I’m donating this page from Shazam! MSoE #1 to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

The CBLDF protects our rights to free expression in comics, and it's a cause that I feel very strongly about. Right now they need our help, because in August they're going to court to defend Gordon Lee, a retailer in Georgia who could go to jail for up to 2 years because of a comic that showed a true-life scene of Picasso walking around in the nude. Maybe not something you’d purposely hand a kid, but  I’ve seen the comic and it isn’t porn or harmful to children.  Even so, Gordon didn’t realize the scene was in the book, and he has apologized.  This is just the tip of the iceberg on this case, and you can learn all the details by visiting cbldf.org.

I don't sell my original art, and I’ve never donated an interior story page to anything before, but this case against comics must not succeed.  No one should go to jail for selling art.

The Fund has spent $80,000 to date defending Gordon, and they expect the trial to cost another $20,000 on top of it.  This is unconscionable.  Right now everyone who cares about free speech in comics needs to stand up for Gordon's freedom. 

So I'm asking you, all of my fellow artists, to do something:  Please send a page of art or a script, anything the Fund can auction off to raise dollars for this campaign.

Jim Lee is donating this piece of art:

You can read his Open Letter at his blog.

Please join me & Jim and give a piece of art to the Fund for their San Diego auctions.  To donate art, please email Charles Brownstein or Greg Thompson at CBLDF1@gmail.com and tell them what you're sending.  To make it to the Fund's online auction catalog, send your donation notification and a jpg of your piece in by Sunday, July 15 so they can add it in.  They'll let you know where to send the original.

 If you can't make it to Comic-Con, you can still bid on any of the  pieces.  Here's the scoop on that, straight from the CBLDF:

"Online bids will be accepted starting Monday, July 16 until Friday, July 27, 10:00 PM PST. All bids must be emailed to info@cbldf.org with "CCI SD AUCTION BID" in the subject line.   This is not a silent auction bidding system. All bids placed online will be used as opening bids during the live auction on Saturday, July 28. In the event there are multiple bids on the same item, the highest bid will be the one accepted.  Bid amounts placed online will not be disclosed before the item is auctioned. Winning bidders will be notified by email the week following the convention.  Payment is expected within 7 days from said email."

(Updated July 17: To see the full auction with pictures visit the auction page.)

However you can help, now is the time to do it.  The Fund has been standing up for comics for over 20 years.  It's our turn to stand up for them.  Please join me in making a difference.

Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil #4 ships next week on Wednesday, July 18. I'm having trouble finding images I can show because every panel gives too much away! Stop back on Friday for our last Shazam Production Journal, and our last Monster Egg. See you then!

The process of making a new cover starts with a few loose sketches.  Steve Hamaker suggested Fone Bone and Smiley sneaking up the rim of the ancient Rat Creature temple, and I thought the image was so strong, that I drew four different angles of just that one idea. 

David Saylor, my editor at Scholastic, liked sketch C the best, but suggested making Fone and Smiley bigger, like they are in sketch D. The result is the new cover!

There you have it. 

Bone 6: Old Man's Cave starts shipping to bookstores this week.