Dirk Deppey has the depressing scoop on the ignominous end of the Jesus Castillo obscenity case. For those who are unaware, Castillo was arrested and convicted of obscenity charges for the “crime” of selling an adult comic book, from the adult section of his comic book store, to an adult. Why is this a “crime”? Because all comics are for kids–at least according to the Texas D.A. that prosecuted him, and all the various juries, judges, and appellate courts that heard the case. In other words, please go support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which bankrolled Castillo’s defense, an undertaking as costly as it was just.
In much less grim news, Mark Millar is previewing his four (!) upcoming titles for various publishers. I know I’ve kicked the Scotsman around a bit for Trouble (and his politics, and his press releases) but with three (!) of these new books looking like revisionist superhero tales of various stripes (one of which will feature the masterful widescreen art of JG Jones), it looks like Millar is once again playing to his quite considerable strengths. (I always liked his first arc on The Authority better than Warren Ellis’s, for example, and his Marvel titles (particularly the first arc of The Ultimates and the entire Ultimate X-Men run) are sexy, unpredictable popsplosions.)