I wrote about my 2010 CBLDF/TFAW contribution a few weeks ago and here is the rest of the story. The email sent to solicit the art community's participation will help explain it to you:
Last year, Things From Another World and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund teamed up with you and other fantastic comics professionals to help raise more than $30,000 for the CBLDF’s annual auction at San Diego Comic-Con. Now we would like to ask you to participate in our Second Annual SDCC Autograph Card/CBLDF Auction event by generously donating an original piece of art to this effort.
We’re already off to an excellent start this year! We are thrilled to announce the participation of our flagship partner, Image Comics, one of the premier comic book publishers in the nation. The stellar folks at Image Comics are serious about supporting the CBLDF, and they are kicking things off with donations of art from many of their colossally talented creators!
However, we are determined to pack this event with every one of our favorite creators, and we hope that will include you! It's a wonderful way to support the First Amendment rights of the comics community while promoting your signings in San Diego.
As with last year, we are asking artists to create original works of art to donate to the CBLDF auction at San Diego Comic-Con. In exchange, you will receive 500 free limited-edition autograph cards of your sketch to distribute in San Diego, and we will also give out additional copies of your autograph cards at our booth during the Con.
I think this idea of TFAW's is sheer genius.
Under the guidance of Andrew McIntire, Elisabeth Forsythe, and the TFAW crew this project ended up making a substantial contribution to CBLDF though the auctioning of our original art.
I hate to admit that I totally forgot about this until Saturday at noon when I was signing copies of Fractured Fables at the Image booth and saw a stack of someone else's cards sitting on the table next to me and realized I had not received my stack of cards.
No worries.
A quick flurry of texts uncovered the mystery--my cards had been mis-delivered to the Dark Horse booth.
Soon I had the cards in hand along with a nifty new CBLDF donation box with the "Look! I'm customized!" card tucked into it.
Folks started dropping their contributions into the slot and I started whipping out cards--each modified and personalized according the the contributors wishes. Often I'd ask for an emotion and was glad to serve up whatever came into my mind.
During slow times, I'd prepare a few in advance so Cory could keep the ball rolling when I was away from the table doing panels and the like. they are showcased in a new gallery you can find here.
Lots of fun.
Simple to do.
Each card is something that isn't quite an original drawing and isn't quite a print.
Isn't quite this and isn't quite that is about as Beanworld as you can get--don't you think?
Customized card tweeted by Chris Blanchard
" My Comic Con gift from @larrymarder via my brother."