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As if there weren’t already enough reason to avoid Georgia, witness the strange case of Rome, GA., comic shop owner Gordon Lee. He was hit with charges of distributing indecent material to a minor when he inadvertently gave away a preview copy of Nick Bertozzi’s new graphic novel The Salon, which has some rather tame but hilarious scenes of Georges Braque, Picasso and others romping around at various points in the buff.
Bertozzi’s book, published by St. Martin’s Press, hit shelves last week. It’s fantastic; hardly anything “indecent” about it, but rather a sly take on turn-of-the-century Paris involving a murderess, a blue-skinned tart who’s ripping the heads off modernist painters. Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo realize they may be next on the hit list and enlist Braque, Picasso, Erik Satie, Alice B. Toklas and Apollinaire to stop the murders. But don’t tell any of that to the authorities in Georgia.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund came to Lee’s defense and has already spent tens of thousands of dollars on the ongoing case. Tonight, in New York, the book’s official release party will double as a benefit for the CBLD defense fund for Lee. The event takes place at the Village Pourhouse (64 Third Ave), and a suggested donation of $20 or higher gets you in the door for open bar and food (7-8pm) with 2-for-1 Absolute drinks all night long.
Come out to support the cause and meet Bertozzi and many of his cohorts from ACT-I-VATE, the excellent New York online comics collective headed by Dean Haspiel and Dan Goldman.
For more on Bertozzi, check out this mini-documentary on Google Video on the making of The Salon, featuring interviews with Bertozzi and a detailed look at his influences and how the book came to life.
