Gone to Amerikay, the new Vertigo original graphic novel by Derek McCulloch and Colleen Doran, will have a book launch party, benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. McCulloch and Doran will both be at Harbor Lights Restaurant in New York City on March 30 from 6 to 8 pm, celebrating the release of their new book and demonstrating their support of the CBLDF’s mission. All are welcome to join the celebration; admission will be free, though donations to the CBLDF are suggested. There will be complimentary hors d’oeurves, and special guests from the comics community will be on hand to inaugurate Gone to Amerikay. Copies of the book will be on sale, courtesy of Midtown Comics.
Author: cbldf
THIS WEEKEND ONLY: Becky Cloonan & Brian Wood Thank CBLDF Members With A Free CONAN Print!
Brian Wood & Becky Cloonan are thanking CBLDF members by offering this signed, CBLDF exclusive letterpress print featuring work from their run on Conan!
This weekend only, members joining (or rejoining) at the Supporter level, will receive, along with the standard Membership package, this exclusive print, signed by artist Becky Cloonan, and writer Brian Wood, while supplies last. An article about the creation of this beautiful, hand-pressed print can be found here. Quantities are limited, and this thank you offer ends Monday at midnight, or when supplies run out, so join now!
Know Your Rights — Tools For Travelers Crossing International Borders
Last week, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund announced that criminal charges had been dropped in R. v. Matheson, a case involving an American manga reader who was wrongly accused of importing child pornography into Canada because of comic book images on his laptop. Ryan was extensively, wrongfully searched and detained by the Canadian government who charged him with a crime before he even entered the country. Read the story in his own words here. The CBLDF provided financial and substantive legal support in his case, and is currently fundraising to help restore Ryan’s $45,000 legal debt.
While the good news is that Ryan’s ordeal is now over, the bad news is that this kind of prosecution can happen again. To help travelers crossing borders with comics, the CBLDF is pleased to offer important resources that you should read before you cross a foreign border. These tools aren’t designed to take the place of your lawyer. Nothing in them is intended as legal advice. But they are important overviews of the concerns travelers now face when crossing borders with comic art in printed form and on their digital devices, and must reading for everyone in those situations.
WonderCon Reaches New Heights For CBLDF!
Last weekend big crowds mobbed the Anaheim Convention Center for WonderCon, the long-running California show that’s become a favorite on the comics convention circuit. This year’s event marked the first time the con was held in Southern California after years as a mainstay of the Bay Area comics culture, but the new market didn’t diminish the crowds or excitement of the show. Attendance was extremely strong throughout the con’s three days. At the end of the weekend, contributions to CBLDF exceeded $12,500, making it our most successful showing at WonderCon in years. CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein, a longtime WonderCon exhibitor, recounts the con and puts it all into perspective after the jump.
CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein Discusses The Contested Art & Legal Repercussions of R. v. Matheson
CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein talked to Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter about the art at issue in R. v. Matheson, the CBLDF’s legal case that recently concluded with criminal charges against the client being dropped.
Brownstein sees this as a call to action for comics lovers to stand united in the face of censorship. He said:
This is one of those rare moments where Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately,” is the most potent and accurate assessment of our current situation. Even today I saw a lot of discussion that it’s okay for authorities to prosecute the really icky stuff. But when you look at the actual images Ryan was prosecuted for, it’s clear that the authorities have a much lower threshold for what constitutes the really icky stuff than the average person who’s ready to sell their fellow comic book reader, retailer or artist down the river.
If Ryan were convicted for possessing that Moe 48 Positions, what chance does the average indy cartoonist going to TCAF have of carrying stuff into the show without hassle, much less fear of arrest? What hope does a retailer who orders from the adult order form for his store have when that stuff is in his internet cache? We’re a field that thrives on the power of the static image, and while our communities have our own understandings of what’s acceptable and what’s taboo, our understanding may not always square with that of local law enforcement. I’m not saying these things to stir up fear, I’m saying that equivocating about what kind of censorship is acceptable to us, as individuals, creates cracks in our armor that can bring censorship down on our field as a whole.
Read The Comics Reporter for the full interview.
CBLDF’s Member Appreciation Events At WonderCon!
This weekend the CBLDF is heading out to WonderCon in Anaheim, California, where we’re offering two exclusive thank yous for new and returning members!
Current members or members who sign up during the show get their choice of the CBLDF exclusive cover of Glory #23, signed by writer Joe Keatinge, or a signed Frank Quitely sketch variant of the 2011 CBLDF Liberty Annual.
During the show, CBLDF will also be running our ever-popular Live Art Jam, featuring Jim Lee, Rebekah Isaacs, and Eric Powell. All art from the jam will be auctioned and we’ll have artists sketching at the booth throughout the weekend, so you have a chance to take some amazing art home with you!
After the jump, CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein takes you through some of the great things the Fund has planned for WonderCon 2012!
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!