Craig Thompson Talks SPX and Habibi


Posted Thursday, September 8th, 2011

CBLDF is delighted to launch Craig Thompson’s highly anticipated new graphic novel, Habibi, during SPX 2011. You can get one of 100 signed and numbered advance copies of this gorgeous book during the show! CBLDF is also auctioning an exclusive lunch with Thompson.

Thompson recently spoke with Mike Rhode at the Washington City Paper about the book, his other works, and his appearance at SPX, which benefits CBLDF. CBLDF came up when Rhode asked Thompson about splitting his projects between Top Shelf and Pantheon:

Right now I’m still doing Blankets for Top Shelf and I have another book in the next year or two. Beyond that I’m not even thinking about any one of my projects in terms of a publisher; I just want to work on them. It turns out the jump I made was really good initially. One, because I got an advance that I was able to carve out a nice chunk of time to devote to the book. And beyond that, honestly I got better contractual details that were good in terms of maintaining some of my rights as a creator. I feel that right now it’s making sense to have both publishers coexisting because you tap a far different market when working with a book publisher, but I never want to lose sight of my small comics press roots. Pantheon has been really great in that sense because when my publicist started organizing a tour, I said to her I want to be at SPX and APE and comic shops, and we have this CBLDF fundraiser kind of kicking off everything, and they really accommodated that. I had this fear that I would just be doing Barnes and Noble, but in fact I have a lot of comic book stuff happening.

You can read the full article here. CBLDF has a number of events during SPX, including the Jeff Alexander Memorial Benefit Auction and signings with Thompson. Look here for details soon!

|

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund are pleased to announce that the Crown has withdrawn all criminal charges in R. v. Matheson, the case previously described as the “Brandon X case,” which involved a comic book reader who faced criminal charges in Canada relating to comic books on his computer. The defendant, Ryan Matheson, a 27-year-old comic book reader, amateur artist, and computer programmer has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

The total legal costs of this case exceeded $75,000. After taking the case last summer, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund contributed $20,000 to the defense, and the Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund contributed $11,000. The CBLDF also participated in shaping the defense, including recruiting expert testimony for the trial. The organization is currently seeking funds to help pay off the $45,000 debt Matheson incurred as a result of his case, and to create new tools to prevent future cases. To make a contribution to these important efforts, please visit www.cbldf.org. Learn more about the shocking details of this case and how you can support the CBLDF's efforts to fight back!Read the full post