Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

With the Canada Customs Case drawing closer, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund continues its vital fundraising auctions with help from artists across the wide spectrum of the comic book industry. In an effort to raise over $100,000 by the end of October, artist supporters and Fund members have truly stepped up and provided benefit material ranging from pin-ups to original pages to covers, all in support of defending a comic fan from the threat of prison and hopefully setting a precedent that allows creators, retailers, publishers, fans alike to travel freely across the border without fear of persecution or harassment.

Keep reading for a look at the latest pieces up for auction, including gorgeous pieces by Mike Mignola and Charles Vess!

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CBLDF wasn’t the only group to have a stellar Small Press Expo — Heidi McDonald and Calvin Reid reported on the event for Publishers Weekly, noting SPX’s record-breaking attendance and great sales!

PW cited the attendance of comics superstars Chester Brown and Craig Thompson, the latter of which debuted advance copies of his new graphic novel Habibi to benefit the CBLDF, as a large part of the reason SPX was so successful this year. You can read PW’s full report, including coverage of CBLDF’s attendance at the show, here.

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Help support free speech by picking up Cryptozoic Entertainment’s CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards, in stores NOW!

Hi, Friends of Liberty!

After a year of collaboration, preparation and production with Cryptozoic Entertainment, I finally had the finished product in my hands: factory sealed, unopened boxes of CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards.

Like any project I’ve ever worked on, there is always that nervous moment when you take the product out of its shipping case and are about to discover if everything actually came out the way it was intended.

I decided to open up five boxes and see what treasures were hidden inside.

Keep reading for pictures of the cards Larry discovered in his boxes!

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Last weekend the art comics world stepped up their support for CBLDF by contributing $12,500 towards our program work during SPX 2011!

Comics royalty, including Craig Thompson, Roz Chast, and Sara Varon, performed exclusive fundraisers for the Fund. Thompson premiered his new magnum opus Habibi in a special signed and numbered preview edition of 100. Varon signed her brand new graphic novel Bake Sale, and Chast made original drawings to benefit the CBLDF and the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program. The Fund also hosted the first Jeff Alexander Memorial Benefit auction, which raised $2,200. A limited number of copies of the Habibi preview edition are available now in the CBLDF Rewards Zone, along with copies of Bake Sale.

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The wait for Cryptozoic Entertainment’s CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards is finally over! Featuring all of the epic First Amendment battles that comic books have faced, from the marathon Senate hearings of the 1950s to today’s attacks on readers, CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards hit shelves this week! All proceeds from the sale of the cards benefit the First Amendment legal work of the CBLDF.

These collectible trading cards come in packs of five cards for $3.50, making them a great way to support CBLDF and learn about the First Amendment challenges comics books have faced over the years. Look for exclusive autograph and sketch card inserts! You can visit both Comics Alliance and ICv2 to view additional images and get the latest list of artists who contributed autograph and sketch cards.

Help support free speech by picking up Cryptozoic Entertainment’s CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards, in stores tomorrow!

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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!

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