Author: Betsy Gomez

The Spirit of Giving: Original Art for the Holidays!

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The CBLDF has reached deep into our vault of incredible original art to bring the best gifts for the comic fan and original art collector in your life in The Spirit of Giving: CBLDF Holiday Auction! A tremendous array of work is available now ranging from pieces by legendary superstars including Neal Adams, Walt Simonson, and Matt Wagner to some of the hottest talents working today, such as Francis Manapul, Amanda Conner, Chris Burnham, and more!

The The Spirit of Giving: CBLDF Holiday Auction is designed to make shopping easy for anyone looking for comic art for gifts or otherwise. Items range from small sketches to finished work, from pencil roughs to fully painted and lettered sketches. With the wide variety of styles and subjects in this auction set, comic fans and collectors will certainly find an amazing piece of original art that is perfect for them! This is a great way to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund this holiday season and come away with an incredible piece of art! Check out the auction here.

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CBLDF Joins Celebration of Comics at The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival

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On Saturday, CBLDF heads across the bridge for The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, a one-day show celebrating comics and graphic design. This free festival takes place December 3, from noon to 9:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church (275 North 8th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), and features an electrifying assortment of creators, publishers, exhibitors, and programming.

CBLDF will be on hand, exhibiting with exclusive signed premiums, including a wide range of autographed graphic novels from Jaime Hernandez, Mike Mignola, Jim Woodring, Dan Clowes, and more. The money raised during the festival will support CBLDF’s defense of an American citizen who faces prosecution Canada because of the comics he carried on his laptop. Come out and support free speech and comics this weekend at The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival!

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Alex Cox Named CBLDF Deputy Director

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The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is pleased to announce that Alex Cox has been named to the position of Deputy Director. In this new capacity, his responsibilities will expand to include full oversight of the CBLDF home office and fundraising program. Cox joined the CBLDF in the fall of 2010 as Development Manager.

Since joining the CBLDF last year Cox has improved the organization’s membership program and convention presences. Under Cox’s watch, membership in both the retailer and individual capacities has shown dramatic increases. Cox has also overseen the creation of a more robust volunteer program in the New York home office. Prior to CBLDF, Cox was a 15-year veteran of comics retail, including owning and managing the nationally recognized comic book store ROCKETSHIP.

Speaking about the promotion, Cox said, “I’m extremely grateful to be in a position to help the comics community fight back against anyone that would threaten free expression in this art form that we all love. As a comic fan and student of the art form for close to 30 years, I never thought that I would see anything like the panic caused by SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT in my lifetime. But with the current case in Canada, the creeping specter of censorship and persecution is rearing its head again, making the CBLDF even more important. I’m proud to be a part of it and I look forward to working with our members, retailers, and the creative community in the years to come.”

“Alex has been a great addition to the CBLDF, and we’re excited to be able to develop a space for him to grow even further within the organization” says Charles Brownstein, CBLDF’s Executive Director. “Alex has made great strides in developing our fundraising program in a very difficult time, and his leadership in the office has helped us bring in even more talented volunteers to help us fulfill our work. He’s an extremely valuable member of our team, and we’re glad to see him take on this new role.”

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CBLDF Looking for Writers to Contribute to Website

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In our ongoing mission to protect the creators, retailers, publishers, and collectors of comic books and to promote the awareness of First Amendment issues, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is looking for additional contributors to its website.

Whether you’re a journalist or a supporter of CBLDF who has excellent writing skills, we need your help to expand the coverage of First Amendment issues in the comics community. Your work will be shared on www.cbldf.org, Facebook, Twitter, and in print publications. Keep reading…

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Last Day to Bid in MTV GEEK Original Art Auction!

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Thanksgiving is nigh, as is the end of the MTV Geek Original Art Auction! With pieces by Todd McFarlane (Spawn), Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time), Brad Neely (China, IL), Richard Starkings (Elephantmen), Jon Schnepp (Metalocalypse), Steve Ellis (High Moon), and more, you can’t afford this chance to own artwork by some of the best established and up-and-coming artists in comics! All proceeds benefit CBLDF’s important First Amendment work. View the artwork and place your bids here!

