By Christopher Baggett
Oni Press has announced details for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s (CBLDF) Welcome Party & Art Auction ahead of San Diego Comic-Con.
This year’s fundraiser is called Fight Censorship, Read Comics!, and will feature new thematic artwork commissioned for the event.
Oni Press Presents The Annual CBLDF Welcome Party & Art Auction 2023
Annual Fundraising Event to Begin FIGHT CENSORSHIP, READ COMICS! Initiative, Featuring New Works by Maia Kobabe, Matt Kindt, and Gabriel Bá & Fábio Moon
In partnership with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), Oni Press – the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book publisher – is proud to announce its sponsorship of this year’s annual CBLDF Welcome Party & Art Auction on Thursday, July 20th at The Westgate Hotel in San Diego, CA.
In tandem with the annual fundraising event that draws hundreds of comics industry creators, publishers, educators, and advocates each year, Oni Press will be using the occasion to debut a new initiative in support of the CBLDF entitled FIGHT CENSORSHIP, READ COMICS! and unveil several new pieces of artwork commissioned specifically for the new initiative from an array of prominent artists and featuring the graphic design of award-winning, London-based designer Tom Muller (House of X), including:
Alex Award Winner
MAIA KOBABE
(Gender Queer)
Eisner & Harvey Award Nominee
MATT KINDT
(Mind MGMT, BRZRKR)
Eisner Award Winners
GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
(Daytripper)
Free for CBLDF members and the general public with a suggested voluntary donation at the door to support the CBLDF’s ongoing work in supporting the cause of free speech and creative expression, the annual party will be hosted at The Westgate Hotel’s Terrace Under the Stars from 8 pm to 12 midnight PT. (An SDCC badge is NOT required to attend.) On behalf of Oni Press, the first 50 attendees will receive a free “Secret Edition” variant cover of the latest issue of the publisher’s science-fiction anthology, XINO #2, featuring artwork by rising star Nick Cagnetti (Pink Lemonade); while the first 200 will receive a free FIGHT CENSORSHIP, READ COMICS! two-piece button set:
XINO #2 “Secret Edition” Variant
Cover Art by Nick Cagnetti
Free for the First 50 Attendees!
FIGHT CENSORSHIP, READ COMICS! Button Set
Logo Design by Tom Muller
Free for the First 200 Attendees!
The evening’s festivities will also feature the return of the CBLDF’s annual San Diego Comic-Con Silent Art Auction, featuring comic art and other collectibles donated by a wide array of supporting contributors from the worlds of comics, video games, and entertainment:
ABRAMS COMICARTS | BECKY CLOONAN | DARK HORSE COMICS | DEVOLVER DIGITAL & GOOD SHEPHERD | DSTLRY | DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT | JUSTIN GREENWOOD | IDW ENTERTAINMENT | MARIA WOLF LOPEZ | ONI PRESS | VALHALLA ENTERTAINMENT
During the evening’s events, Oni Press will also be offering 50 signed copies of the GENDER QUEER: DELUXE EDITION hardcover with a bookplate signature by creator Maia Kobabe with all funds benefiting the CBLDF. High-quality, 11×17″ prints of Kobabe’s FIGHT CENSORSHIP, READ COMICS! illustration will also be available at the Oni booth (#1829) through the week with a portion of all proceeds benefiting the CBLDF.
“Each day brings another reminder that we’re in the midst of a generational surge in challenges to comics nationwide, but thanks to the support of the entire comics community, we know we’re going to win,” said Jeff Trexler, Interim Director of the CBLDF. “All of us here at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund are grateful to Oni Press for its generous sponsorship of this year’s CLBDF Welcome Party and Art Auction – and for its unwavering commitment to protecting freedom of expression through the comic arts!”
“Yet again, the comics industry finds itself battling an incessant wave of censorship dedicated to stifling creativity, marginalizing creators, and diminishing the impact of comics and graphic novels with the power to change minds and lives,” said Hunter Gorinson, Oni Press Publisher & President. “In 1954, in 1986, and again in our present moment, our medium has faced this same reckless compulsion many times – but now, more than ever, it’s vital that all corners of the global comics community come together to reject the impulse toward censorship that has risen up to target important works like GENDER QUEER and many dozens more. Thanks to the ardent support and unrelenting work of the CBLDF, we know it will not succeed.”
Oni Press‘s support of the CBLDF‘s signature San Diego event follows months of unprecedented legal challenges to graphic novels and other forms of comic art that have now spread through more than a dozen states. Maia Kobabe’s award-winning graphic memoir, Gender Queer, has been placed at the epicenter of many of these challenges at the state and local level and was previously the subject of a Virginia obscenity lawsuit, which was successfully defended by the CBLDF and ruled to be unconstitutional in 2022. Oni Press is proud to reciprocate the CBLDF‘s support at this critical time in the history of free speech for the comics medium.
In addition to the fundraiser, Oni has announced a new series, Invasive, from Cullen Bunn and Jesús Hervás. Invasive is a four-issue mini-series that aims to be the “ultimate statement on what a horror comic should be.”
SDCC 2023: Oni Press Presents INVASIVE #1 – A Radical New Experiment in Horror from Cullen Bunn & Jesús Hervás in December!
In an underground hospital secretly operating deep beneath the streets of a major metropolis, a radical new addiction has taken hold.
