In advance of this summer’s American Library Association (ALA) Conference in Philadelphia, PA, Oni Press has unveiled its next Pre-Order Exclusive Merch Collection celebrating the best-selling graphic novel Gender Queer and the work of cartoonist Maia Kobabe as part of the publisher’s ongoing Fight Censorship, Read Comics initiative.  A portion of all proceeds will benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) and the Florida Freedom to Read Project (FFTRP).

Oni’s new collection features more than 15 items and multiple all-new, never-before-seen pieces, including a brand-new Gender Queer t-shirt design by Kobabe, available in three distinct colorways curated by the artist (available in sizes in XS – XXXL) – each hand silkscreened in the United States on super-soft Comfort Colors shirts. The Fight Censorship, Read Comics Pre-Order Exclusive Merch Collection also features Gender Queer patches, enamel pins, and keychains, alongside limited-edition signed and numbered editions of the Gender Queer: Deluxe Edition hardcover bearing signatures by Kobabe and high-quality, 18×24” giclee prints featuring the artist’s powerful “Fight Censorship, Read Comics” artwork (available in both signed and unsigned editions).

Available exclusively online at OniPress.com, ardent fans and readers can place pre-orders beginning today through Friday, August 20th with fulfillment to begin in September. Oni will also be making select, advance editions for some items available for early sale at San Diego Comic-Con in July. 

Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, while award winning and praised, has also been caught in the conflagration of unprecedented legal challenges to graphic novels and other forms of comic art across more than a dozen states. Kobabe’s work has repeatedly placed at the epicenter of many of these challenges at the state and local level and was previously the subject of a Virginia obscenity lawsuit, which was successfully defended by the CBLDF and ruled to be unconstitutional in 2022. Since that time, the Los Angeles Times has dubbed Gender Queer “the most banned book in American schools,” and in 2025, it was named by the American Library Association as the #2 most challenged title in library systems nationwide. 

Kobabe and Oni Press are reciprocating the CBLDF and FFTRP’s support at this critical time in the history of free speech for the comics medium. Later this month, Kobabe will be appearing as a Special Guest of Oni Press at the annual American Library Association (ALA) Conference in Philadelphia, PA from June 26–30, 2025, alongside half a dozen fellow writers and illustrators from Oni’s stable of award-winning creators.