Via the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: The eyes of the comics, publishing, and Free Expression communities are focused on Rome, GA as the trial of Gordon Lee begins this morning.

Mr. Lee will stand trial for two misdemeanor counts of distributing harmful to minors material, and faces penalties of up to a year and prison and $1,000 in fines for each count if convicted. Lee’s day in court comes after nearly three years of legal proceedings arising from the Halloween 2004 distribution of Alternative Comics #2, a Free Comic Book Day sampler which featured an excerpt from the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Salon that depicted Pablo Picasso in the nude, and was allegedly handed to a minor. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has spent $80,000 on Lee’s defense since taking the case in early 2005, and anticipates this week’s trial to cost another $20,000.

Lee’s case is also being closely watched by the mainstream media for its implications on Free Expression. In the past week, stories have appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition, CourtTV, and New York Magazine, joining profiles from venues including The New York Times, The Book Standard, and Publishers Weekly.

"This case has broad consequences for all retailers of First Amendment protected material," says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. "If Gordon is found guilty, it would establish a precedent that makes the seller of any book, magazine, or film depicting non-sexual nudity vulnerable to a similar prosecution in the State of Georgia." He adds, " We’re confident that Gordon is not guilty of the charges he’s accused of, and that the work in question comes nowhere near the threshold the law requires to deem a work harmful to minors."

"It’s appalling that these charges were brought in the first place," Brownstein says. "It’s outrageous that it’s taken nearly three years, a complete change of facts by the prosecution midstream, and tens of thousands of dollars for Gordon to get his day in court. Now that we’re here, we have every confidence in our legal team of Alan Begner, Cory Begner, and Paul Cadle to wage the best defense on Gordon’s behalf. We couldn’t have done it without the overwhelming support of the comics community, whose contributions have ensured that we are able to fight back."

For a detailed summary of the case and its developments, please see Gordon Lee: The Road to Trial

To make a tax-deductible contribution to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, please visit their donations page.

Via Warren Ellis and Newsarama: Mike Wieringo, the artist well known for drawing Flash, Robin, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, Adventures of Superman, Fantastic Four, and the co-creator of Tellos and Impulse, suffered a fatal heart attack on Sunday.

Everybody in the comics industry is shocked and saddened at his sudden passing, including collaborators Peter David and Todd Dezago.

We’ll post more details about services and the like as we get them.

UPDATE 8:57 PM EDT: More kind words from Mark Waid and Karl Kesel.

Graeme McMillan of The Savage Critics discovers the single best panel of the week (see above) and reviews Batman #667. No, seriously – does anyone else think that looks like Halloween about three doors down from stately Wayne Manor?

Newsarama has two sets of pictures from Wizard World Chicago – mostly of people in costumes, natch.

Ain’t It Cool News reads the current script for the Thor movie, and likes it.

Your sign of the apocalypse of the day: bikini-clad stormtroopers. (Insert your own “Aren’t you too…to be a stormtrooper” joke here.)

Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing reviews the graphic novel Giant Robot Warriors by Stuart Moore and Ryan Kelly.

The Toronto Star reviews Warren Ellis’s novel Crooked Little Vein.

Movies Online interviews someone they called “Neil Gaimon” about the movie “StarDust.” I wonder if they asked him about his comics series Snadman, or his young readers novel Caroline? (And is he any relation to Charles Dickkens, the well-known Dutch author?)

Comics Reporter interviews Doug TenNapel, cartoonist of Black Cherry.

Greg Hatcher of Comics Should Be Good wants to write about the “Entwistles of comics.”

Neth Space reviews the new anthology The New Space Opera, edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan.

The UK SF Book News Network talked to Chris Robertson about his new novel, Set the Seas on Fire.

Yatterings reviews InterWorld, the new novel for young readers by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves.

John Scalzi of Ficlets interviews David Anthony Durham, author of Acacia.

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