Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Holy Terror, signed by Frank Miller

by Betsy Gomez • January 10, 2012

There’s a deadly menace somewhere in Empire City, and The Fixer only has until dawn to save his town — and civilization as we know it! Legendary Comics presents an all-out, head-busting, bone-breaking, neck-snapping brawl of a tale from Frank Miller, one of the most celebrated storytellers of the medium. Years in the making, Holy Terror features the desperate and brutal quest of a hero as he is forced to run down an army of murderous zealots in order to stop a crime against humanity. This hardcover edition is signed by Frank Miller.

Own it today!

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Watchmen Deluxe Hardcover, Signed by Dave Gibbons

by Betsy Gomez • January 10, 2012

This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin. One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial bestseller, Watchmen has been studied on college campuses across the nation. This hardcover edition is signed by illustrator Dave Gibbons.

Pick up a copy today!

Features, Headline, Homepage, News Blog

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE Remains In School Library

by Betsy Gomez • January 10, 2012

In December, CBLDF and the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom wrote a letter to the superintendent of the Dixfield, Maine, school system in order to prevent the removal of the anthology Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics from an Unpleasant Age from library shelves. On Monday, the school board voted to leave the book on library shelves with the caveat the students must have parental permission to check out the book.

Stuck in the Middle was edited by Ariel Schrag and includes contributions from acclaimed graphic novelists Daniel Clowes, Dash Shaw, Gabrielle Bell, Lauren Weinstein, and more. The book received praise from Booklist, New York Times, and Publishers Weekly, and it was selected for New York Public Library’s “Books for the Teen Age” list in 2008.

“While we’re pleased to see the book retained in the library’s collection, we’re very disappointed that it is retained with restrictions,” CBLDF’s Executive Director Charles Brownstein said.
Keep reading…

Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!

Features, Homepage, News Blog

Library Censorship Awarded Jefferson Muzzle

by Betsy Gomez • January 9, 2012

As each year begins, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression “awards” individuals and organizations around the country with Jefferson Muzzles “as a means to draw national attention to abridgments of free speech and press and, at the same time, foster an appreciation for those tenets of the First Amendment.”

The 2011 Muzzles have been awarded, and recipients include the Obama Administration, BP, the TSA, and more, but one recipient in particular ties in with CBLDF’s work to protect books and comics in libraries. Keep reading…

Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!

Fundraising, Homepage, News Blog

SPIRIT OF GIVING Helps Raise Over $75,000 For CBLDF!

by cbldf • January 6, 2012

Last holiday season, The Will & Ann Eisner Family Foundation sponsored The Spirit of Giving, a holiday gift drive encouraging membership and donations to CBLDF with incentives that included signed and personalized graphic novels by some of the industry’s greatest creators. Over 450 donations came in over the course of the Spirit of Giving campaign, including more than 200 memberships. All told, the Spirit of Giving drive contributed to raising more than $75,000 for the CBLDF’s important First Amendment program work as we closed 2011, allowing us to pay off all of our 2011 program obligations and enter 2012 with a clean slate.

Carl Gropper, of the Will & Ann Eisner Family Foundation says, “The CBLDF was important to Will Eisner and its goals are as important today as when it was founded. We must maintain our vigilance over our Constitutionally-granted rights and liberties in order to stop those who would take them away. The Foundation is fortunate to be in a position where it can continue Will Eisner’s good work.”

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The Good Fighters: Mike Richardson

by Betsy Gomez • January 6, 2012

In 1986 — the same year CBLDF was established — Mike Richardson founded Dark Horse Comics, which has since grown into one of the largest and most influential comics publishers in the world. From Aliens to Hellboy to Sin City and more, Dark Horse has released some of the most beloved — and occasionally controversial — books in comics.

Inexorably energetic, Richardson isn’t content to only preside over a comics publishing company. He writes, produces films, and owns popular comics retailer Things From Another World. Towering close to seven feet tall, Richardson exudes the same aura held by some of the superheroes found in the books he publishes. But his heroism is all too real: He is one of CBLDF’s most devout supporters.

In celebrating more than 25 years of both the CBLDF and Dark Horse Comics, CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein sat down with Richardson to talk about censorship and his experience as a publisher for this edition of The Good Fighters.