Once inside its grip, there are no rules, no oaths, and no taboos too deep to not to be broken.
The scalpel is their tool, and the alleys are their operating theater…and, together, a new class of surgeon is bent on piercing the final threshold of accepted medical orthodoxy one incision at a time.
Beyond excess, beyond ethics, beyond science…a delicate and excruciating new discipline is about to be born: the art of flesh.
Help us discover it, won’t you?
PORTLAND, OR (July 12, 2023) – Oni Press, is proud to announce INVASIVE #1 (of 4) – a terrifying new experiment in pain from Eisner Award nominee Cullen Bunn (THE SIXTH GUN, BASILISK) and acclaimed illustrator Jesús Hervás (THE EMPTY MAN), beginning in December 2023!
“INVASIVE might very well go down as Cullen Bunn’s ultimate statement on what the horror comic can and should be. As both a mystery and meditation on the addictive nature of power, INVASIVE is one of the most compelling, thought-provoking, and genuinely rattling projects that I have ever had the privilege to shepherd forward,” said Oni Press President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson. “We can’t share too much for fear of spoiling what Cullen and Jesús have planned, except to say this: No matter what you think…you are not ready.”
“INVASIVE is a thing of nightmare. For me, literally,” said Cullen Bunn. “The initial seed of the idea sprang from a terrifying nightmare that startled me awake in the dark. While developing the idea, I was beset by even more nightmares. And while writing it? You guessed it. Nightmares. It’s a book that worries and haunts me, and I think it represents a bit of a signpost in the road of my approach to horror in general. I believe that in the years to come, it will be thought of as one of my most disturbing stories.”
Look for more details about INVASIVE to be revealed in the months ahead…and, in the meantime, Oni Press is offering backers of the currently ongoing SIXTH GUN DELUXE OMNIBUS LIBRARY campaign on Kickstarter a special look ahead at the upcoming series! In tandem with this announcement, Oni Press is revealing a secret Stretch Goal for the ongoing campaign collecting the entirety of Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt‘s action-adventure masterwork with the INVASIVE #1 ASHCAN – a top-secret, limited-edition bonus item that will be automatically awarded to all physical backers at the Tier 3 level or higher!
Visit THE SIXTH DELUXE OMNIBUS LIBRARY here and look for INVASIVE #1 (of 4) – coming in December, only from Oni Press!
INVASIVE #1 (of 4)
Written by Cullen Bunn
Art & Cover by Jesús Hervás
$4.99 | 32 pgs. | COMING IN DECEMBER!
Oni has also announces its SDCC signing and merchandise offerings, including booth events and panels for its biggest properties.
SDCC 2023: Oni Press Unveils Exclusives & Signing Schedule for Comic-Con International in San Diego
Featuring Exclusive, Limited-Edition Variants and More from Charlie Adlard, Nick Cagnetti, David Aja, Maia Kobabe, Maria Wolf Lopez, LySandra Vuong, and More!
Oni Press – the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book and graphic novel publisher – is proud to announce its upcoming slate of guests, signings, and exclusives for Comic Con International 2023 in San Diego, CA!
From Wednesday, July 19 through Sunday, July 23, visit Oni Press at Booth #1829 for daily signings from a cast of special guests signing daily, including Nick Cagnetti (PINK LEMONADE), Matt Lesniewski (XINO), LySandra Vuong (COVENANT), and the team behind this year’s Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel sensation CHEF’S KISS: Jarrett Melendezand Danica Brine!
In tandem with the show, Oni is unveiling more than a dozen limited-edition San Diego exclusives for current and upcoming titles including COVENANT, LAMENTATION, PINK LEMONADE, RICK AND MORTY VS. CTHULHU, SEASON OF THE BRUJA, XINO, and more from an stunning cast of all-star talents, such as Charlie Adlard (THE WALKING DEAD), Nick Cagnetti (PINK LEMONADE), David Aja (HAWKEYE), Maia Kobabe (GENDER QUEER), Maria Wolf Lopez (SABRETOOTH), LySandra Vuong (COVENANT), and more!
Plus: Limited-edition items from the “FIGHT CENSORSHIP, READ COMICS!” Initiative, benefitting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF)!
Looking for free giveaways? Oni has you covered there, too – debuting first at Comic Con International 2023, get your hands on the RICK AND MORTY: THE MANGA SUPER SNEAK PREVIEW, spotlighting 10+ pages of Rick and Mory’s new manga-inspired adventure coming this fall!
Plus: Get the jump on Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Jay Stephen’s long-awaited return to Oni Press with DWELLINGS – coming to stores this August – with three collectible, “cut and fold” character masks debuting on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday while supplies last!
Ready to see what’s next for Oni Press? Make sure not to miss the Oni Press: Counterculture for Comics Culture panel on Thursday, July 20th at 11:00am in Room 28DE where publisher Hunter Gorinson and editor-in-chief Sierra Hahn will be joined by an all-star cast of creators including Nick Cagnetti (Pink Lemonade), Zander Cannon (Kaijumax), Melissa Flores (XINO), LySandra Vuong (Covenant), and 2023 Eisner award-nominees Jarrett Melendez & Danica Brine (Chef’s Kiss) as they discuss building on Oni’s 25-year legacy of publishing provocative comics and reveal a ton of all-new announcements!
Miss any of our earlier SDCC ’23 coverage? Find it all here!
