities on his sleeve.

Civitello, a white man from Asheville, North Carolina, wanted to speak with Heather McGhee, a black woman and president of Demos, a public policy group working to promote democracy for all. But his question wasn't specifically about public policy. It was about what he could do to be a better person.

"I'm a white male, and I'm prejudiced. What can I do to change, you know, to be a better American?"

McGhee was initially caught off guard by the question but took an opportunity to respond from the heart:

"I told him thank you, and I just came up with some thoughts about how he could integrate his life and learn to have more empathy and compassion."

For Civitello and others looking to make a change, McGhee offered a few places to start. From getting to know black families to asking tough questions of himself and others.

All images via Upworthy/YouTube.

Before long, video of their brief exchange was viewed more than 8 million times.

McGhee saw a unique opportunity to build on their conversation.

She traveled to North Carolina to meet with Civitello, and the two had a positive discussion, asking each other questions and learning about their backgrounds and experiences. For both, the opportunity to grow and learn from each other was a powerful thing.

"When you get to know people, usually your fears were unjustified," Civitello said.

Regardless of our backgrounds, all of us have biases to confront.

But when we confront those insecurities head on, we can grow and change for the better. It starts with moving outside our own comfort zones and challenging norms.

"It's time for us to have a conversation with white folks and for white folks to have a conversation with each other about how it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game," McGhee said.

As Civitello and McGhee revealed, the conversations are tough but necessary.

"It's just something that we don't practice, and taking that first step is the hardest thing," Civitello tells Upworthy.

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Batman, Archie, and Harry Potter are appearing in a comic together for the best reasons.

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Comic book author Marc Andreyko was just going to bed late Saturday, June 11, 2016, when he heard there had been a shooting at a nightclub in Orlando.

When he woke up the next morning, he was crushed by the news. 49 people were dead, and dozens more had been injured in an attack on Florida's LGBTQ community.

A candlelight vigil in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

"I was horrified and sickened," says Andreyko over email. "As a gay man who was a teen during the AIDS crisis, I have seen far too much death and hatred and ambivalence toward it. Orlando hit me hard and I was flooded with the feelings of powerlessness I felt back then."

An accomplished comic book writer and seasoned storyteller, Andreyko knew that with his great power came the great responsibility to channel his feelings into something productive. Within eight hours, he announced on Facebook that he would be embarking on a new project in remembrance of the victims.

Together with dozens of artists, he put together a massive comic anthology about a single subject: love.

The book, appropriately titled "Love Is Love," is a massive collaboration between comic book writers, artists, and familiar faces, from Patton Oswalt to J.K. Rowling to comic book legends like artist Jim Lee.

Each contributed a single page of artwork, story, or dedication to the 144-page tome, and all sale proceeds will go to Equality Florida, an organization that supports the LGBTQ community in Florida.

.@marcandreyko talks LOVE IS LOVE (in stores today) with Word Balloon in this podcast interview, tune in and listen! https://t.co/96ZteVR3Mf http://pic.twitter.com/e4T1OAs3jp

— IDW Publishing (@IDWPublishing) December 28, 2016

The project even brought together competing publishers so that characters like Superman, Harry Potter, and the cast of Archie could appear in the book together despite exclusive contracts — all in the name of charity and goodwill.

"I think art can always make a difference," Andreyko says.

He knows that artists and storytellers have an important part to play in fostering conversations and a unique ability to reach people.

Comic books in particular have played a key role in media representation. Dozens of famous and recognizable characters have had LGBTQ storylines in recent years, including Batwoman, who's been openly gay since 2006 and whom Andreyko wrote for in 2013.

DC Comics also featured the first ever lesbian engagement in a comic when Batwoman proposed to her partner Maggie Sawyer. Image via DC Entertainment/YouTube.

"[Art] can make the tough and political more human and emotionally connected, and with the metaphors of genre, it can make people see things in a new way," Andreyko says.

Compiling the anthology was a long and arduous process, but Andreyko says that seeing the artwork every day kept him motivated.

"When things got emotionally tough or frustrating, all the art, the hard work, the expressions of love from so many busy, talented and generous folks, well, that was all I needed to keep moving forward," Andreyko says.

To purchase the "Love Is Love" anthology, check out IDW Publishing's website, and for more information on Equality Florida, visit their website.

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15 celebrities wanted you to see how they are when the camera's off. So they took photos.

