Every year comics are banned in libraries all over the United States; learn how you can fight back! In recent years, comics that have been targeted for bans include all-ages classics like Bone by Jeff Smith and Dragonball by Akira Toriyama, as well as acclaimed books for adult readers like Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and others. Learn more about what comics have been banned and challenged, why comics are banned, and how you can help by being a part of CBLDF's efforts for Banned Book Week!
Thursday July 18, 2013 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
Room 30CDE
CBLDF proudly debuts Comics on Trial-a new lecture series covering the history of comics censorship and the court cases that changed the medium. In part 1, witness how comics were under attack from the very beginning! Attacks in the popular media gave way to comics burnings in the 1940s. This sparked a wildfire of moral panic culminating with the U.S. government investigating comics before a national audience in 1954 where the face-off between Frederic Wertham and William Gaines changed the medium forever. CBLDF executive director Charles Brownstein tells the sordid tale.
Thursday July 18, 2013 1:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Room 30CDE
An all-star panel of kids comics creators and educators discuss ways to get children excited about reading, encourage creativity, and cultivate a love of literature using great graphic novels and comics. Panelists include Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm (Babymouse), Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Dave Roman (AstronautAcademy), Alex Fajardo (Peanuts), Charles Brownstein (CBLDF), and Meryl Jaffe (Johns Hopkins University). Q&A to follow.
Friday July 19, 2013 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
Room 30CDE
In 1970 two Manhattan bookstore clerks were arrested and convicted of selling obscene material for Zap #4, featuring work by R. Crumb, Spain and other underground greats. Later in that decade, convention promoter and high school English teacher Phil Seuling was busted for selling a book in the same series, hastening a chain of events that would create the comics specialty market, where the CBLDF has been defending retailers since 1986. Learn the true story of how retailers have been prosecuted for selling comics and how their struggle changed the face of the medium from CBLDF executive director Charles Brownstein in the second part of CBLDF's Comics on Trial.
Friday July 19, 2013 1:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Room 30CDE
For those in the know, manga is a powerful form of storytelling that has its roots in Japan but reaches out to speak to the inner life of audiences all over the world. Unfortunately, manga is also one of the most misunderstood forms of expression in the modern cultural landscape, and for librarians, educators, and aficionados looking to share their passion for this amazing medium, overcoming those misunderstandings can be a daunting task. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund executive director Charles Brownstein is joined by experts to discuss the history of manga, its genre and demographic categories, and the issues affecting its readers in a panel that will provide audience members with more tools to defend this amazing category against uninformed attacks.
Saturday July 20, 2013 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
Room 30CDE
In 1994, a Florida jury convicted cartoonist Mike Diana of creating obscene material in his hand-made zine Boiled Angel. As part of his sentence he was forbidden from drawing in his own home. In the last decade, an increasing number of individuals, including Christopher Handley and Ryan Matheson, have been targeted and prosecuted by law enforcement for reading manga that the government claims is deviant and obscene material. In the conclusion of CBLDF's Comics on Trial series, CBLDF executive director Charles Brownstein walks through the disturbing current battleground where individuals are being prosecuted for the ideas they draw and read.
Saturday July 20, 2013 1:00pm - 2:00pm PDT
Room 30CDE
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund hosts its biggest auction of the year, the Comic-Con Live Art Auction! This year’s auction will feature lots for bidding curated by some of comicdom’s top editors, dealers, and fans. With an amazing array of everything from pin-ups, original pages, sketches, and concept art, there is something for every taste and every price range, featuring work from such luminaries as Jim Lee, Charlie Adlard, Jock, Yoshitaka Amano, Jill Thompson, Jeffrey Brown, Tim Seeley, Cliff Chiang, Jonathan Case, Brandon Graham, James Stokoe, and more! Preview images and bidding instructions are available to see at the CBLDF’s booth in the Comic-Con Exhibit Hall!
Celebrate Banned Comics with Jeffrey Brown (Darth Vader and Son), Chris Burnham (Batman Incorporated), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash), and special guests who will create live art, paying homage to the cartoonists, authors and characters who've created the great banned books of our time. Some of the greatest authors have been banned, from Judy Blume and Neil Gaiman to Alan Moore and Mark Twain. Join the CBLDF and these great creators as they talk censorship and make once-in-a-lifetime art about the banned greats! Get a chance to watch live art made before your eyes, learn about censorship, and bid to win the pieces made here to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Sunday July 21, 2013 12:15pm - 1:45pm PDT
Room 5AB
