CBLDF’s Member Appreciation Events At WonderCon!

By Charles Brownstein

It’s March, and that means it’s time to make the trip to WonderCon, one of my favorite conventions on the calendar! WonderCon kicks off the Spring convention season with a fun, comics-focused program and exhibitor mix for the fans who come out to the show. CBLDF President Larry Marder, Deputy Director Alex Cox, and I will all be there, and we’ve got a lot of extraordinary thank yous for our members and a killer mix of premiums to thank folks for their donations. In addition to those thank you gifts, we’re also hosting a Live Art Jam with Jim Lee, Rebekah Isaacs, and Eric Powell, as well as a presentation on the history of comics censorship. WonderCon starts on Friday and runs until Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The member appreciation rewards at this show are top notch. You get your choice of either the signed Frank Quitely variant sketch cover of the 2011 CBLDF Liberty Annual or the CBLDF exclusive cover of Glory #23, signed by writer Joe Keatinge! All you need to do to claim your member appreciation reward is come by CBLDF booth #417 during WonderCon with your current year CBLDF Membership card, and we’ll give you the comic of your choice. The current year card features CBLDF’s Lady Liberty mascot by Cliff Chiang. Or, if you joined after March 15, 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 at the show or sign up online before WonderCon and bring a print out of your receipt, and we’ll make sure you get your thank you comic!

I’ll be hosting two programs at the show. On Friday, it’s the CBLDF History of Comics Censorship, and on Saturday, it’s the CBLDF Live Art Jam, featuring Jim Lee, Rebekah Isaacs, and Eric Powell. I’m extremely excited about the Live Art Jam, because these are three of my favorite cartoonists, and it’ll be amazing to watch them sketch on the big screen. If you’ve ever wanted to see how Jim, Rebekah, and Eric tackle the blank page, come to this event. It’ll be a blast! Oh yeah, we’re also auctioning off the pieces as soon as they’re done, and the proceeds raised will help pay for our current casework. So if you have the means, please come out and bid generously!

Over at the booth, Eric Canete, Rebekah Isaacs, Larry Marder, and Fiona Staples will all be doing sketches to raise money for the Fund. Stop by our booth for the schedule.

Speaking of the booth, Alex pulled an incredibly great selection of signed comics and graphic novels to thank people for their donations. We’ve got books signed by Jason Aaron, Arthur Adams, Brian Azzarello, Brian Michael Bendis, Chester Brown, Jeffrey Brown, Ed Brubaker, Kurt Busiek, J. Scott Campbell, Daniel Clowes, Colleen Coover, Paul Dini, Evan Dorkin, Garth Ennis, Phil and Kaja Foglio, Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons, Tony Harris, Dean Haspiel, Jaime Hernandez, Joe Hill, Jennifer & Matthew Holm, Kathryn and Stuart Immonen, Robert Kirkman, Michael Kupperman, John Layman, Jeff Lemire, Paul Levitz, Scott McCloud, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, Terry Moore, Tom Neely, David Petersen, Eric Powell, Darick Robertson, Andy Runton, Seth, R. Sikoryak, Jeff Smith, Nick Spencer, art spiegelman, Raina Telgemeier, Craig Thompson, Sara Varon, Brian K. Vaughan, Gerard Way, Julia Wertz, Bill Willingham, Brian Wood, and Jim Woodring. And Alex likes to tinker with his show packs until he’s on the plane, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he rustles up some other cool stuff that winds up in his checked luggage.

If you’re anywhere near Anaheim, I can’t recommend that you make the trip to WonderCon highly enough. The hardworking team at Comic-Con International does a terrific job making the show a superb celebration of comics, and the creative folks who come out for it are always engaged and in good spirits. If you do make it to the show, please come by booth #417 and say hello. Alex, Larry, and I would all love to meet you and to personally thank you for supporting the Fund’s important work!

WonderCon takes place March 16 – 18, 2012, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. CBLDF is exhibiting at booth #417.

Charles Brownstein is the Executive Director for CBLDF.