December 16th, 2005 Aspen MLT Inc. Wildstorm v. Aspen Battle Benefits CBLDF! Two titanic comic studios. Eight colossal artists. Wildstorm's Jim Lee, Ale Garza, Carlos D'anda, and Richard Friend faced off against Aspen's Michael Turner, Marcus To, Koi Turnbull, and Micah Gunnell in the art battle of the year, all to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Now you can own the pieces! Starting today on eBay, the CBLDF is proud to offer all eight pieces from the Aspen v. Wildstorm Iron Gelatomettista art jams. Originally waged throughout the Fall on Wildstorm's Gelatometti blog, this Iron Gelatomettista battle gave each artist one hour to belt out their best drawing of fan-favorite characters. No punches were pulled as each studio put their all into each of these knockout pieces! Iron Gelatomettista chief Ale Garza explains, "This was our first challenge against another studio and it was a WILD ride to the very end! All the battles were really close and with the final contest between Jim and Mike weighted with two points, we were all excited to see how it was gonna end!" "Aspen was honored to be the first studio to go up against the Wildstorm guys and help bring some more attention to a worthy cause," says Vince Hernandez, Aspen's editorial director. He adds, "Having the guys here draw something in an hour and knowing that fans everywhere will get to choose their favorite is like being on stage in front of a big audience, plus there's also that rush of adrenaline pushing them all the way. Hopefully, the money raised from this will keep that positive momentum going. Garza adds, "The CBLDF is a great cause and the guys on the Gelatometti are all proud to show our support by donating all the art from the challenges. A lot of fun goes into each drawing and we hope that fans can not only vote on their favorites, but hopefully own them while benefiting comics in return." "The Fund is lucky to have great allies like this," says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. "It's this kind of support that gives us the funds we need to pull out the legal muscle that stops prosecutors in their tracks. This auction comes right as we're preparing funds for a court battle to defend Georgia retailer Gordon Lee, and should be a great fundraiser to help us head to victory in that case." Jim Lee - Nightcrawler & Harley Michael Turner - Nightcrawler & Harley Richard Friend - Psylocke Micah Gunnell - Psylocke Carlos D'Anda - Silver Surfer & Darkseid Koi Turnbull - Silver Surfer & Darkseid Alé Garza - Colossus & Wolverine Marcus To - Colossus & Wolverine