Posted in: Comics, Conventions, Events, Mad Cave Studios, Pop Culture, san diego comic con | Tagged: cbldf, cgc, GlobalComix, Ignition Press, kickstarter, sdcc
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s San Diego Comic-Con Party For Freedom
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s San Diego Comic-Con Welcome Party is back, from Mad Cave , Ignition Press, GlobalComix, Kickstarter and CGC
Article Summary
- Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s San Diego Comic-Con Party returns Thursday at the Westgate Hotel, 8pm to midnight.
- Mad Cave, Ignition Press, GlobalComix, Kickstarter and CGC sponsor the CBLDF SDCC party supporting free speech.
- First 100 guests get comics and CGC perks, while a silent auction offers rare books, art and collectible exclusives.
- CBLDF also appears at SDCC panels on comics censorship, collecting law, manga bans, reinvention and free expression.
This year’s Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s San Diego Comic-Con Welcome Party will be held again at the Westgate Hotel, on the Thursday of the show from 8pm to midnight (possibly longer if you are hanging around.) And for 2026, sponsored by Mad Cave Studios, Ignition Press, GlobalComix, Kickstarter, and CGC, again bringing together creators, publishers, retailers, media, and fans to celebrate comics while raising funds to fight comic book censorship cases.
The first 100 attendees through the door will receive a gift bag featuring a copy of Mister Nemo #1 Cover A by Duncan Rouleau, courtesy of Mad Cave Studios, along with one of four books from Ignition Press: Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #1 Ignition Exclusive Cover by Jeremy Haun, Voyeur #1 Ignition Exclusive Cover by Tula Lotay, Murder Podcast #1 Cover by Shaun Martinbrough, or Roots of Madness #1 Ignition Exclusive Cover by Karen Darboe. Additional gift bag items in the gift bags will include CGC Premium Memberships (which include $150 in submission credit), CGC luggage tags, 25th Anniversary CGC pins, and other surprises!
Guests will have the opportunity to bid on an lineup of exclusive silent auction items donated by creators, publishers, and industry partners. Confirmed donations include a Conan statue courtesy of Heroic Signatures, and several exclusive contributions from Mad Cave Studios, including a complete set of Speed Racer #1-5 limited edition metal variant covers, an autographed Pop Kill #1 limited edition metal variant by Marguerite Sauvage, and a signed Battlecats Omnibus hardcover, a CGC Signature Series 9.8 graded Krypto the Last Dog of Krypton #1, signed and sketched by Dan Mora, Original Art from Local Man by Tim Seeley, a CGC-graded classic from the censored EC line, and other collectible items.
Ahead of the event, Mad Cave Studios and Ignition Press will each host a special Whatnot livestream to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, offering an exclusive preview of select silent auction items along with exclusive collectibles available for purchase in support of the CBLDF. Mad Cave Studios’ livestream, hosted by Kyle Grimes, begins at 7 PM PST, followed by Ignition Press’ livestream, hosted by Daniel Crary, at 7:30 PM PST.
Admission to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Annual San Diego Comic-Con Welcome Party is $40, with all proceeds from admission and the silent auction directly supporting the organisation. During the show, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund will be at Booth #1629. And will attend the following panels…
- Trials and Triumphs: 40 Years of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund 12pm Thursday Room 11. Forty years ago, the comics community joined together to reverse the conviction of a comic shop manager in Illinois for selling books now considered classics. As the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund prepares for yet another trial, interim director Jeff Trexler, underground comics legend and CBLDF founder Denis Kitchen, former DC Comics publisher and CBLDF board member Paul Levitz, attorney and former CBLDF board member Louise Nemschoff, and current CBLDF board members Bob Wayne (former VP, DC Comics) and Dale Cendali (partner, Kirkland and Ellis), and others look at the cases the CBLDF has handled since its founding and the central role of comic art in making its work possible.
