Category: Features

Obscenity Case Files: Lenny Bruce

In his song Lenny Bruce, Bob Dylan sings: They said that he was sick ’cause he didn’t play by the rules He just showed the wise men of his day to be nothing more than fools They stamped him and…

Bob Corn-Revere Wins Key Free Speech Case

Earlier this month, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that found former Valdosta State University (VSU) president, Ronald M. Zaccari, personally liable for violating the rights of former VSU student, Hayden Barnes, when Zaccari expelled Barnes over…

Video Games: The Latest Scapegoat

Within hours of the Newtown shootings, video games were targeted as a cause of the violence. It wasn’t the first time video games were blamed, and we don’t expect it to be the last. Much like the arguments against comics…

Mike Diana on Art, BOILED ANGEL, and More

In 1994, Mike Diana became the first American artist to be convicted of obscenity for his zine Boiled Angel. London’s Orbital Comics began an exhibition of Diana’s work on Valentine’s Day, so Bleeding Cool shared a fascinating podcast they recorded…

Tales From the Code: You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling

It’s Valentine’s Day, so love is in the air. What better time to talk about the history of romance comics? After the war, when the sales of the superhero and crime comics began to wane, romance comics filled the gap. Soon, the…

PAUL POPE Visits the CBLDF Offices

Superstar artist Paul Pope stopped by the CBLDF offices recently, and during his visit he signed and sketched in a few books to help raise funds for our ongoing Free Speech work. With the re-release of his ONE TRICK RIP-OFF…

Researcher Proves Wertham Fabricated Evidence Against Comics

If you’ve been reading the CBLDF blog for a while, you are undoubtedly familiar with Fredric Wertham, the child psychologist whose 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent claimed that comics transformed innocent children into depraved juvenile delinquents, making Wertham almost…

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Defends Video Games

As you may have noticed, we’ve been closely following the debate in Congress and the media over violent video games. Too often, elected officials such as Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-KY) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) have made fallacious claims linking…

YALSA Announces Great Graphic Novels for 2013

The Young Adult Library Services Association’s latest annual list of Great Graphic Novels is out! Books are nominated for inclusion on the list by members of YALSA, a division of the American Library Association, and then voted on by a…