Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Will Eisner's The Spirit Graces 2005 CBLDF Member CardThe Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is proud to announce that Will Eisner's legendary character The Spirit will be featured on its 2005 Member Card. The image, drawn by Eisner himself, is an extraordinary statement about the late master's commitment to protecting the comics field's First Amendment rights.
"Will authorized us to use the Spirit on this year's card last summer," says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. "We'd planned all along to release the art this week, but unfortunately our timing is now bittersweet. But in addition to standing as a tribute to Eisner, this card is yet another illustration of his generous and continued commitment to the art form, and to the CBLDF's fight to preserve the First Amendment rights of this field. I know he was proud to illustrate this year's card, because he realized that members are the heart and soul of our organization."
Read the rest of the story here.
posted by Tamara - 9:44 AM -- Email this post:
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Monday, January 10, 2005
The Colors Out of SpaceHi folks, this is little ol' humble Mark. I am thrilled that the nifty website, Superman Through the Ages, decided to run my article on many different varieties of Kryptonite. The link to that page is... www.superman.ws/articles/space-colors/.
And if you like Superman, spend a few days checking out the rest of the site, it is wondrous.
--Mark Alfred
posted by Tamara - 5:35 PM -- Email this post: Link to this entry
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Sunday, January 09, 2005
STAR OKC February, 2005 MeetingWhen: February 5, 2005, 5:00 pm
Where: Harry Bear's
5930 N.W. Expressway
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
405-728-9216
After Party: The Powells' home. Email prez@starokc.org for directions.
posted by Tamara - 4:28 PM -- Email this post: Link to this entry
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The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund welcomes the November 16 ruling of U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele of the federal court in Little Rock, Arkansas who ruled that Act 858, amending the Arkansas Code, is unconstitutional. The amendment criminalized the display of books which are inappropriate to younger minors but constitutionally protected as to older minors and adults.
The challenge to the law, resulting from its amendment in 2003, was brought by a broad-based coalition of plaintiffs including That Bookstore In Blytheville, along with trade associations representing bookstores, librarians, book publishers, comic book publishers and retailers and distributors in Arkansas, as well as the ACLU of Arkansas.
The CBLDF and co-plaintiffs believed that the law unconstitutionally required retailers and libraries to prevent all minors from accessing constitutionally protected materials that may be considered inappropriate for younger minors. By requiring plaintiffs physically to segregate such material, the statute unconstitutionally restricted adults and minors from browsing materials protected by the First Amendment.
Judge Eisele had directed certified questions as to the meaning of the amended statute to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Based on the response from the Supreme Court, the judge found the display provisions "facially unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution because such provisions are overbroad and impose unconstitutional prior restraint on the availability and display of constitutionally protected, non-obscene materials to both adults and older minors."
CBLDF Director Charles Brownstein says, "This is a victory for readers and retailers in Arkansas whose First Amendment rights have been preserved by this well-considered decision."
Read the rest of the story here.
posted by star okc - 9:25 AM -- Email this post: Link to this entry
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Frank Kelly Freas passed away at 4:55 this morning. He was under hospice care and with his wife, Laura, at their Los Angeles home.
Kelly was an eleven time Hugo Award winning illustrator of cover and interior art for science fiction, fantasy, advertising, and MAD Magazine. Active in the science fiction field from 1950 until weeks before his death, Kelly illustrated stories by writers such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, A. E. Van Vogt, Poul Anderson, and Frederik Pohl.
A member of First Fandom and the Dorsai Irregulars, Kelly was an official NASA mission artist and his space posters hang in the Smithsonian. He was commissioned by the Skylab I astronauts to design their crew patch and did album and CD covers for Queen. In 2000 Kelly was elected a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists.
He painted beautiful women on the noses of World War II bombers, as well as portraits of five hundred saints for the Franciscans. He both wrote and illustrated the books The Astounding Fifties, Frank Kelly Freas: The art of Science Fiction, A Separate Star, and Frank Kelly Freas: As He Sees It.
A memorial will be held at 1PM on Monday, January 3 in the chapel at the Gates Kingsley & Gates Praiswater Mortuary, 6909 Canoga Ave, Canoga Park, CA.
posted by star okc - 9:23 AM -- Email this post: Link to this entry
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