Month: February 2012

Ultimate Comics Gives Back to CBLDF with Muppet Show Auction!

Did you ever want to see what Frank Cho, Eric Powell, or David Mack would do with an assignment to draw the Muppets? North Carolina retailer Ultimate Comics made it happen! They are proud to announce that it will be auctioning two dozen of its store exclusiveThe Muppet Show #1 variant covers, hand sketched by some of the greatest talent in the comics industry, with all proceeds going to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!

The auctions start today! Keep reading for more details and an auction preview!

CBLDF Founder Denis Kitchen Talks Underground Comix and Free Speech at St. Mary’s College

CBLDF founder Denis Kitchen recently shared his love for underground comics and his experience as an editor and defender of Free Speech during a presentation at St. Mary’s College in Maryland. The Point News, St. Mary’s student newspaper, covered the presentation, getting takes from students who saw the lecture. More…

Belgian Court Keeps TINTIN IN THE CONGO on Shelves

After a recent ruling by a Belgian court, Hergé’s controversial second book in the Tintin series, Tintin in the Congo, remains on shelves. The book faced charges that it broke several of Belgium’s laws against racism and incited racial hatred, but the court ruled that the book, which was serialized from 1930 to 1931 and collected in 1946 with significant revisions, was a product of its time and did not intend to incite racial hatred.

Keep reading…

Political Cartoonist Charged with Treason in India

Aseem Trivedi, a freelance political cartoonist in India, faces imprisonment and fines over charges of treason and insulting Indian national emblems. His cartoons criticized India’s government, and he may face additional charges because another complaint alleges that his work is “defamatory and derogatory.” The latter complaint has led to the suspension of Trivedi’s website, www.cartoonistsagainstcorruption.com.

The censorship comes as no surprise, even from the world’s largest democracy. Keep reading…

George Sprott, signed by Seth

The celebrated cartoonist and New Yorker illustrator Seth weaves the fictional tale of George Sprott, the host of a long-running television program. Invoking a sense of both memory and its loss, George Sprott is heavy with the charming, melancholic nostalgia that distinguishes Seth’s work. Characters lamenting societal progression in general share the pages with images of antiquated objects—proof of events and individuals rarely documented and barely remembered. Likewise, George’s own opinions are embedded with regret and a sense of the injustice of aging in this bleak reminder of the inevitable slipping away of lives, along with the fading culture of their days. This gorgeous hardcover edition is signed by master cartoonist SETH.

Get your copy!

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Scott McCloud, a twelve-time Harvey and Eisner Award nominee, uses a comic book to explain and analyze the medium of comic books themselves. This ultimate book about comics dissects the art form and shows how words, lines, colors, symbols, panels and pictures all come together to create a unique and one-of-a-kind storytelling experience.McCloud shows how this unique genre is just as important and valid as film and prose in his own funny and profound manner. This classic softcover is signed by author Scott McCloud.

Get your copy today!

LOCAL, signed by Brian Wood

(W) Brian Wood (A) Ryan Kelly
Crossing genres as it crosses the country, Local examines Megan McKeenan, a young woman who sets off from Portland, Oregon with nothing but a backpack and a bad case of wanderlust. Set in twelve real life cities across the United States and Canada, this painstakingly researched and meticulously illustrated volume earned G4 TV’s “Indie Book of the Year.”

Get a signed copy of Local here.

Hark! A Vagrant, signed by Kate Beaton

Hark! A Vagrant takes readers on a romp through history and literature — with dignity for few and cookies for all — with comic strips about famous authors, their characters, and political and historical figures, all drawn in Beaton’s pared-down, excitable style. This collection features favourite stories as well as new, previously unpublished content. Whether she’s writing about Nikola Tesla, Napoleon, or Nancy Drew, Beaton brings a refined sense of the absurd to every situation.

Get your copy here!

Experience The Glory of CBLDF Membership At Image Expo!

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Image Comics are proud to announce that a CBLDF Exclusive variant cover of Glory #23 by Joe Keatinge & Ross Campbell will be made available free to card carrying CBLDF members as a Member Appreciation incentive at Image Expo, coming up on February 24 – 26!

GLORY #23 marks writer Joe Keatinge’s and artist Ross Campbell’s bold revival of the Rob Liefeld-created superheroine. Glory has returned to Earth — this time, not to save it but to live as a human among humans. And there are two young women there who have been waiting for her. Keatinge and Campbell bring a euro-comic-meets-indie sensibility to the superhero comic. This sensibility is most visible in the art by Campbell, who is known for his realistic and varied depictions of women in his books Wet Moon and Shadoweyes, but also present in the inclusion of new characters Riley and Gloria, through whom the reader gets to know the god-like warrior princess. CBLDF members will receive this exclusive printing of the sold-out first issue!

All you need to do to get your copy is come by the CBLDF Booth (#75) at Image Expo with your current year CBLDF Membership card and we’ll give you this CBLDF Image Expo exclusive copy of Glory #23 to thank you for your support! The current year card features CBLDF’s Lady Liberty mascot by Cliff Chiang, or if you joined after February 24, 2011 your membership is still valid, and we’ll accept the 2011 member card featuring Green Lantern. Not a member? Not a problem! Just sign up online before Image Expo and bring a print out of your receipt or renew at the convention!

CBLDF To Partner With Comics Retailers for Member Appreciation Events!

At the ComicsPro Retailer Meeting today, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund announced a new program to encourage comic book retailers to support the organization with the introduction of the CBLDF Member Appreciation Party Box! Developed as a tool to empower retailers to raise awareness of the CBLDF’s important work and bring new customers into their stores, the CBLDF Member Appreciation Party Box will include promotional literature, thank you gifts for card carrying CBLDF members, and premiums to be offered as raffle prizes!

CBLDF Deputy Director Alex Cox says, “As a former retailer, I appreciate the dedication of our Friendly Neighborhood Comic Stores. They really are the front line in the battle for free speech in this medium, and they really have the most to lose. The CBLDF began as an effort to protect the rights of a comic shop, so deepening our partnership with the retail world is an important goal. We designed this program to help our retail partners spread the word about the CBLDF, and to create better ties between our retailer members and our general membership, with the hope that these events will help stores reach new customers in loyal cbldf supporters. There is no better community than the comics community, and that begins with retailers. The CBLDF wants to help foster that.”