Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
organization
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is an American non-profit organization formed in 1986 to protect the First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal expenses. Charles Brownstein served as the organization's executive director from 2002 until his resignation in 2020.
The CBLDF is supported by many big names of the industry; over the years, its board of directors has included Larry Marder, Ted Adams, Reginald Hudlin, Gene Luen Yang, Chris Staros, Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Paul Levitz, Milton Griepp, Steve Geppi, and many other industry figures. Fund Comics, More Fund Comics, and Even More Fund Comics are compilations of short work by famous artists sold to support the CBLDF. Additionally, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab offers a line of perfumes whose profits go directly to the CBLDF. Popular artists such as comedian Bill Hader, cartoonist Jeff Smith, and comic book artist Frank Miller have expressed support for it.
The CBLDF is a sponsor of Banned Books Week, and also works with libraries, helping to keep graphic novels on their shelves. In the past they have partnered with such organizations as the Kids Right to Read Project, the American Library Association, and the Office for Intellectual Freedom as part of this mission.
History
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund began as a means to pay for the legal defense of Friendly Frank's comic shop manager Michael Correa, who was arrested in 1986 on charges of distributing obscenity. The comic books deemed obscene were Omaha the Cat Dancer, The Bodyssey, Weirdo, and Bizarre Sex. Kitchen Sink Press released an art portfolio of pieces donated by comics artists; proceeds were donated to Correa's defense. First Amendment attorney Burton Joseph defended Friendly Frank's and ultimately had the conviction overturned.
The public source identifies “Comic Book Legal Defense Fund” as organization. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Comic, Book and Legal.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5151742. VIAF identifies the subject as 124557042. The Library of Congress control number is n2007045605. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1986, 2002 and 2020.
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This entry incorporates text from “Comic Book Legal Defense Fund” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.