Conventions

May 31, 2000

Pittsburgh 2000 Report

The 2000 Pittsburgh Comicon, April 28-30, hosted a huge weekend of events for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. The show saw record attendance this year, and it seems like a solid majority of convention-goers went out of their way to help the Fund. Guests included Jeff Smith, Michael Turner, Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, George Pérez, Howard Porter, Michael Kaluta, Al Williamson, Mark Schultz, Brian Pulido, and Chris Sprouse, who signed at the CBLDF booth all weekend.

Pittsburgh was also host to this year's Harvey Awards. Master of Ceremonies Evan Dorkin entertained the crowd and Keynote Speaker Jeff Smith delivered a speech reminding everyone about the continuing influence of Harvey Kurtzman on comics and pop culture. The Harveys were followed by the 2000 Defender of Liberty Award presentation. 1999 recipient Brian Pulido passed the crown to George Pérez, who in a rousing address reminded us all how important free speech is to the comics industry.

Brian Pulido ended his "reign" as Defender of Liberty with a bang. Chaos! Comics published a variant edition of Purgatori: Empire #1 limited to 1000 copies exclusively for the Pittsburgh Comicon. All proceeds from the variant edition went to the CBLDF. Thanks to Brian, cover artist David Nestler, and Pittsburgh's Mike Shiley for putting together this beautiful fundraiser! The book raised $6,500 for the CBLDF and David Nestler donated the cover for Brian to auction off on Saturday, bringing in another $2,500.

Saturday night saw the annual CBLDF Mardi Gras Party, a Pittsburgh institution. Three members of GWAR donated time to play as the Dave Brockie Experience. A pumped-up crowd raised $1,300 at the party alone. Quick Sketches are another show tradition. Dozens of artists took an hour out to sketch for fans, who had the opportunity to win the original art through a raffle at the end of each session. This year the Quick Sketches raised over $1,500, nearly double last year's total.

Thanks to Pittsburgh Comicon volunteers Bill Lange, Marc Deering, and the lovely Ana Merino for helping out at the CBLDF booth. Special thanks also to Michael and Renee George and the Pittsburgh Comicon family for putting on such an incredible show! Between the booth, special events, and Chaos! benefits, the Fund raised $16,000 in one remarkable weekend.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. Donations and inquiries should be directed to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

For additional information, call 413-268-7776 or e-mail the CBLDF staff.

271 Madison Avenue, Suite 1400
New York, NY 10016
800-99-CBLDF
info@cbldf.org

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