"Black Heroes Journey" exhibit in west Philadelphia

Billy Penn at WHYY reported about an exhibition of Africa-American themed comics at the University of Pennsylvania, and a new GN about the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, which is authored by artist Eric Battle:

Some people spend decades figuring out what they want to do with their lives. Eric Battle found his calling at a corner store in West Philadelphia when he was 5.

“I can still remember the day, like it was yesterday,” said Battle, now 59.

He was walking to the store with his mother and two sisters when he discovered a comic book spinner rack in the back.

“I ran over and flipped through the comics. And it’s been a love affair ever since, but that spawned my interest in drawing and reading and everything else,” he said.

That fascination grew into a career illustrating stories for Marvel and DC Comics, children’s books and graphic novels. Now, Battle is helping explore the history of Black characters and creators in comics through “The Black Hero’s Journey,” an exhibition that opened Oct. 15 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Battle is a co-curator of the exhibition, which runs through May 13, 2027, in the Goldstein Gallery at the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. The free exhibition traces the evolution of Black comic book heroes and the people who created them, with a particular connection to Philadelphia.

For Battle, its opening also comes as he prepares for the publication of “Framing Emmett Till: Exposing Dark Fear,” a graphic novel he spent more than five years illustrating.

Written by Christopher Benson, the book follows an anonymous Black writer investigating Till’s murder. It draws on Benson’s experience working with Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, on her memoir, “Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America.”

Till was a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was abducted and murdered in 1955 after a white woman accused him of making advances toward her.

His mother insisted on an open casket at his funeral so the public could see what had been done to her son. An all-white jury acquitted the two white men charged with his murder. Till’s death and the images of his battered body helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.

Benson is a journalist, attorney and associate professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. The book is being published by Megascope, an Abrams ComicArts imprint curated by John Jennings, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, and a friend of Battle’s.

This reminds me of 6 years ago, when propagandist Heidi MacDonald was spouting leftist talking points like "believe women", even though there have been cases where false accusations are made, and the Till tragedy is one of them, right down to how the jury clearly predetermined their verdict in Mississippi. I'm sure MacDonald knows perfectly well her MO was flawed, and since that time, it's become apparent Warren Ellis, another leftist whom she threw under the bus, was not guilty of the mass "grooming" she took part in accusing him of. That doesn't mean I like his work. But to make absurdly petty issues over stuff that was otherwise consensual only ends up hurting the cause of actual victims, and let's not forget when MacDonald defended the disgraced CBLDF manager Charles Brownstein years ago.

Now to return to the subject, while Battle's got an interesting project to run in a history exhibition, I found out that, when he began working in comicdom years ago, and tried to work in the majors, he didn't have the best assignment:

To break into comics, he traveled to New York City to show editors his portfolios.

“It took quite a while before I was able to get my first job in comics, but that’s how it all really started,” Battle said.

His first Marvel assignment involved Cable, the X-Men character, in backup stories written by Jeph Loeb.

That wasn't considered the best written X-Men material produced, since it didn't have much clear direction to it, and came at a time when the cracks were forming in quality storytelling. Also, let's remember Cable, as he first appeared as an adult in 1990, was developed by the dreadful Rob Liefeld in the last 2 years of New Mutants, and Loeb later proved himself one of the most overrated writers in comicdom, recalling the Hush storyline he wrote for Batman, one of his "all style, no substance" type of approaches. So if Battle's now working more in the independents, he should be glad, considering how below rock bottom Marvel and DC became ever since. I wish him good luck with this exhibition and the GN's publication, and I also hope he'll consider that even today, there's a lot more that needs to paid attention to in modern times as well, if we're ever to improve just how bad things have become again, and that's also something that can make for important material for graphic novels/comic books. Those who wish to improve society and retain civility need to show the courage to actually deal with serious issues in modern times as much as the past.

Comics could help overcome reading gaps

That's what a professor in Texas is arguing, according to ABC7-KLTV:

As students across East Texas continue working to rebound from pandemic-era learning loss, one local educator says the secret to closing the reading gap might be found inside comic books.

Dr. Gina Doepker, a professor of literacy education at the University of Texas at Tyler, believes graphic storytelling could be an unexpected solution to helping struggling students catch up.

“If we can get students hooked on books like comics, then that is going to increase their motivation, their engagement, their skills like fluency and comprehension,” Doepker said. [...]

In a world where children grow up surrounded by smartphones and tablets, Doepker says today’s students are naturally becoming visual learners. Because of that, leaning into visual literacy through comic books and graphic novels makes practical sense.

The format helps eliminate the intimidation factor often felt when opening a text-heavy page. Whether it is fiction favorites like Marvel’s Spider-Man, Captain America, and stories about dinosaurs, or non-fiction titles explaining the U.S. Constitution, comics meet children right where their interests are.

