Spotting a CFD bootleg part 1 - By Joe Linsner #josephmichaellinsner #linsner

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Hey Folks,

 Copies of the old CRY FOR DAWN #1 bootleg have popped up again.  This is a nightmare for everyone -- readers, collectors, and most of all, me.  I've spent over $10,000 on lawyers in the past trying to get to the bottom of who ripped me off, and to get these out of the marketplace. Kristina has been on the front lines recovering copies, and helping me cut through the mess.  It gets pretty sickening.

It is heartbreaking seeing someone's smiling face drop when they come to me at a con asking me to sign what they think is a real CFD #1 and I have to tell them the sad truth -- that they got robbed and bought a bootleg.  A dark cloud of shame falls over them,  "I got ripped off for SO MUCH MONEY!"  You and me both, friend.  And I'm still paying for it.

UPON MY LAWYERS ADVICE, I cannot sign a bootleg because signing it would authenticate it.

To make matters worse, the CGC has 'authenticated' a few of these marked 'counterfeit' as collectibles.  Great job, CGC.  "Yes, this is an authentic fake -- genuinely ingenuine." That really makes them look classy.  Do they really need every penny offered to them?  I assumed that the CGC was bigger than that --  I guess I was wrong.  I've seen these slabbed counterfeits show up for sale on eBay. (It is against Ebay rules to knowingly list counterfeit merchandise).  That is a big FUCK YOU to everyone.  All the CGC cares about is getting their cash for grading and slabbing it.

Some blabbermouth found these on eBay when an unsuspecting seller listed them as real.  Instead of coming to me, he aided in helping to get at least 10 of the recent bootlegs into the hands of other collectors, and is going around online shooting his mouth off with an UNAUTHORIZED CFD fan site.  Proclaiming that he is an expert on my work and offering to 'authenticate' my printed materials.  In truth, he is just an over zealous fan who swipes my work in his photoshopped digital art disasters modeled after Dawn.  He knows nothing.

Any "fan" who feels like their collection is not complete until they have a copy of the bootleg is not a true fan of comics.  Sadly, I cannot choose who likes my work.  It would be a very different world if I could.  I am sure those 'completists' are the same ones who complain that I take too long to produce new material. Well, dealing with nightmares like this saps my time, money and my enthusiasm.  On days when the counterfeit CFD crosses my path, I just sit in my my studio and ask myself why the fuck do I bother?

I do the work because I love the work.  Seeing it in print and sharing it with people who enjoy it is a wonderful plus.  But when the vampires take a little too much without giving anything back in return ...

On days like this, I think about leaving comics.

Joe Linsner


This is the first part of a series where I will discuss the bootleg, and how you can tell them apart.  Do not trust the CGC or any other fan site that claims to be an authority on the matter of my works.  I have seen more copies of the real Cry For Dawn #1 than anyone else on earth.  I know just how much the ink varies from copy to copy, and can tell a real from a fake in a heartbeat -without authoring a verbose  and speculative lecture on it.

#josephmichalelinsner #linsner #cryfordawn #dawn #churchofdawn #comics #bootleg