This oversized deluxe hardback edition features Criminal books 1 thru 3: Coward, Lawless, and The Dead and the Dying. This is a fantastically designed and printed book showcasing the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning crime comics from the creators of Sleeper and Incognito. It also features many extras, including a Criminal short story and the never-before-printed five page “movie trailer in comics form” that Brubaker and Phillips created to announce the series online. A true collector’s edition spectacular from two of the hottest creators in comics, and a must-have for any fan!
Author: Betsy Gomez
Great Books, Great Authors Up for Auction Now!
by Betsy Gomez
The CBLDF is kicking the year off right, with some amazing items from our archives! From classic books that every library needs to books signed by some of the greatest authors and artists to work in comics, this round of auctions has something for every fan!
Keep reading for a rundown of the items up for bid!
Tunisian Trial Over Airing of Persepolis Movie Delayed Until April
by Betsy Gomez
The trial of Nabil Karoui, the director of Tunisia’s Nessma television channel, has been delayed until April. Karoui is on trial because he approved the airing of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s film adaptation of her critically acclaimed graphic novel. The movie has a scene that depicts God, a portrayal that is not permitted in many Islamic areas. Karoui is accused of “insulting sacred values, offending decent morals and causing public unrest.” The airing of Persepolis has divided people in Tunisia, with defenders arguing for the right to free expression and some extremists resorting to violence to try to shut down Nessma. For more on the trial, visit Al Arabiya News.
Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work and reporting on issues such as this by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!
First Amendment Center Analyzes Supreme Court Decision on Golan v. Holder
by Betsy Gomez
Last year, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Golan v. Holder, a case that pitted copyright law against the First Amendment. This week, the Supreme Court passed down their decision on the case, a 6-2 vote that upheld the Uruguay Round Agreements Act that extended copyright protection to creative foreign works that had previously been in the public domain in the United States.
The decision is considered a blow to free speech because Golan and fellow petitioners argued that the removal of works from the public domain — works by Igor Stravinsky, Virginia Woolf, Alfred Hitchcock, and more — violates their First Amendment right to use the works to express themselves. Golan further argued that Congress overreached when they passed a law that removed the works from the public domain. Because the Supreme Court upheld the law, works that were once free to use now require payment to do so. As an example, an orchestra that plays a Stravinsky symphony may now have to pay for that right.
Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work and reporting on issues such as this by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!
Washington DC Fox Affiliate Attacks Comics
Yesterday, Bleeding Cool broke the story about a news report from a Washington DC Fox TV affiliate attacking comics. In the teaser for the report, a commentator called comics “fictionalized Playboy.” CBLDF took immediate action, releasing guidelines for how retailers can defend themselves from media attacks.
ICv2 followed up today with video of the full report and commentary. As expected, the reporter who made the news report, Sherri Ly, used the same faulty reasoning that has formed the basis of so many attacks against comics: The mistaken belief that comics are created primarily for children, and the specious argument that violent or sexual content in comic books promotes violent behavior in children.
Attempt to Ban Mohammad Cartoon Sparks Global Debate
When the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society of University College London used an image of Jesus and Mohammad sharing a pint on a Facebook event page, the organization probably didn’t expect to start a global debate over free speech. However, when the student union at University College London protested the use of the image, the atheist society refused, gaining support from secularists such as Richard Dawkins.
Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work and reporting on issues such as this by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!
CBLDF and BOOM! Town Join Forces for Free Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book Day has become every comic fan’s favorite holiday, and the lineup of books for FCBD 2012, which takes place May 5, is definitely impressive.
Among the offerings for this year’s FCBD: BOOM! Town’s The Censored Howard Cruse, a sneak peek of The Other Sides of Howard Cruse. The Other Sides of Howard Cruse celebrates the groundbreaking work of Stuck Rubber Baby creator Howard Cruse.
The official description of The Censored Howard Cruse from the FCBD website:
In conjunction with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, BOOM! Town presents The Censored Howard Cruse! Get a special sneak-peek at this summer’s upcoming The Other Sides of Howard Cruse graphic novel. He’s known for his gay comix, but that’s not all that’s been on his mind! From his Underground days up through present day, Howard wrote on a slew of topics, including freedom of speech, civil rights, drugs, and interesting uses for toothpaste. Get a taste of his impressive catalog of works, just with a few tastefully-placed black boxes. You’ll have to get the OGN for the uncensored version!
Don’t miss picking up your copy of The Censored Howard Cruse on Free Comic Book Day, May 5, 2012!
Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!
MetaMaus, signed by Art Spiegelman
In the pages of MetaMaus, Art Spiegelman re-enters the Pulitzer prize–winning Maus, the modern classic that has altered how we see literature, comics, and the Holocaust ever since it was first published twenty-five years ago. He probes the questions that Maus most often evokes—Why the Holocaust? Why mice? Why comics?—and gives us a new and essential work about the creative process. MetaMaus includes a bonus DVD-R that provides a digitized reference copy of The Complete Maus linked to a deep archive of audio interviews with his survivor father, historical documents, and a wealth of Spiegelman’s private notebooks and sketches. Compelling and intimate, MetaMaus is poised to become a classic in its own right. These hardcovers come signed on a specialized plate by author Art Spiegelman!
MASTERPIECE COMICS, signed by R. Sikoryak!
Masterpiece Comics adapts a variety of classic literary works with the most iconic visual idioms of twentieth-century comics. Dense with exclamation marks and lurid colors, R. Sikoryak’s parodies remind us of the sensational excesses of the canon, or, if you prefer, of the economical expressiveness of classic comics from Batman to Garfield. In “Blond Eve,” Dagwood and Blondie are ejected from the Garden of Eden into their archetypal suburban home; Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray is reimagined as a foppish Little Nemo; and Camus’s Stranger becomes a brooding, chain-smoking Golden Age Superman. Other source material includes Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, bubblegum wrappers, superhero comics, kid cartoons, and more. This hardcover is signed AND sketched by the author!
Japanese Censors Discuss Banning Comics for “Making Kids Gay”
In 2010, the Tokyo government signed the Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths, a vaguely-worded bill that restricts the sale and rental of manga, anime, games, and other media that can be “considered harmful to a minor’s mental health regarding sexuality.”
The intent of the bill was to keep drawn erotic material involving children out of the hands of minors, but it raises concerns among advocates for free expression.
Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work and reporting on issues such as this by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!