Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, georgia, legends

Gordon Lee Passes, Aged 54

Published Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:17:51 -0600

Last updated Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:29:33 -0600

Photo: Gordon Lee with Melinda Gebbie

Gordon Lee, much loved owner and manager of comic store Legends Comics in Georgia, passed away earlier today, after suffering a series of strokes.

Popular retailer, Lee has a few brushes with the law during his time as a comic store owner since the nineteen eighties and made headlines as a result.

In 1993 he was convicted of "distributing obscene materials" after selling porn comics Final Tabu and Debbie Does Dallas to adult customers, though his sentence was suspended and he paid just $250, appeals denied by the Georgia courts.

He was also arrested in 2004 after his store gave a copy of Alternative Comics #2 away to a minor during Free Comic Book Day, which featured a small panel with a naked Picasso. The CBLDF funded his defense, most charges were dropped and a series of delays were made to the trial, and the identity of the minor amended, and a mistrial claimed for, in 2008 the case was dismissed without trial.

As a result of these charges, other Georgia retailers stated that they would be less likely to carry controversial comics, such as Lost Girls. But as the photo above shows, Lee wasn't one of them.

His third brush with the law was on the other side of the fence, chasing down two shoplifters, jumping on the hood of their car, and being thrown off. The two women and their male driver were charged.

It is understood that Lee recently made arrangements to sell the store's stock to cover funeral costs.

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