Tagged: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Y: The Last Man Concludes

Y: The Last Man Concludes

It’s been difficult to ignore all of the hub-bub concerning Brian K. Vaughan’s long-running series Y: The Last Man drawing to a close this week. But seriously, why would you want to?

Of course, "Y: The Last Party" on February 8 will no doubt provide the best seat in the house for celebrating the end of such a great series – and the fact that the event is raising funds for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, well, that’s just a little good-karma bonus. Heck, even Joss Whedon will be there!

However, if you’re like me and can’t get a ticket (or a flight) to the big blast, you’ve had to make do with reading all of the great coverage the conclusion of Y is receiving. Take, for instance, this piece from The Portland Mercury that includes all sorts of fun comments from Vaughan about his work on Y, as well as other projects.

Chances are Y‘s audience never knew they wanted a genre-defying book that’d somehow blend Star Trek references with socio-sexual politics. Y‘s disparate but graceful mix is echoed in another of Vaughan’s books, Ex Machina, about a superhero mayor of New York. "Ex Machina was probably born out of watching the political debates and thinking, ‘This would be so much better if someone just had a jetpack!’" Vaughan says. "I guess I have always [balanced] being intellectually curious and just a dumb kid who just wants to see ray guns and ninjas and pirates. It’s never been like, ‘Oh, I’ll be able to sneak in something really smart if I hide it behind pirates and these other trappings!’ That’s just who I am. I like that balance of both the profound and the profoundly ridiculous."

I guess the owner of my local comic book shop was on to something when, six years ago, I asked for a recommendation to fill out my weekly stack and he tossed me a copy of Y: The Last Man #1.

 

Happy birthday, Pablo Picasso!

Happy birthday, Pablo Picasso!

Today we celebrate the birthday of one of art’s most important pioneers, Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso, born on this day in 1881.  And you thought you had trouble being understood.

And speaking of Picasso and misunderstandings, we would be remiss if we didn’t remind you about Gordon Lee, the Georgia retailer who was arrested for distributing an excerpt of Nick Bertozzi’s now published graphic novel The Salon, depicting the first meeting between Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. On three pages of the eight page section, Picasso was drawn in the nude, a factually accurate detail for the period during which the story is set. The case has wound its way through Georgia courts for the last three years, at a cost of over $80,000 to Lee and his defenders, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. So we remind you to please donate today.

Smell like Neil Gaiman?

Smell like Neil Gaiman?

With the opening of Stardust just days away, there’s never been a better time to exploit Neil Gaiman for a good cause.  According to a press release, Black Phoenix Alchemy lab will release five fragrances "inspired by Stardust" including  ‘Fairy Market" and "The Witch Queen."   Good Omens, while not a movie at this time, is a very funny book Neil wrote with Terry Pratchett, and the inspiration for scents titled "Crowley" and "Aziraphale."

Proceeds will be split between the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a charity with which Neil has long been associated, and the Orangutan Foundation UK, which preserves habitats and research for orangutans.

Here’s the best paragraph of the release:

"The collaboration between artistic visionaries is always an exciting and thought-provoking endeavor. Rarely, if ever, though, have modern literary characters been so lovingly and accurately interpreted by a skilled perfumer. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s interpretations of Gaiman’s colorful and thoroughly unique characters are, like the characters themselves, creative masterpieces and not to be missed."

Obviously, this will work out best for orangutans arrested for obscenity.

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Frank Miller’s Will Eisner’s The Spirit picked up

Frank Miller’s Will Eisner’s The Spirit picked up

Our good friends at Variety (the outfit that also brings us the New York Comic Con) tell us North American and British distribution rights Frank Miller’s film version of Will Eisner’s The Spirit, produced by Batfilm’s Michael Uslan, has been picked by Lionsgate, distributor of Marvel’s many D2DVD titles.

Frank has written the script and will be directing the movie as soon as he and Robert Rodriguez wrap up Sin City 2.

Wow. Sounds kinda incestuous, doesn’t it?

The producers are out in Cannes with Frank’s script selling international rights, even as you read these words.

Artwork for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund copyright Will Eisner. All Rights Reserved. Hat tip: Lisa Sullivan.