Author: cbldf

Brandon Graham’s King City Supports CBLDF

Brandon Graham is no stranger to boundary pushing comics. He cut his artistic teeth making experimental sex comics before going on to create his idea heavy works Prophet and King City. His groundbreaking collection King City just came out from Image, and he’s supporting the Fund by providing signed & sketched bookplates to raise money for our work. Brandon spoke out on why the Fund matters to him on his blog last summer. He wrote:

The idea of just getting in trouble for having a comic book on you is nuts, with no victim and the crime being an offensive combination of words and lines. It’s like trying to prosecute thoughts you don’t like.

I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the idea that something you could draw could lead someone else to be locked up just by having it on their person. And just looking at the list of books CBLDF has on their site that have had problems at the border (how awkward would it be to have to explain why you are carrying a copy of The bone ranger)
–I’ve read a lot of these, I have friends and have myself probably drawn worse things than what’s in most of these books.

You can get your copy of King City with a signed & sketched Brandon Graham bookplate now for a $60 donation to CBLDF.

THIS WEEKEND: CBLDF & Neil Gaiman Thank Members With Exclusive Signed Poster!

This weekend only, the first ten members to sign up for CBLDF membership at the $100 Advocate level or higher will receive “A Study In Emerald,” a poster edition of Neil Gaiman’s Hugo Award winning short story, illustrated by Jouni Koponen and signed by Neil Gaiman! You’ll receive this special signed thank you gift in addition to all the other great incentives we offer for our members, and you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that you’re helping protect the First Amendment! Don’t delay, this thank you is only available while supplies last!

UPDATE: This item is no longer available!

VOLUNTEER WITH THE CBLDF!

Are you local to the Anaheim/Los Angeles area? Do you want to go to WonderCon, and participate in something important while you are there? Have you always wanted an opportunity to volunteer for you favorite advocacy group?

Now is your chance! March 15-18 the CBLDF will be at WonderCon, in Anaheim, California, and needs local volunteers to help out over the weekend! We need eager folks who believe in Free Speech, and want to help us fight for it, on the ground, and in the convention trenches. If you want to help, please e-mail Alex Cox at alex.cox@cbldf.org with your WonderCon Weekend availability!

This Weekend: Brian Wood & Dark Horse Thank CBLDF Members With Exclusive THE MASSIVE Print!

This weekend only! Brian Wood and Dark Horse Comics are thanking new and renewing CBLDF members by giving away an exclusive print promoting the upcoming series THE MASSIVE by Brian Wood & Kristian Donaldson. The 17″ x 24″ print, which was given away exclusively at ComicsPRO was designed by Wood to evoke the classic Japanese model kits of his youth, and will come signed by the artist. This weekend only, we’re offering it as a thank you to everyone who joins the CBLDF at the $50 Supporter level or higher, while limited supplies last! Please join the CBLDF today!

Image Expo Was A Shining Success For CBLDF!


Last weekend, the CBLDF was in Oakland, CA, exhibiting at Image Expo, a celebration of creator-owned comics commemorating the 20th anniversary of Image Comics. CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein and CBLDF.org editor Betsy Gomez were there representing the Fund and got to meet a lot of our members and supporters, who generously contributed more than $4,000 to our important legal work over the course of the weekend. Brownstein takes you through the Image Expo experience after the jump!

CBLDF Attends MangaNext

Over the past weekend, while half of the CBLDF staff was on the West Coast on the floor at Image Expo, the other half made the arduous trek through the Lincoln Tunnel, all the way out to Northern New Jersey, to spend some time at MangaNext, one of the only completely fan-run manga shows in the country.

Find out more about this fantastic show after the jump!

Image Expo Bound!

This weekend, the CBLDF will be exhibiting at Image Expo, a celebration of creator owned comics honoring the 20th Anniversary of Image Comics, in downtown Oakland, California.

The CBLDF will have all kinds of thank yous for our supporters including a free CBLDF exclusive edition of Glory #23, and a welcome party on Friday that’s free for members.

After the jump, CBLDF’s Executive Director Charles Brownstein walks you through all the great things the Fund has planned at the show!

ComicsPRO Goes Big For CBLDF!

Last weekend the CBLDF’s Deputy Director Alex Cox visited the ComicsPRO Meeting in Dallas where he met with the industry’s best retailers and publishing professionals. He takes you into this ultimate insiders weekend, including full highlights from the exciting ComicPRO CBLDF Benefit Auction that raised more than $8,000 for the Fund!

Full Story

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.”