Ted Rall Lawsuit
Hellman has been described as a "veteran prankster". Following an August 3, 1999 Village Voice cover story criticizing Maus author Art Spiegelman by editorial cartoonist Ted Rall, Hellman created an email list called "Rallsballs@onelist.com" and sent two sets of emails impersonating Rall to at least 35 cartoonists and editors, including one former employer of Rall. Rall eventually retaliated by filing a lawsuit, claiming among other things, libel, lost employment opportunities and emotional distress, and asking damages of US$ 1.5 million. Eventually four of Rall's five claims were dismissed, leaving only libel per se. As of February 2005, the case had not gone to trial.
To defray legal costs, Hellman began in 2000 to publish a comics anthology series, Legal Action Comics Volumes One & Two (2000 and 2004), which features work from many alternative comics artists including Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, and Tony Millionaire. Hellman edited and published a new anthology in July 2008 entitled Typhon.
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