Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina, went down a few weeks ago. Unlike other larger conventions, which have expanded to become focused more on pop culture like television, movies and video games, Heroes Con is still a good old fashioned…
Category: Features
CBLDF Deputy Director Talks to MTV Geek
Comic-Con International has just wrapped up, and CBLDF had a great weekend talking to supporters and new fans! You can come back here for a full Comic-Con report later this week. In the meantime, here’s a taste of what happened:…
Threadless Releases Neil Gaiman Comics-On-Tees for Comic-Con International 2012!
Just in time for Comic Con International 2012, threadless and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund have released the newest comic project from superstar author Neil Gaiman. An adaptation of his poem THE DAY THE SAUCERS CAME, this terrific new…
Terry Moore Talks About CBLDF
Many artists support CBLDF’s mission to protect the comics industry from censorship. Few are as eloquent in their support as CBLDF Good Fighter Terry Moore. Moore is the creative talent behind the hit series Strangers in Paradise, Echo, and Rachel…
SDCC: State of the CBLDF!
Another Comic-Con is upon us, and thanks to the generosity of our members, corporate members, sponsors and supporters, we’ve developed a week full of great programs, parties, and an unforgettable auction to raise money for our important First Amendment program…
A History of Censorship: Richard Felton Outcalt and The Yellow Kid
Many people know about the great comic book scare in the late ’40s and early ’50s. You know the one that started with individuals like Dr. Fredric Wertham and Senator Robert C. Hendrickson and ended with the creation of the…
TFAW Posts SDCC Auction Images: The Marvel Edition!
For the past three years, Things From Another World has played a pivotal role in collecting original artwork for CBLDF’s annual Comic-Con International charity auction, helping the Fund raise more than $75,000 in the process. If you head over to their blog, they posted The Marvel Edition of the auction preview: six amazing pieces of art featuring some of our favorite Marvel characters, from Black Widow to Thor. The pieces are by Cat Farris, Francesco Francavilla, Jeffrey Brown, Natalie Nourigat, Patric Reynolds, and Rahsan Ekedal, and they will be auctioned off Saturday, July 14, in room Sapphire AB at the Hilton Bayfront, starting at 8:00 p.m. All proceeds benefit the important First Amendment work of CBLDF!
The image you see here is just a teaser! You can view the rest of the images here. If you’re curious about who’s donated to the auction so far, you can view the list and see their pieces here.
Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!
LGBT Characters and the Comics Code Authority
The last decade has seen a spate of LGBT characters introduced, ‘outed,’ or united in marriage with same-sex partners in mainstream comics. Unfortunately, these LGBT storylines have drawn criticism and calls for censorship from some quarters, particularly the group One Million Moms, a subsidiary of the American Family Association. The moms have pressured retailer Toys ‘R’ Us not to stock the Life With Archie issue featuring Kevin Keller’s wedding, and later blacklisted both DC and Marvel for “placing these gay characters on pedestals in a positive light,” according to a post from ICv2. But as Alan Kistler points out in an extensive post for Comic Book Resources, LGBT characters and themes have a long history in comics, despite the self-censorship that ruled the industry for decades. CBLDF blogger Maren Williams takes a look at Kistler’s article after the jump.
Chopped By The Cleaver: One Cartoonist’s Contributions to Libyan Revolution
by Joe Izenman
Freedom of speech is easy to take for granted in the United States. For all the effort we must spend protecting expression in some areas, political cartooning and the ability to poke fun at our own government officials are an accepted fact of life.
So it is easy to forget that even these seemingly basic freedoms — such as the ability to draw a caricature or to create a mocking internet meme out of your head of state — can be a truly remarkable and powerful tool in a dictatorial state. In a recent profile Chris York wrote for Huffington Post UK, longtime Libyan exile and cartoonist Hasan Dhaimish — also known as Alsature, or The Cleaver — talks about the life that led him to a career of political irreverence. Click through for excerpts from the article…
In Defense of Alan Moore’s NEONOMICON, NCAC Reminds People That Comic Books Are Not Just For Kids
by Mark Bousquet
While the National Coalition Against Censorship’s recent headline, “Graphic Novels and Comic Books, They’re Not Just for Kids” feels anachronistic to fans of the medium, a recent complaint filed against Alan Moore’s Neonomicon (Avatar Press) at a public library in Greenville, South Carolina, reminds us that such reminders are still needed. Despite Neonomicon being correctly shelved in the adult section of the library, a patron recently filed an official challenge against the book after it was checked out of the library by her 14-year old daughter, even though her daughter had both a library card that allowed her access to the library’s adult material and her mother’s permission to take the book home. At the heart of the mother’s complaint is the common misconception that graphic novels and comic books are a medium only for children.
More after the jump…