CBLDF LIBERTY ANNUAL 2011 hits shelves on October 12. In celebration, retailers around the world are having signings with several of the creators who contributed to the best LIBERTY ANNUAL yet!
CBLDF is delighted to have the support of retailers and creators not only for CBLDF LIBERTY ANNUAL 2011, but also for UNITED AGAINST CENSORSHIP, a series of in-store signings that will take place the day the book hits store shelves! Click through to find an event near you!
This week, the print edition of the Chicago Tribune chose not to run Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury comic strip because it did not meet their “standards of fairness.” The strip included excerpts from Joe McGinniss’s upcoming biography of Sarah Palin, and the move by the Tribune has many decrying the silencing of satire.
First Amendment Center President Ken Paulson offered his opinion in a recent column for the First Amendment Center website.
CBLDF wasn’t the only group to have a stellar Small Press Expo — Heidi McDonald and Calvin Reid reported on the event for Publishers Weekly, noting SPX’s record-breaking attendance and great sales!
PW cited the attendance of comics superstars Chester Brown and Craig Thompson, the latter of which debuted advance copies of his new graphic novel Habibi to benefit the CBLDF, as a large part of the reason SPX was so successful this year. You can read PW’s full report, including coverage of CBLDF’s attendance at the show, here.
Help support free speech by picking up Cryptozoic Entertainment’s CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards, in stores NOW!
Hi, Friends of Liberty!
After a year of collaboration, preparation and production with Cryptozoic Entertainment, I finally had the finished product in my hands: factory sealed, unopened boxes of CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards.
Like any project I’ve ever worked on, there is always that nervous moment when you take the product out of its shipping case and are about to discover if everything actually came out the way it was intended.
I decided to open up five boxes and see what treasures were hidden inside.
Keep reading for pictures of the cards Larry discovered in his boxes!
Last weekend the art comics world stepped up their support for CBLDF by contributing $12,500 towards our program work during SPX 2011!
Comics royalty, including Craig Thompson, Roz Chast, and Sara Varon, performed exclusive fundraisers for the Fund. Thompson premiered his new magnum opus Habibi in a special signed and numbered preview edition of 100. Varon signed her brand new graphic novel Bake Sale, and Chast made original drawings to benefit the CBLDF and the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program. The Fund also hosted the first Jeff Alexander Memorial Benefit auction, which raised $2,200. A limited number of copies of the Habibi preview edition are available now in the CBLDF Rewards Zone, along with copies of Bake Sale.
Readers from across the United States and around the world are demonstrating their support for free speech by participating in a virtual read-out of banned and challenged books that will culminate during the 29th annual Banned Books Week (Sept. 24-Oct. 1), the only national celebration of the freedom to read. Individuals, libraries and bookstores are uploading videos to a special channel on YouTube, submitting either a reading of up to two minutes or a description of a local book challenge of up to three minutes.
CBLDF is a sponsor of Banned Books Week. Keep reading for more about the virtual read-out.
The wait for Cryptozoic Entertainment’s CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards is finally over! Featuring all of the epic First Amendment battles that comic books have faced, from the marathon Senate hearings of the 1950s to today’s attacks on readers, CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards hit shelves this week! All proceeds from the sale of the cards benefit the First Amendment legal work of the CBLDF.
These collectible trading cards come in packs of five cards for $3.50, making them a great way to support CBLDF and learn about the First Amendment challenges comics books have faced over the years. Look for exclusive autograph and sketch card inserts! You can visit both Comics Alliance and ICv2 to view additional images and get the latest list of artists who contributed autograph and sketch cards.
Help support free speech by picking up Cryptozoic Entertainment’s CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards, in stores tomorrow!
When Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks drew political cartoons that depicted the prophet Muhammad, he probably didn’t recognize just how much danger he was putting himself into. In the six years since, he’s gone to extreme lengths to preserve his safety. The Sydney Morning Herald ran an interesting article this week discussing the fallout of Vilks’s cartoons, both for him and for other cartoonists.
Jytte Klausen, a professor of comparative politics at Brandeis University and the author of a new book entitled The Cartoons that Shook the World, noted that cartoonists now self-censor themselves, a distressing development and a blow to free speech around the world. You can read the full article here.
Support CBLDF’s defense of free speech and coverage of issues like this by making a donation or becoming a member today!
CBLDF is delighted to launch Craig Thompson’s highly anticipated new graphic novel, Habibi, during SPX 2011. You can get one of 100 signed and numbered advance copies of this gorgeous book during the show! CBLDF is also auctioning an exclusive lunch with Thompson.
Thompson recently spoke with Mike Rhode at the Washington City Paper about the book, his other works, and his appearance at SPX, which benefits CBLDF. CBLDF came up when Rhode asked Thompson about splitting his projects between Top Shelf and Pantheon:
Right now I’m still doing Blankets for Top Shelf and I have another book in the next year or two. Beyond that I’m not even thinking about any one of my projects in terms of a publisher; I just want to work on them. It turns out the jump I made was really good initially. One, because I got an advance that I was able to carve out a nice chunk of time to devote to the book. And beyond that, honestly I got better contractual details that were good in terms of maintaining some of my rights as a creator. I feel that right now it’s making sense to have both publishers coexisting because you tap a far different market when working with a book publisher, but I never want to lose sight of my small comics press roots. Pantheon has been really great in that sense because when my publicist started organizing a tour, I said to her I want to be at SPX and APE and comic shops, and we have this CBLDF fundraiser kind of kicking off everything, and they really accommodated that. I had this fear that I would just be doing Barnes and Noble, but in fact I have a lot of comic book stuff happening.
You can read the full article here. CBLDF has a number of events during SPX, including the Jeff Alexander Memorial Benefit Auction and signings with Thompson. Look here for details soon!
The Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons, is pleased to announce two fundraising events that will occur at the 2011 festival.
Roz Chast original cartoons
New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, known for her single-panel cartoons, illustration work and children’s books, will draw and sell original cartoons at the SPX signing table. Proceeds will be divided equally between SPX’s new Graphic Novel Gift Program and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Pen and ink drawings will be $25 and watercolor drawings $50; Ms. Chast will be drawing on Saturday, 1:30-3:30PM and 5:00-6:30PM, and on Sunday from Noon-1:30PM. Additionally, books will be available for purchase at the signing table from our good friends at Politics & Prose.
Jeff Alexander Memorial Benefit Auction
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the organizers of SPX are proud to honor the memory of former SPX Executive Director Jeff Alexander by launching an annual benefit auction in his name. Jeff Alexander was a friend to the small press community, both as a cartoonist and an organizer of SPX and the Ignatz Awards. He passed away earlier this year.
The first annual Jeff Alexander Memorial Benefit Auction includes pieces from Jeff’s personal collection that he donated to the CBLDF. Additional contributions have been donated by the SPX community, including Keith Knight, Raina Telgemeier, Jeffrey Brown and many more. more