Support free speech at the CBLDF Welcome Party

3 JULY 2015

We've known about the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Comic-Con Welcome Party for months, but a few more details came out this week. You can still RSVP for this event, so let's see what it has to offer.

Swag: The first 200 attendees get a free gift bag with stuff from Image, CBLDF and comiXology.

Comic Stars: Confirmed attendees so far include Joshua Williamson, Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba and others.

BPAL: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab will debut their Profanities series, with LE scents available only at this party.

Art: Neverwear will feature art based on Neil Gaiman's work from Jim Lee, Chris Ridell, Olivia and others

Exclusives: A new tote bag by Vanesa Del Rey, a new CBLDF t-shirt designed by Brian Wood

Auction Preview: This includes original art from Gilbert Hernandez, Ray Fawkes, Jeff Smith, Jim Lee, J. Scott Campbell, Jeffrey Brown and others


Where: Westgate Hotel - 1055 2nd Ave

When: Thursday, 9 July - 8:00 pm

Cost: free to CBLDF members; 10-20 suggested donation from others


I know Thursday night is packed with events - but this is a top pick if you can make it.

 

 

Are you celebrating Will Eisner Week?

3 MARCH 2015

Just a reminder that SDCC is teaming up with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund tomorrow in New York. A panel on Will Eisner's life and legacy will be held at The Society of Illustrators Wednesday night at 7 pm. This is part of a larger celebration, Will Eisner Week.


What: The Spirit of Innovation: The Enduring Influence of Will Eisner's The Spirit

Who: John Cassaday, Michael Cho, Charles Kochman and Paul Pope

Date: 4 March

Time: 7:00 pm

Location: The Society of Illustrators - 128 East 63rd at Lexington Ave
 
Cost: Admission is 10 for CBLDF and Society members and 2014 SDCC attendees if you still have your badge; 7 for seniors and students; 15 for everyone else.


CCI's Toucan blog has a nice article up on Eisner; even if you're not all that enthralled by the comics of yore, it still provides an interesting perspective on how much things have changed.

Will Eisner Week is holding various events all over, so take a look and see if any of them are happening near you.

SDCC does the Big Apple - kind of

13 FEBRUARY 2015

If you're an East Coaster who's just itching to do something Comic-Con related, here's your opportunity. CCI is teaming up with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund on March 4 to talk about Will Eisner and his "dynamic life, legacy and influence."


What: The Spirit of Innovation: The Enduring Influence of Will Eisner's The Spirit

Who: John Cassaday, Michael Cho, Charles Kochman and Paul Pope

Date: 4 March

Time: 7:00 pm

Location: The Society of Illustrators - 128 East 63rd at Lexington Ave
 
Cost: Admission is 10 for CBLDF and Society members and 2014 SDCC attendees with badge (apparently we're supposed to hold onto them for infinity), 7 for seniors and students, and 15 for everyone else.

I love that CCI and CBLDF are collaborating on events like this and taking their efforts outside San Diego. It sounds like they're committed to doing this on a regular basis too; hopefully this will happen more and more and let people who can't attend SDCC enjoy a small piece of it.

Get your tickets now.

Help CCI fight censorship

13 SEPTEMBER 2014

No one wants their comic books taken away, right?  Or to be told how to think?

The tentacles of censorship spread in many directions - violence, sex, politics, religion - but they all grow out of one central tyranny: the need to control. Over the years, comics and graphic novels have been subjected to this as much as any other art form, with both consumers and governments trying to restrict the availability of "subversive" material.

Creators like Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Alison Bechdel, Jeff Smith and Marjane Satrapi have all had their work attacked - and those are just the top names in the field. Plenty of emerging writers and artists are silenced before they can even break into the public eye. While we can fight to preserve the availability of popular material, we'll never know what potential masterpieces are strangled by censorship in their infancy.

This year, for Banned Books Week, CCI is teaming up with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to present Beware of Comics! - what they're calling "a lively conversation about comics, censorship and what makes the medium so dangerous in the 21st Century." Scott McCloud and Larry Marder will lead.

When: 25 September at 7:00 pm

Where: San Diego Central Library Auditorium - 330 Park Blvd, San Diego

Cost: Free! Donations welcome, of course, to help fight the good fight.


I feel like most nerds have a maverick heart - generally speaking, we tend to be the nonconformists of society. So consider supporting CCI and the CBLDF if you can, or fighting censorship in whatever way is expedient for you this September.

CBLDF Comic-Con Welcome Party

19 JULY 2014





If you're sick of everything being sold out or super expensive, here's another option: the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Comic-Con Welcome Party. It's on Thursday night at the Westgate Hotel.

You'll be in excellent company; confirmed attendees include Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples, Scott Snyder, Chris Burnham, Nick Dragotta, Nick Pitarra, John Layman, Josh Williamson, Joe Harris, Frank J. Barbiere, Stuart Moore, Paul Pope, Daniel Corey, Richard Starkings, Roc Upchurch, and so on. But beyond that, you'll get to:

• see the items that will go up on the auction block at CBLDF's Saturday night auction, which include art by Jeff Smith, John Cassaday, Emma Rios, Frank Quitely, Brandon Graham, Francesco Fracavilla, Jeff Lemire and others.
• visit the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab / Trading Post booth, which will include two new scents (based on Neil Gaiman's Coraline) to benefit CBLDF 
• get your paws on the CBLDF Liberty variant of Harbinger #25 with art by Gilbert Hernandez, or “It’s Not A Trick” signed by J.H. Williams and Todd Klein
• see the world premiere of "The Day The Saucers Came" Neil Gaiman t-shirts, featuring art by Brandon Graham, Ben Templesmith and John Cassaday
• support free speech 

The party is Thursday, 24 July at 8:00 pm at the Westgate Hotel - 1055 Second Avenue, San Diego. It's free to members and only a $10-20 donation suggested from non-members. Tickets are on sale here.