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Image Comics Expo Celebrates Creator-Owned Comics While Supporting CBLDF

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Next February, you’ll have a chance to mingle with the partners and creators of Image Comics and lend your support to CBLDF at the same time! In celebration of 20 years of Image Comics, Image Expo will take place February 24-26, 2012. In addition to an all-star line up of guests — Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, Rob Liefeld, and Whilce Portacio to name a few — Image Expo will feature a number special events to benefit CBLDF, including a mammoth benefit auction!

Keep reading for more details in the official press release.

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The Good Fighters: Gib Bickel

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Gib Bickel represents a special class of CBLDF volunteer: the volunteer that takes the initiative to represent the Fund at one of the many conventions that CBLDF staffers cannot attend. Bickel and volunteers Patrick Watson and Brett Montgomery recently ran a table at Mid-Ohio Comic Con to raise money for CBLDF and boost awareness of CBLDF’s important First Amendment work.

As one of the founders of Laughing Ogre Comics in Columbus, Ohio, Bickel’s enthusiasm for comic books is boundless. He carries this enthusiasm into the community, lending support to Sequential SmArt, a conference that will bring together comics creators, academic scholars, and educators who use comic books in their classrooms. This espousal of comics is also reflected in Bickel’s support of CBLDF, which he has always made a priority, as you will see in this edition of The Good Fighters. Keep reading…

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Susie Cagle One of the Contributors to Cartoon Movement’s Occupy Sketchbook

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From assembly to free speech, the Occupy Movement has become one of the most all-embracing and polarizing exercises of First Amendment rights that our country has seen. Cartoonists have been among the many voices chiming in and being arrested for participating in Occupy protests across the nation. Cartoon Movement has compiled a sketchbook of images, including images from journalist and cartoonist Susie Cagle, who was arrested at Occupy Oakland. Sharon Rosenzweig and Shannon Wheeler also contributed to the sketchbook, which Cartoon Movement plans to update weekly. You can view the Occupy Sketchbook here.

Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by bidding on original artwork, making a donation, or becoming a member of the CBLDF!

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Listen to CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein Talk to the Annual Conference on Libraries and the Future

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Recently, CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein addressed the Long Island Resources Council’s Annual Conference on Libraries and the Future. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Extinction is not an Option: Ensuring OUR Future,” focusing on the future of libraries in an increasingly digital environment. Brownstein spoke about the history of comics censorship and the challenges comics will face in the future. You can listen to the discussion and download a PDF of the presentation here.

Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by bidding on original artwork, making a donation, or becoming a member of the CBLDF!

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The Washington Post Tells the Tale of Two Occupy Cartoonists

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Two weeks ago, cartoonist Susie Cagle was arrested during a night of violence that marred the Occupy Oakland protests. Despite wearing a press badge and participating peacefully, Cagle and several other nonviolent protesters were taken in for failure to leave the scene of a riot.

Michael Cavna with The Washington Post recently examined Cagle’s work in his blog, Comic Riffs, and compared it to the work of cartoonist Nate Beeler. Both cartoonists are situated in the middle of the action — Cagle in Oakland and Beeler at Occupy D.C. And both have divergent takes on the events taking place:

From his drawing board, Nate Beeler can survey it all. The block-lettered signs and dirt-caked tents, the makeshift meals and ever-present drums. The political cartoonist sits perched in the K Street NW newsroom of the Washington Examiner, on the block neatly overlooking the Occupy D.C. encampment. As the protestors go through their rhythms established from six weeks of autumn squatting, Beeler — amused — can’t help but smirk.

On the opposite coast, in the middle of Occupy Oakland, another talented young cartoonist, Susie Cagle, finds her city’s scene engrossing. So much so that she decides to draw closer, to commune with the plaza’s protestors and understand what makes them tick and picket.

You can read the rest of Cavna’s fascinating article about how these two cartoonist exercise their right to Free Speech here.

The diversity among the cartooning voices covering the Occupy movement is only possible because of the First Amendment. Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by bidding on original artwork, making a donation, or becoming a member of the CBLDF!

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