in the United States to be convicted for obscenity for artwork.
My letter from Mr. Diana is dated October 21, 1994.
More below...
Back in the 1990's when I was self publishing my Zine ___; and networking in that amazing group of people, I became aware a comic book artist had managed to attract the attention of the FBI and sundry ignorant buffoons running the circus in Pinellas County, FL, with his self published comic Boiled Angel. The artist's name is Mike Diana.
Now, if you are familiar with Diana's work, you quickly understand why some people are offended by his work. I find some of his work brilliant and some of it offensive-- but this is totally irrelevant when it comes to the First Amendment.
Here's what happened... few people knew of Diana's comics at first... until some happened to be found in the possession of a suspected killer from Gainesville, Florida. The FBI tracked down Diana at his mother's home, let him know he was a suspect in the murder case, and took DNA samples. testing on these samples indicated Diana was not connected to the murder. the FBI then forwarded their info on to Pinellas County. not sure why that was necessary, but that is what they did.
Later, after Diana had printed Boiled Angel #7 and 8 (the final issue of that series) and a new graphic novel called Sourball Prodigy, he received a total of ten letters from a police officer named Michael Flores. Flores was posing as a fellow artist who had just moved to Largo from Fort Lauderdale and requested copies of Diana's books. Flores insisted in his letters that he was not a policeman, and despite declining to meet Diana in person,[3] Diana obliged him with copies of his comics.[7] In 1992 the Assistant State's Attorney, Stuart Baggish, later came across the books and sent Diana a certified letter that said he was being charged with obscenity,[5] pursuant to Florida Statute § 847.011(1): once for publishing the material, once for distributing it, and once for advertising it.
Diana contacted the non-profit First Amendment organization the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which provided him with a lawyer, Luke Lirot, and paid Diana's legal fees,[9] which would later total $10,000.[6] Lirot argued that Flores' letters constituted entrapment,[3] but failed to get the case summarily dismissed, or to get the case moved to Tampa, where he and Diana felt they would get a better chance at a fair jury. They went to trial the following year, in March 1994,[9] in Pinellas County Court.
Knowing Mr. Diana was broke (like most artists with
balls) I sent him $50 bucks and a copy of my latest Zine... he would later do cover art for a subsequent issue.
He responded with a one page, hand written letter and a copy of the first issue of his new comic Superfly.. which is excellent. Some of what he wrote: "Thanks also for the $money you sent. I spent it on one of my probation visits. I still owe $200 to the state for my fine. I'm now off probation until the outcome of the appeal".
Thus at the least I can say I helped an artist get thru some total bullshit which in our nation he should not have to go thru.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...