BTW News Briefs

McCain & Obama to Get Their Own Graphic Novels

The Los Angeles Times reports that senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) are getting their own comic books. The Times said, "IDW Publishing, a comics company best known for horror titles (most notably 30 Days of Night) and adaptations of movies and television shows, is going into the beltway world by publishing Presidential Material: Barack Obama and Presidential Material: John McCain, a pair of graphic novels that chronicle the life of the two men who both want to be riding on Air Force One for four years."

Jeff Mariotte, co-owner of San Diego's Mysterious Galaxy and author of a number of graphic novels, wrote the Obama book, which is drawn by Tom Morgan. The McCain book is written by Andy Helfer and drawn by Stephen Thompson. According to the Times, both books will be priced at $3.99 and will be in stores on October 8.

L.A. Times Editors Protest Demise of Book Review

The Chicago Sun-Times blog, The Book Room, reported this week that former editors of the Los Angeles Times' Sunday Book Review are protesting the impending demise of the section as they knew it and encouraging readers and writers to protest with them.

In their letter, the editors write: "Angelenos in growing number are already choosing to cancel their subscriptions to the Sunday Times. The elimination of the Book Review, a philistine blunder that insults the cultural ambition of the city and the region, will only accelerate this process and further wound the long-term fiscal health of the newspaper."

Appeals Court Upholds Decision Striking Down COPA

On Tuesday, July 22, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower court decision striking down the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is a plaintiff in the case.

It is expected that the government will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court and it will take the case. If so, it will be the second time that the Supreme Court has reviewed COPA, and the third time it has addressed congressional efforts to censor the Internet.