The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) has named Christina Merkler as President by a unanimous vote of its board of directors. Merkler is the co-founder of Discount Comic Book Service, one of the nation’s largest comic book retail companies.  

Merkler joins new board officers Vice President Chris Powell, VP - Retailer Services at Diamond Comics Distributors; Treasurer Ted Adams, Founder of IDW; and Secretary Dale Cendali, Partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

“There’s never been a more important time to protect the First Amendment rights of the comic book community,” Merkler said. “As President, I look forward to working closely with the CBLDF board and the staff to continue the organization’s important work in supporting comic book retailers, creators, educators and librarians whose First Amendment rights are being challenged.”

CBLDF's current at-large directors are Jeff Abraham, Jennifer L. Holm, Reginald Hudlin, Katherine Keller, Paul Levitz, and Gene Luen Yang. Christina Merkler succeeds Larry Marder as President, who retired from the board at San Diego Comic Con, along with Vice-President Milton Griepp, and board member Jeff Smith.