Finish your holiday shopping by ordering signed graphic novels for the fan in your life and support free speech at the same time! CBLDF has a tremendous range of signed books by creators including Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Art Spiegelman, Robert Kirkman, Brian K. Vaughan, Chip Kidd, and many more available right now for your holiday giving needs!
This week proves that the CBLDF’s work is as vital as ever. On Monday, Alan Moore’s award winning graphic novel Neonomicon was banned by a library director in South Carolina against the advice of the library’s review board, and despite CBLDF’s efforts in support of the book. Threats to the freedom to read comics occur with alarming regularity, and CBLDF is on the front line addressing them. We can only do this work with your support. That’s why these creators are taking time out of their busy holiday season, to thank you for supporting our critically important work.
When you support the CBLDF’s Spirit of Giving drive, The Will & Ann Eisner Family Foundation will make a contribution of $2 for every donation and gift order placed on the CBLDF’s website. In addition, they will contribute $10 for each new membership and $5 for every renewing membership made from now until December 31! With every gift you order from CBLDF, you’ll get an exclusive card featuring Will Eisner’s The Spirit that tells them your gift helped do good for comics!
Here are some of the featured books CBLDF is offering for your holiday needs! Remember, please order by DECEMBER 12 for holiday delivery!
Signed Books
Absolute Sandman vol. 1, signed by Neil Gaiman
Batman: Death by Design, signed by Chip Kidd
The Cardboard Valise, signed by Ben Katchor
Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist, signed by Daniel Clowes
Elektra: Assassin, signed by Bill Sienkiewicz
Inside Straight: A Wild Cards novel, signed by George R. R. Martin
Maus, Signed by art spiegelman
Milk & Cheese, signed by Evan Dorkin
Saga vol. 1, Signed by Brian K. Vaughan
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, signed by Paul Levitz
SHAZAM!: The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal, signed by Chip Kidd
The Graveyard Book, signed by Neil Gaiman
The Walking Dead Compendium v. 1 HC, signed by Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead Compendium v.1 SC, signed by Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead Compendium v. 2, signed by Robert Kirkman
Understanding Comics, signed by Scott McCloud
Watching The Watchmen, signed by Dave Gibbons
X-Statix Omnibus, signed by Mike Allred
Signed Books for Kids
A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse, signed by Frank Viva
Bake Sale, signed by Sara Veron
Beanworld v. 1 Wahoolazuma, signed by Larry Marder
Beasts of Burden, signed by Evan Dorkin
Darth Vader & Son, signed by Jeffrey Brown
Zig & Wikki in Something Ate My Homework, signed by Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffler
Zig & Wikki in The Cow, signed by Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffler
T-Shirts
I Read Banned Comics Ladies Cut
Fragrances
Neil Gaiman’s Sunbird, Chapbook & Fragrance set
Other Stuff
Conan Letterpress Print, signed by Becky Cloonan
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT SHIPPING
All books ordered for domestic delivery must be ordered by December 12. If you have questions about whether a book will reach you in time for a specific day, please email Alex Cox at info@cbldf.org
International donors, please note, we are happy to ship anywhere in the world, but due to extended international shipping times and potential customs delays beyond our control, we cannot guarantee these personalized items will arrive for Christmas delivery.
Here’s How Your Donation Will Be Used
Expert Legal Defense: When a First Amendment emergency becomes a criminal case, CBLDF springs to action. Thanks to our efforts, earlier this year Canadian authorities dropped all criminal charges in the case of Ryan Matheson, an American citizen who was wrongfully accused at the U.S. / Canadian border of importing child pornography on his laptop, when in fact, what he had on his computer was humor and fantasy manga. CBLDF provided substantive support in the form of legal resources and expert witnesses. We also contributed $30,000 to Ryan’s legal fees, and we are currently working to pay off the remaining $34,000 in legal defense costs. Ryan appeared at NYCC to tell his story. You can read his words or listen to a recording of the panel to learn how CBLDF members made a difference in his life here.
Preventative Legal Action: The CBLDF is most successful when you don’t hear about our work. That’s because our powerful legal team is working to defuse First Amendment emergencies at the first sign of trouble. For instance, this summer, we were successful in ending an investigation involving a comics reader in Idaho who was turned into police by an intimate partner. That partner maliciously alleged that the comics this reader owned were child pornography and obscene. They weren’t. Our lawyers asserted that truth and made the case go away before it went to court. CBLDF’s expert legal team is available at a moment’s notice to respond to First Amendment emergencies like these thanks to the monetary support of our members.
Proactive Library Support: Comics are an important, and often misunderstood facet of 21st Century libraries, making them the target of frequent challenges. CBLDF stands up for the freedom to read when these challenges happen. Most recently, we sent a letter of support to Bill Ptacek, a Seattle area library director commending the library for standing up for the intellectual freedom of its patrons in the face of an attack in the media for offering manga in the library’s adult collection. In September we spoke out against the ban of the graphic novel SideScrollers in Connecticut, and published dozens of resources as part of our sponsorship of Banned Books Week. Efforts to ban specific comics titles keep happening and constant vigilance is necessary to keep them accessible to the public. CBLDF members make it possible for us to do that work.
Commitment to Education: The modern era is bringing more readers to comics from more places than ever, but it’s also bringing new threats. That’s why CBLDF is committed to providing a growing education program that elevates awareness of the rights that the people who read, circulate, and make comics are guaranteed by the First Amendment, and how those rights are endangered. We do this by delivering presentations to lawyers, librarians, students and readers all over the United States. We also maintain a website that strives to be the internet’s best resource for information about comics censorship. CBLDF.org maintains a daily news blog and a rich and growing resources section, with case studies on Banned Comics, Case Files that include a growing library of original court documents, rich historical sections on Comics Censorship History, the Comics Code, and manga censorship, and much more.