A free press can of course be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom it will never be anything but bad... Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better, whereas enslavement is a certainty of the worse.
Albert Camus
I've just gotten back from this year's San
Diego Comic Convention, and jet-lag rules! It had
been a couple of years since Warp Graphics mounted
a display booth at the show but then, it had been a
couple of years since I felt that such an exhibit was
necessary. After all, we do ELFQUEST, right? Always
have, and always will, and nothing ever changes, so
why spend the time and money to announce just that
fact?
This year, as you no doubt know by now, is real different. We launched our first new "outside the mainstream" ELFQUEST title-- NEW BLOOD-- at the show, and response was great. I spoke to many talented artists and writers about doing work for ELFQUEST, and in spite of the let-lag, I am pumped. By the time 1993 rolls around-- not coincidentally, the fifteenth anniversary of ELFQUEST'S first appearance in print-- we will have reached our dream of at least four ELFQUEST-related titles. You requested more stories, we wanted to do more stories, and now we can. As a co-creator and publisher, I can say that these are some of the most exciting times I've seen.
On the other hand, nothing comes without a flip side, and with excitement comes risk. In case you hadn't noticed, comics is a bigger business than ever these days, with more and more riding on instant blockbuster success. Certain companies and titles are selling unheard-of numbers of copies-- unheard of in my collecting lifetime, anyway-- and the world is taking notice. Some of this attention is good, most of it is neutral, and some of it could have a direct and negative impact on this art form-- comics-- that you love to read.
(You were wondering when I'd get around to the quote that leads off this editorial, right? Now.)
There's a non-profit organization called the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) that came into being to protect the First Amendment rights of comic book creators, publishers, and retailers against wrongful prosecution by zealous or misinformed "guardians" of our behavior.
The following is an excerpt from the CBLDF flyer that was handed out at the San Diego Convention:
In recent years, police and prosecutors around
the country have decided to crack down on comics.
For politicians, it's a way to look tough without
making waves. After all, who cares about comics?
For cartoonists and their readers, it's a dire threat. The
comics that have been accused of being allegedly
"harmful to adults" include work by the best
cartoonists of our time...
In its five years of existence, the CBLDF has spent over $50,000 protecting cartoonists' freedom of speech. Every case we've fought, we've won.
Now we face our biggest challenge ever. In May and June of 1992, three comic shops in the USA were raided by police looking for adult material. All three store owners assert that this material was available only to adults. A defeat in any one of these cases will erode First Amendment rights. The CBLDF intends to fight these attacks and we're calling on everyone who cares about comics and free speech to support us.
Have you ever had someone accuse you of
something that you flatly did not do? Or if you did, you
knew the circumstances were vastly different from
what your accuser alleged? As a public figure, I have;
it's not pretty. And as a publisher, reading over this
brochure, I see much that makes me angry. Comics
are an easy target. For years, comics have been
marketed and thought of in this country as kiddie fare
and no better, and precious little has been done to
change that cultural perception. Few mass media
efforts have been made-- the publicity surrounding
art spiegelman's MAUS is the only one that comes to
mind-- to educate a distressingly illiterate country (a)
that comics can be for more than children and (b) that
comics readers neither need nor want the kind of
"protection" that some groups want to impose upon
them.
Comics shops generally run on a pretty thin margin of profit, and the expenses of defending a case can run very high. If an irate parent or a crusading police chief wants to bust a store in Sarasota, Florida or El Cajon, California, or your home town, they can do so frighteningly easily, and local pressure can put that store out of business without a case ever coming before a judge-- in other words, without due process of law. The reasoning behind the original bust may be misguided, but this is just plain wrong.
I'm using this editorial space to ask all of our readers who care to write to contact Thom Powers, CBLDF Information, P.O. Box 760475, Lathrup Village, Michigan 48076. Ask for information on what the CBLDF is doing to protect the rights of cartoonists, publishers, store owners-- and you-- against that insidious erosion of the First Amendment. Every once in a while, one of the "guardians" casts an eye in ELFQUEST'S direction, you know. Let your voice be heard.
Richard A Pini
- COMING IN NOVEMBER! Elfquest on
CD and Cassette-- once again for the very
first time! A Wolfrider's Reflections, a
collection of 22 songs taken from the World
of Two Moons, newly remastered and better
than ever. Be sure to let your comics
retailer know you want your EQTV! (Well,
we may not have videos, but the music's
great!)
- The Elfquest/Harbinger crossover has been moved back a month or two, but it will happen. Stay tuned!