The Four Color Media Monitor

WECT6 News reports police at Sunset Beach are investigating an incident where a copy of Grendel was given out to children for a Halloween event, even though it's not suited for them:

The Sunset Beach Police Department is investigating after an inappropriate comic was handed out to children at the department’s trunk-or-treat event.

According to SBPD, a participant at the event handed out comics containing material not appropriate for children.

The participant was registered for the event but is not affiliated with the Town of Sunset Beach, says SBPD.

“We understand how concerning and upsetting these images may be to families,” said SBPD in a Facebook post. “If your child received a comic book, please review it before allowing them to have it.”

SBPD states it is actively investigating the situation. Anyone who has materials from the event that appear inappropriate should contact SPBD.

Good grief, so a potentially adult comic was distributed to children at a police precinct? An example of how even law enforcement can be very irresponsible. Who knows how violent the comics in question could be? That's one of the most definite reasons not to give such a comic to kiddies.

With that told, it's now been reported by the same outlet a woman who owns a specialty store handed out the unsuitable comics:

The Sunset Beach Police Department has charged a woman after she allegedly handed out an inappropriate comic book during a trunk-or-treat event.

According to a post on the Sunset Beach Police Department’s Facebook page, Kathleen Lincoln was charged with felony obscene literature and exhibition. [...]

According to Lincoln’s Facebook page, she’s the owner of Marvelous Issues Comic Shop in Sunset Beach.

“We want to be clear, the safety and wellbeing of every child and family who attends our community events will always come first. Trunk or Treat has been one of our favorite community traditions for many years. It’s supposed to be a safe, fun night for families and we are deeply disturbed by this incident. We have always trusted that the registered participants would respect the safety and well-being of our children,” said the police department.

So somebody in the very profession of selling was responsible for this? That certainly gives the business a bad name. One can only wonder if the same people who make these mistakes would be willing to offer the same comics at an event for grownups by contrast. Let's hope this serves as a lesson for specialty store managers not to take actions that could embarrass the business. It's bad enough there's far too many comics out there now that're unsuitable for children without even providing educational value for the right reasons. That a comics store owner would do this only makes the situation worse.

Labels: conventions, indie publishers, sales, violence