Category: News Blog

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Road Report: Baltimore Comic-Con

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This past weekend, CBLDF staffers Charles Brownstein, Alex Cox, and Dave Grilli attended Baltimore Comic-Con at the Baltimore Convention Center. CBLDF had an array of exclusive items making their East Coast debut, including our new John Cassaday and Matt Wagner T-shirts and our two new Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scents, La Mano del Destino and El Nuevo Puritano.

Baltimore Comic-Con is always a great show, and the CBLDF booth was surrounded by great creators, including Stan Sakai, Charles Vess, Terry Moore, and Jeff Smith. Hundreds of attendees dropped by our booth to learn about our current case work and check out our new donation premiums.

Every dollar donated at Baltimore Comic-Con goes directly to fund our current case, in which an American faces jail time for crossing the Canadian border with comics on his electronic devices. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth — we look forward to seeing you again next year! Next stop: SPX in Bethesda, MD!

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More Sneak Peeks Of Liberty Annual Online

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CBLDF Liberty Annual 2011 will be in stores on October 12, and you may have noticed a spate of exclusive previews online recently.

Bleeding Cool ran an exclusive of the JH Williams III pages from the issue and Rich Johnston spoke with CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein, who described why the CBLDF continues to be relevant and the importance of the Canada Customs Case…

Read on for more exclusive sneak peeks of CBLDF Liberty Annual 2011!

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Support CBLDF During Baltimore Comic-Con 2011

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The CBLDF is excited to be attending Baltimore Comic Con! From August 20 – 21, you can find us at booth 1404 with a full array of great donation premiums and opportunities to support Free Speech! Come by and say hello, learn about our current case work, and check out some of our new exclusives!

We will have new t-shirts from John Cassaday and Matt Wagner and a new version of the hugely popular “I READ BANNED COMICS” t-shirt. Our kid’s section features great new premiums, such as signed copies of Raina Telgemeier’s Eisner-winning memoir Smile and the smash hits Babymouse and Squish by Jennifer and Matt Holm.

We will also have the two newest benefit fragrances from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs, La Mano Del Destino and El Nuevo Puritano, as well as an accompanying print by graphic designer, writer, and artist J. Gonzo! All this, plus an assortment of signed books, donated by publishers and creators, all of whom are helping us fight for Free Expression.

A comics fan is facing jail time, and CBLDF needs your help now! Show your support for CBLDF and Free Speech by visiting us at booth 1404 during Baltimore Comic-Con, August 20-21!

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Fight Censorship with Conan!

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The new Conan movie hits theaters today, and you can show your support for both your favorite barbarian and CBLDF!

CBLDF is delighted to offer an array of Conan items to coincide with the release of the new movie. Up for grabs in the CBLDF online donation center are two gorgeous prints: one by Transmetropolitan and The Boys artist Darick Robertson and the other by legendary illustrator and Marvel Zombies artist Arthur Suydam!

Read on to find out about CBLDF’s Conan auctions!

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Join Frank Miller in Supporting CBLDF

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Legendary Cartoonist Frank Miller has been a staunch supporter of the CBLDF since the organization’s very beginning in 1986. As outspoken in his defense of free speech as he is talented at the drawing board, Miller has earned the Defender of Liberty Award in recognition of all his work on the CBLDF’s behalf, and he continues to support the Fund by providing exclusive signatures on his classic works, as well as donating books from his private collection.

Read on to find out more about exclusive Frank Miller items available only from CBLDF!

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Editor Bob Schreck Talks CBLDF LIBERTY ANNUAL with MTV Geek

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Bob Schreck, Editor in Chief for the comics division of Legendary Enterntainment, took a moment to talk to Alex Zalben at MTV Geek about his experience editing CBLDF Liberty Annual 2011, which hits shelves on October 12. MTV Geek also has an exclusive sneak peak at the Grendel pages from the issue.

