As Banned Books Week draws to a close, let us pay one final tribute to our friends at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. The First Amendment-defending non-profit is preparing to issue its Liberty Annual benefit comic ahead of next week's New York Comic Con, and it's a doozy, featuring original works by some of the biggest names in independent cartooning.

Edited by CLBDF Deputy Director Alex Cox and distributed by Image Comics, the annual features a trio of covers by artists Tom Fowler, Duncan Fegredo, and Vanesa R. Del Ray and contributions by beloved artists like Art Spiegelman, Peter Bagge, Eric Powell, and Evan Dorkin.

The Fund was kindly enough to offer up a couple of previews from Spiegelman, Bagge, and Jeffrey Brown. Heads-up, readers with easily offended sensibilities will want to sit this one out. No one ever said the battle for free speech would be a pretty one.

The annual will be available next week for $4.99 though Comixology, mail order, and comics shops. The proceeds benefit the organization's work to defend artistic expression.