In CBLDF’s ongoing mission to protect the freedom to read comics, we create several resource publications to combat misconceptions about the format. In 2016, we went bigger than ever, publishing She Changed Comics, four issues of CBLDF Defender, and much more to educate people about comics!
She Changed Comics
In March, CBLDF kicked off our biggest project ever: She Changed Comics! This full-color, 176-page book from Image Comics was a runaway success on Kickstarter, where backers funded the project in eight hours and supported several stretch goals, including teaching guides for middle school, high school, and higher education, as well as a nationwide teaching tour.
Covering female comics creators from the turn of the 20th century to present day, She Changed Comics profiles more than 60 women who transformed the landscape of free expression and expanded the comics artform. It also examines the plights of women who have been persecuted for expressing themselves through cartoons and features interviews with some of the most influential women working in comics today.
- Purchase She Changed Comics: The Untold Story of the Women Who Changed Free Expression in Comics
- She Changed Comics
CBLDF Liberty Annual 2016
This year’s installment of CBLDF Liberty Annual is a call to optimism that celebrates real people whose efforts changed the world. The 2016 edition boasts covers by Nate Powell and Brandon Graham and stories by a roster of bestselling creators!
From suffragettes to sports legends, creative visionaries to courageous citizens who took a stand, the subjects of CBLDF LIBERTY ANNUAL 2016 are brought to life by extraordinary creators. Subjects include:
- Muhammad Ali by Paul Pope (Battling Boy)
- Louise Michel by Bryan and Mary Talbot (The Red Virgin)
- Gene Roddenberry by Dan Schkade (The Spirit)
- Jim Haynes by Joe Keatinge (Shutter) and Ken Niimura (I Kill Giants)
- Leo Burnett by Larry Marder (Beanworld) and Shannon Wheeler (God Is Disappointed in You)
- Ida Wells by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett (Boilerplate)
- Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges by Ron Wimberly (Prince of Cats)
- Victoria Woodhull by Andrew Aydin (March) and Tim Fielder (Matty’s Rocket)
- Jane Addams by M.K. Reed (Americus) and Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg (I Cut My Hair)
Purchase CBLDF Liberty Annual 2016.
CBLDF Presents: Liberty
This year, we released the softcover edition of CBLDF Presents: Liberty! Featuring cover artwork by Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night, Fell, Wormwood), CBLDF Presents: Liberty celebrates creative freedom with the industry’s top talents, collecting Liberty Annual 2008-2012. Liberty includes rare work, such as a The Walking Dead tale by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, “100 Words” by Neil Gaiman and Jim Lee, and Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, plus stories and never-before-seen content from dozens more! All proceeds benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s work protecting the freedom to read!
If you want something a little fancier, check out the hardcover edition, featuring a cover by Paul Pope, and get caught up with 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 issues of Liberty Annual!
CBLDF Defender
This year saw the publication of four more issues of CBLDF Defender, featuring gorgeous covers by Jimmie Robinson, Noelle Stephenson, Brian Stelfreeze, and Steve Dillon, and interviews with Reggie Hudlin, Stephenson, Stelfreeze, and Garth Ennis. We also shared the latest censorship news, attacks on comics and other books, historical features, and teaching resources in each issue.
- You can find it at comic book stores across the nation, on comiXology, and right here at CBLDF.org!
- View all issues online here.
CBLDF Banned Books Week Handbook
The CBLDF Banned Books Week Handbook is a free resource that gives you the scoop about what comics are banned, how to report and fight censorship, and how to make a celebration of Banned Books Week in your community! CBLDF’s Banned Books Week Handbook is an essential tool to assist librarians, educators, and retailers in planning their Banned Books Week celebrations, while also being a vital reference to help readers everywhere fight censorship. This year’s issue focused on the theme of diversity and sported a cover from March artist Nate Powell!
- Pick up bundles of the latest issue for your school or library here.
- View all issues online here.
Manga Book Club Handbook
The Manga Book Club Handbook is invaluable resource, created in partnership with VIZ Media, that will help you start and make the most of book clubs for manga! The Manga Book Club Handbook lays out the basics of manga and provides the tools you need to start a book club for manga, including suggested readings to get you started!
- View the Manga Book Club Handbook here.
- Hardcopies of the Manga Book Club Handbook are available in the CBLDF Rewards Zone here.
Defend Comics 2016
CBLDF participated in Free Comic Book Day 2016 once again with a great all-ages edition of Defend Comics! This year’s issue featured a terrific selection of kids comics, including:
- Owlyby Andy Runton
- Johnny Boo by James Kochalka
- Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado
- Hippopotamister by John Patrick Green
- Space Battle Lunchtime by Natalie Riess.
- Also includes work by Lucy Knisley (Relish), Sara Richard (My Little Pony), Vivek Tiwary (The Fifth Beatle), and Veronica Fish (Archie), and with a cover by Craig Thompson (Space Dumplins)!
Pick up bundles of the latest issue for your school or library here.
Help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work in 2017 by visiting the Rewards Zone, making a donation, or becoming a member of CBLDF!