The video game-themed graphic novel Sidescrollers by Matthew Loux will be removed as an option on a Connecticut school district’s ninth grade summer reading list after a parent complained of profanity and sexual references…
Junior High School Teacher Fired for Students’ Political Cartoons
by Mark Bousquet An assignment asking junior high school students to create a political cartoon has resulted in the teacher being fired. Robert Duncan, a teacher at Boyet Junior High School in Slidell, Louisiana was fired earlier this month after…
Wagner In Israel: The Unofficial Ban
How much should artistic expression be curbed in the name of cultural sensitivity? How long should a dead creator’s works be judged, not on their merits, but on the political inclinations of their maker?
The works of legendary opera composer Richard Wagner have not been performed in the state of Israel, or indeed even pre-Israel, by the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, since the outbreak of World War II.
Unshelved Celebrates Virtual Read-Out
Unshelved, a webcomic created by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes, ran a series of comic strips this week to celebrate Banned Books Week’s Virtual Read-Out. According to the website’s About page, Ambaum and Barnes began publishing Unshelved, which focuses on…
Comics Struggle to Gain a Foothold in Iran
Increasingly, young artists in Iran are expressing their love for comic books. Rather than imitate the work found in American and European comics, these artists want to put a uniquely Iranian stamp on their work. However, they find their voices…
Senate to Consider Bill Designed to Protect Journalists and ISPs from SLAPP Lawsuits
A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, better known as a SLAPP lawsuit, is a legal action initiated by a party with the primary purpose of causing its opponent to succumb to the pressures of litigation. Often times, the party filing…
American Cartoonist Daryl Cagle Presents Video Conference on Editorial Cartoons for Pakistani Journalists
In mid-August, American cartoonist Daryl Cagle presented a video conference on for editorial cartoonists and journalists based in Lahore, Pakistan. Cagle discussed the impact of political cartoons in the US, and the lack of restrictions on the ideas that American…
Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality Sets Its Sight on SpongeBob
Are SpongeBob SquarePants, Walt Disney, the Teletubbies, Shrek, and the town of South Park, Colorado, banding together to corrupt the youth of the Ukraine? That’s what Ukraine’s National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality is now investigating. According to the…
This Weekend: Join CBLDF & Get Darth Vader & Son Signed by Jeffrey Brown!
This weekend, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is proud to thank supporters joining or renewing their membership at the $50 level with a copy of Darth Vader & Son, signed with a sketch by Jeffrey…
Amazing August Auction Continues!
As August rolls on, so does the CBLDF’s current fundraising auctions! Tons of original comic art, action figures, statues and much more! (Check them out here!) This auction rounds up a wide variety of great stuff donated to the CBLDF…
David Hadju Reads from The Ten-Cent Plague
David Hadju’s 2008 book, The Ten-Cent Plague, portrays the conflict and backlash surrounding the extraordinary popularity of dark horror and noir comics in post-World War II America. He describes the work as a “war story” between two generations, and two…
Tales from the Code: How Much Did Things Change After the Enactment of the Comics Code of 1954?
The year was 1954. An unknown group named Bill Haley and the Comets records “Rock Around the Clock.” President Eisenhower informs and warns concerned Americans about the falling domino principle of communism as tensions rise in a little-known country…
Stanford University Hosts “When Artists Attack the King” Exhibition
If you live near or are visiting Stanford University in the near future, you should take advantage of a free exhibition of various works by 19th century French caricaturist Honore Daumier. Daumier’s works often reflected political and social satire, and…
Facebook and ACLU Challenge the Ruling That “Likes” Are Not Free Speech
What if “liking” a page on Facebook could cost you your job?
A judge in Virginia ruled last spring that Facebook “likes” are not protected under the First Amendment. According to U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson, “merely ‘liking’ a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection.”
South African Scuffle Over Controversial Portrait Spurs Debate, Censorship
How far should newspaper editorial go to protect their free speech in the face of business-crippling boycott? What dangerous precedents are set by self-censorship? Ferial Haffajee, editor of the South African City Press, faced these concerns at their most difficult…