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Andrew H. Walker has photographed a lot of celebrities in his life. But at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival, he decided to try something ... different.

"[Actors] have, not only this personal inside voice, but they have a public persona that they put out there, and they also have their private self," said Walker, a staff photographer at Shutterstock, in an interview with Mashable. "There's this whole other layer of themselves as people. I found that really, really intriguing."

Walker placed a piece of tape on a table and told an impressive list of "A-list" celebrities to pose on either side of it as their "public" and their "private" selves. The only rule was that they couldn't cross the tape line, so he could composite the photos later. As for which side of the tape they "performed" their "selves" on? That was entirely up to them.

Celebrities can be (understandably) protective of their image. But Walker was surprised to find that 51 A-listers were willing and eager to go along with his plan.

The 15 photos that follow are just a few of the highlights that show a surprising difference between their public and private personas — although which one is which, we can't say for certain.

1. Sigourney Weaver was literally born into the entertainment industry.

But just because she's good at being in front of the camera, doesn't mean that's where she always wants to be.

All photos by Andrew H. Walker/ShutterStock. Used with permission.

2. Then there's John Legend, who's clearly worked hard to write and produce so many signature grooves.

Legend's somber expression is a powerful reminder that funky rhythms aren't all fun and games when you're cooped up in the studio for days on end.

3. As for Jeffrey Tambor — well, he's got a bit of a Clark Kent vibe goin' on.

I'm not sure which one is the public and which one is the private face. Because other than the glasses, there's not that much of a difference. Which might also be the point.

4. Parker Posey is in a similar, albeit quirkier, boat.

Which one is the real Parker Posey?! I can't tell because they're both just so eccentrically cool, and so ... her.

5. Meanwhile, Oscar Isaac needs a coffee.

He's a busy guy, and those 14-hour days on set can sure get exhausting.

6. Sometimes Lupita Nyong'o is beaming. Other times, she's just stunned.

Her brilliant smile certainly has a way of lighting up the red carpet. At the same time, I can totally understand if her expression on the right is how she feels inside during those events.

7. Perhaps Amy Adams isn't always the stunning debutante.

Or maybe she's really happier than her dramatic roles let on? Sometimes the spotlight's appeal starts to fade when you're right at the center of it.

8. Even silver fox Richard Gere shies away from the attention he receives.

(But like, c'mon, he's still having fun with this either way.)

9. Sandra Oh seems like she's either distracted or totally overwhelmed.

If you've ever been thrust in front of countless lights and cameras, you know that both emotions are a valid response. Or maybe her expression on the right is the way she looks in those awkward moments when she gets stopped on the street?

10. And there's Rami Malek, who ... is as wide-eyed and aloof as I'd expect.

No wonder he's so good on "Mr. Robot." Unless ... maybe one of his personas in this picture actually is the real Mr. Robot? Plot twist! Hey, where's Christian Slater?

11. As for Jane Lynch, she's always a bit wacky and performative.

Frankly I'd expect nothing less of her.

12. Whether he's upright or relaxing, Chadwick Boseman can't seem to shake that natural steely gaze.

He has the shy, stoic look of a performer with the proper introspection to transform into someone else entirely whenever he's on-camera. No wonder he's so good!

13. Is Felicity Jones that much more chipper than the roles she plays?

Or is she actually more reserved than she appears while smiling on-screen — like she's done ever since she was just 12 years old? Your guess is as good as mine.

14. Even Mahershala Ali has two sides of himself to show the world.

Here's another star who looks like he revels in performing himself, in whatever way that he is today. One thing's for sure: He's a lot less intimidating here than he was in "Luke Cage."

15. And last, but certainly not least, there's Anne Hathaway.

Hathaway has had to deal with all the ups and downs of being both beloved and reviled by the general public, which is perhaps why her two different personas here show such a wide range of expression — and all the struggles that come along with being a person.

Walker's work here is an eye-opening look at the many faces that people put on.

We all have different ways of presenting ourselves in different situations — to our jobs, to our friends, to our families, and to ourselves. We even act differently when we're in front of a camera, perhaps especially when we're trying to show off who we think we really are.

It only makes sense that these celebrities would be the same way since they're people too. But the question still remains: Which one shows their "true" self?

Maybe there's not just one right answer to that. Maybe we're all multifaceted, with our own unique collection of personas, just like these celebrities. And maybe that's totally OK. Because maybe that's what makes us human.

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