March 5, 7:30 pm
Parkside Lounge, 317 E. Houston Street, NYC

21+ please, 2 drink minimum
$10 suggested donation to CBLDF

Best Erotic Comics 2008 (Last Gasp), edited by Greta Christina, is a groundbreaking collection featuring today's top names in the world of comics. At this event, a fundraiser for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, New York's funniest comedians will "act out" work by Colleen Coover, Jessica Fink, Ellen Forney, Justin Hall, Rolf Konig, Erica Moen, and Dori Seda. Listen, laugh, squirm, and get turned on as they treat you to a night of sex and comedy you won't soon forget. Hosted by Rachael Parenta and featuring comedians Dan Allen, Sara Benincasa, Jon Friedman, Margot Leitman, Matt McCarthy, Giulia Rozzi and Bex Schwartz.

About Shooting War: SHOOTING WAR is a hardcover graphic novel by writer Anthony Lappé (executive editor, Guerrilla News Network ) and artist Dan Goldman (co-founder of webcomics collective, ACT-I-VATE). The year is 2011. The global war on terror is raging out of control. The American economy is deep in recession. When a suicide bomber blows a Brooklyn Starbucks to bits, hipster videoblogger Jimmy Burns is in the right place at the right time. His dramatic footage is picked up by Global News ("Your home for 24-hour terror coverage") and Burns is transformed into an overnight media sensation. The next thing he knows he's on a Black Hawk flying low and fast towards war-ravaged Baghdad. SHOOTING WAR began as an Eisner-nominated serialized web comic in May 2006 on SMITHMAG.net and was acquired by Grand Central Publishing for publication in North America and in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The full-color 192-page hardcover graphic novel will feature over 110 pages of new material www.shootingwar.com

About Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. The Fund is currently defending Gordon Lee, a retailer in Rome, GA who faces up to two years in prison for allegedly distributing an excerpt from the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Salon that portrayed Pablo Picasso in the nude to a minor. Prosecutors have denied Lee his day in court, first by declaring their facts wrong and restarting the case in 2006, and most recently by admitting statements that prompted a mistrial. The case will cost in excess of $100,000, and prosecutors vow to carry it through to trial. The Fund has procured Mr. Lee's legal team and paid for all of his legal expenses in this case. Donations and inquiries should be directed to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at info@cbldf.org or 800-99-CBLDF. For more information on the CBLDF, please visit www.cbldf.org

What: Shooting War Book Launch Party, Benefiting Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Where: 111 Minna Gallery
When: Dec 1, 5 PM - 9 PM
Who: Authors Anthony Lappe & Dan Goldman, with live music by The Waterford Landing
Sponsored by: Last Gasp, 111 Minna Gallery, SMITH Magazine, & JahFurry

"Nick Barrucci & Dynamic Forces' donation is coming at just the right time," says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. "When Nick announced DF's pledge to donate proceeds to the Fund, we were expecting to be finished with the Gordon Lee trial by now. Nut now his check will now go towards paying for last week's mistrial, and helping us prepare for the next steps in this ongoing case."

Dynamic Forces' President Nick Barrucci says, "We're glad we can help the Fund, especially in this very important time. The bottom line here is for everyone to please donate to the CBLDF. We're doing what we can because we believe in the cause and we want to help. What they're doing for Gordon Lee in Georgia defends all of us, and the comics world needs a strong CBLDF to protect us from exactly that kind of legal bullying - especially against someone's individual rights.

Barrucci adds, “It's atypical of a big corporation (even the government) pushing around a small business for a non-legal/non-ethical agenda. This won't go away. We have to band together as a community to help the, for lack of a better word, downtrodden. It's very much David vs. Goliath, and we, the people are the only ones who can give David the weapons (in this case, pay for the lawyers) to fight back. It's important for everyone who loves comics to help do what they can, and give what they can, however they can. We urge fans to donate to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, whether it's through checks, credit cards, PayPal, or even donating items for the Fund to auction off. If we all do our part, the Fund can keep doing their part in protecting our field, and help a fellow comic fan, a retailer, and a human being, out during one of the most trying times of his life. We need to fight for what's right, and what's good in the world. We can do it together, no matter how big the ‘bully’."

“We’ve been enthusiastic supporters of the Fund from our opening day five years ago,” says Modern Myths managing partner Jim Crocker. “I’ve always believed that Joe Ferrara’s description of the Fund as another type of business insurance is very apt. We’re lucky enough to be in a pretty progressive community ourselves, but that’s no guarantee that we’re safe.”

Crocker adds, “We currently support the Fund by donating all proceeds from sales of limited variants, and matching all donations placed in our counter-top change canister. It’s not necessarily much, but we’re a small store doing what we can. It was when I read one of the Fund’s press releases where they revealed that they had already paid more to defend Gordon Lee than it cost to open my store that we decided to try and do something extra for the Fund this holiday. When we realized that we could help the Fund with eBay’s MissionFish service and that we had a full run of this modern classic that could possibly command a respectable premium at auction, we decided that it made sense to share that with the CBLDF.”

“Jim and Modern Myths have always been generous to the CBLDF, and we’re grateful to see them leading the charge to help the Fund on eBay with this unique auction,” says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “Modern Myths sets a great example for how each individual store can make a difference that adds up to help the Fund defend the First Amendment rights of the comics field, and we’re grateful to them for it.”

Fans of comics and/or free speech can help support the Fund by going to this auction [link to eBay] and bidding on these two sets of comics. Modern Myths, LLC will donate 50% of the gross sale prices to the Fund.

About CBLDF

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. Donations and inquiries should be directed to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at info@cbldf.org or 800-99-CBLDF. For more information on the CBLDF, please visit www.cbldf.org

About Modern Myths, LLC

Modern Myths (www.modern-myths.com) is a full-service comics and games store located in Northampton, Massachusetts. They’ve just celebrated their fifth anniversary.