- Absolute Crisis: Relaunching Comics and the First Amendment 1pm Thursday, Room 11Relaunching the universe is a regular occurrence in comic books and films, with reimagined heroes and innovative approaches to storytelling offering new connections to a changing world. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Jeff Trexlerand Dale Cendali (partner, Kirkland and Ellis), pathbreaking attorney Brian Chase, and other thought leaders explore what can be learned from relaunches and reboots in the fight for free expression through the comic arts. Are First Amendment rights enough to defend comics from the latest wave of censorship? Do graphic novels and manga require special protections beyond other types of books? And were the Founding Fathers the real creators of the generational crisis event? In this panel, laws will live, laws will die, and the world will never be the same.
- The Law of Collecting 12pm Friday, Room 11There’s more to collecting comics, toys, games, and memorabilia than grading condition and what they are worth. What are the legal limits of showing other people what you own? Does owning original art come with any intellectual property rights? What are creators owed when their art is resold? And what can law enforcement do to help when a collection is stolen? The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Jeff Trexler, Bob Wayne, and Dale Cendali, along with attorneys and collectors Mark Zaid and Brian Chase, answer these questions and more.
- Anime, Manga, and K-Comics Censorship 1pm Friday, Room 11From a surge in restrictions at schools and libraries to import prohibitions, cross-border content restrictions, widespread debanking, and a new wave of arrests, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has faced a number of challenges to anime, manga, and K-comics. In this panel, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Jeff Trexler, manga expert and senior manga/webtoons/anime editor for Comics Beat and K-Comics Beat Deb Aoki, and researcher and USC Annenberg doctoral student Samantha Tecson discuss the latest trends in censorship affecting these immensely popular works and the extent to which the First Amendment can protect them.
- What Now?! Comics Censorship in Schools and Libraries 3pm Friday, Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library. Comic books are under attack in schools and libraries across the country. This panel covers the latest threats, what is being done, what to know, and ways to help protect the freedom to read comics. Featuring Jeff Trexler (interim director, CBLDF), Gamal Hennessy (comic book attorney), Moni Barrette (comics librarian), and Mary Ellen Stout (lecturer, SDSU), with a surprise guest creator.
- Wertham’s Revenge: Mental Health, Media, and What Kids Should Read 12pm Saturday, Room 11Fredric Wertham‘s infamous claim back in the 1950s that comics are harmful to kids’ mental health has returned. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’sJeff Trexler, CBLDF board member and former DC Comics VPBob Wayne, and forensic psychiatrist Vasilis Pozios explore the revival of this argument in the new wave of comics censorship, what recent lawsuits targeting kids’ content online could mean for all comics-related media, and how new research can help us understand why comics are actually a force for good.
- The Comic Art of David Lynch 1pm Saturday, Room 11Iconic director David Lynch is best known for his films and Twin Peaks, but he was also an accomplished artist, including in the comic arts. Comics creator Matt Haley (unpublished Twin Peaks season 3 graphic novel), author and former Los Angeles Reader editor Dan Barton, author and professor Michael Dooley, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Jeff Trexler discuss Lynch’s comics and cartoons, connections to comics in Lynch’s films, and Lynch’s influence on comics, manga, anime, and fandom. From The Angriest Dog in the World and the animated web series Dumbland to the quest for justice in a creative multiverse, the panel examines what can be learned from Lynch’s dreams.
- Brand New Day: Comics and the Art of Reinvention 8.30pm Saturday, Room 7AB
From Spider-Man’s “Brand New Day” to Marvel’s Ultimates, DC’s Absolute line, and countless reboots in between, comics have long been the medium of reinvention—erasing marriages, rewriting origins, and reimagining icons for new eras. But what drives these creative resets? How do fans react when beloved characters are remade, and what can the psychology of change in comics teach us about navigating change in our own lives? Freelance editor and author Joseph P. Illidge, forensic psychiatrist Vasilis K. Pozios, M.D., child and forensic psychiatrist Praveen Kambam, M.D., and Wayne State University School of Social Work doctoral student and graduate research assistant Mackenzie Sprecher, M.S.W., take a lively look at the art and impact of reinvention in comics—from the storytelling logic behind big swings to the fierce fandom debates that follow. Along the way, the panel explores why letting characters change, and letting ourselves change with them, might be one of comics’ most enduring superpowers. Moderated by attorney Jeff Trexler (interim director, CBLDF).
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