Schreck sums up the Liberty Annual for Zalben:

The Liberty Annual is designed to help raise money and awareness every year by bringing great creators together to tell stories about freedom of speech. Scott Dunbier started the series in 2008, my friend Jamie Rich helmed the second edition in 2009, and Larry Marder edited the third book in 2010. Every year Eric Stephenson and the good folks at Image Comics volunteer their efforts to publish the book and Richard Starkings and JG Roshell at Comicraft do the production. It’s a great team effort.

Read on for more about Schreck’s interview with Zalben.

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Celebrate Banned Books Week with the Virtual Read-Out

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Banned Books Week takes place September 24 through October 1. In celebration of Banned Books Week, book lovers around the country are encouraged to make a YouTube video of themselves reading a banned book. From the School Library Journal:

Librarians, bookstores, and others celebrating the freedom to read from September 21 to October 1 are encouraged to take part in this year’s Virtual Read-Out on YouTube. The criteria are simple: create a video that’s less than two minutes long of anyone reading a book that’s been banned. If you choose to talk about a personal experience battling censorship, then feel free to extend the video to three minutes.

Comic books are often challenged in libraries, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a sponsor of Banned Books Week. Imagine your library without graphic novels such as Craig Thompson’s Blankets, Jeff Smith’s Bone, or Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home — CBLDF helped protect these books and more when they were challenged. Now, you can film yourself reading these books to celebrate Banned Books Week!

Find out more about the Virtual Read-Out and Banned Books Week here.

Celebrate your right to read and support CBLDF’s defense of free speech by making a donation or becoming a member today!

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Erica Friedman Speaks Out on Canada Customs Case

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Writing exclusively for the CBLDF, Yuricon founder Erica Friedman discusses the CBLDF’s important efforts against Canada Customs.

There is a gap here, in between actions and words, in between discussion of freedom of expression and actual freedom of expression. It is not a small gap – it is a tiger pit. It is a gap that is, right this very second, affecting all of us in the manga community. The gap lies in between our stated right to express ourselves freely and recents actions of authority to strip that right from us.

This issue not a rhetorical one to me. I am about to leave the country to attend a comic event called Girls Love Fest. It is focused entirely on comics with lesbian themes. This is the genre that I have worked on promoting for more than a decade – and for the first time in my life, I am not sure that I can purchase these comics and bring them home with me. Because I cannot be sure that a reasonable person would understand that the comic of two cute girls holding hands, saying they like each other and kissing is not offensive. I cannot presume that the people hired to “protect” us are reasonable at all. Why should they be? These people have been given imprimatur to be unreasonable and suspicious. I want to support these artists, and share their work…but I may not be able to. I certainly have to look at each book more critically and think “what would TSA make of this?”

Full Story

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Bruce McFarling Talks Canada Customs Case

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Writing on his Daily Kos community blog, Bruce McFarling makes a passionate case about the CBLDF’s fight against Canada Customs.

Some things I can write, some things I cannot. My outrage at the obscenity of these Customs Officials using child pornography laws as an excuse to try to throw a comic book reader into jail because they do not like the drawings on his laptop and/or ipod and/or ebook reader … that’s not something I think I can express.

And this blurring of boundaries by authorities to steal the authority to suppress what they have no reasonable right to suppress … all that a Customs Officer has to do to suppress any comic book that they disapprove of for being too sexually explicit is to decide that one or more of the individuals protrayed is underage. Pity the poor fool that has bought some digital copies of classic R. Crumb out of sixties and seventies nostalgia.

Read the full story here.

Please make a contribution to support this case today!

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Neil Gaiman Gives You The Shirt Off His Back!

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Outspoken CBLDF board member and First Amendment champion Neil Gaiman believes in the First Amendment so strongly that he’s giving you the shirt off his back when you make a contribution of $50 or more to the CBLDF!

The CBLDF is proud to offer a limited selection of signed t-shirts from Neil Gaiman’s personal wardrobe, a most unique thank you for your support of the CBLDF’s First Amendment legal work!

Each signed t-shirt is straight from Neil’s own collection, and will be chosen at random in the size of your choice, while supplies last.

This donation will help fund the defense of Free Speech, and you can own a unique piece of memorabilia from one of the most beloved creators in contemporary culture!

Get yours now!

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