The demand among young readers is already evident. A study by Libraries Connected found nearly 80% of libraries identified children ages 6 to 11 as their most frequent comic book borrowers.

Interesting they bring up the Constitution, because with the way the USA suffered in the past decade with cancel culture and other terrible PC issues, it's something children could definitely learn about now in comics format. Of course, bad ideologies can't be made a component of whatever comics children are expected or encouraged to read if the study's to be carried out successfully. And newer Marvel/DC comics don't make good examples for children either; some are actually too "adult" for them at this point too, like more modern Batman books. Perhaps creator-owned/independent comics would make a better choice. And if parents check the content carefully to make sure there's nothing inappropriate for children, then, things'll work out for the better.

Frank Miller tells more to the Wash. Post

One of Miller's interviewers said in one of the recent articles about him that he's got no intention of slowing down with his career, even as he's reaching 70, and as the following interview from the Washington Post makes clear, he's not done with his current promotional tour yet:

The pages of a Frank Miller work are filled with crooked cops, murderers, desperate men and unhinged dark knights. You might expect the creator behind all that darkness to be a bit gloomy himself. Maybe he would be a recluse, like his hero, “Calvin and Hobbes” creator Bill Watterson.

As it turns out, Miller seems to like people. I watched him sign hundreds of autographs at the Library of Congress’s National Book Festival in D.C. on Saturday. He was gentle, chatty and generous with his time despite the crowd overflowing past its designated space inside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Unfortunately, Miller doesn't seem to like conservatives, and one in particular by the name of Donald Trump. You could reasonably wonder if any attendants are right-wing themselves, and if they let know this, what does Miller think of them?

Miller helped redefine the modern superhero with Daredevil and Batman before creating celebrated original works such as “Sin City” and “300.” Pop milestones like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” or Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies may not exist without Frank Miller.

His book isn’t a conventional autobiography but a collection of 16 lessons Miller learned while becoming one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Those lessons include knowing your ending, getting your hero into trouble fast and pushing against whatever it is that’s keeping you from what you want to make.

The lessons also include making mistakes: Miller would sketch out many drawings for months before he finally made something that pleased the old master.

But those mistakes don't include apologizing for writing Holy Terror 7 years after its publishing, or blatant attacks on right-wingers, do they? If not, what's his point about trying to stand your ground on the subject of those who'd try to prevent you from developing what you want to make?

“It’s created new opportunities for me to speak more freely to new people who are coming up,” Miller said. “One of the real joys is for me to be looking at drawings and hearing story ideas that people are working on themselves, and to give them some advice on where to go with it.”

I wonder what he'd say to known conservatives? Or anybody who wants to tackle challenging issues? Again, that's not something dwelled upon here.

Miller writes about how his own lessons come from everywhere. He writes lovingly about Adams and his other mentor, Will Eisner, creator of “The Spirit,” but he reaches just as readily toward painters such as Francisco de Goya, Japanese manga writers like Kazuo Koike and music.

If memory serves, he wasn't so loving in his take on Eisner when he produced the American Genius documentary. After "cementing" a putdown in a recording, why now is he suddenly and seemingly talking positively about Eisner again? There was even another certain leftist who came from Israel working in video games at the convention Miller attended:

Onstage, I relayed a question to Miller from Neil Druckmann, co-creator of “The Last of Us” game series and HBO adaptation, who said his story wouldn’t exist without “Sin City.” He wanted to know how Miller selects collaborators, particularly when someone is adapting his work. How does he make sure they won’t abandon the spirit of his stories?

“Friendships,” Miller said. “Most of them come from getting to know somebody … and getting a kernel of an idea that I know would be something both of us could feed each other on.”

Wonder what that left-wing Israeli expatriate was doing there, recalling Druckmann exploited the Last of Us sequel for political propaganda? And to think, that he drew "inspiration" from a series of GNs like Miller's. It makes me think of how, not only does nobody like them seem to consider Superman inspirational material, they don't consider the Fantastic Four inspiration either. Miller may have done some illustrations for at least one story in both of the above, but as the bulk of his work since makes clear, he has a darkness problem, and so do some of the folks who say they're inspired by his work from the 1990s.

In the memoir, he describes learning to respect film and its differences from comics. His early comics success led to work as a Hollywood screenwriter. While he appreciated the medium, he would later write his biggest original book, “Sin City,” as a black-and-white novel, in the hope that it was unadaptable to film. He didn’t want it better known as a movie.

And yet, it was adapted in the mid-2000s, though the sequel was a failure, and it doesn't seem to have been revisited on celluloid since. I do think there's only so much from even standard literature that shouldn't have to be known far more cinematically, so some could wonder if Miller sadly failed to resist the tug of Hollywood influence. And then, a certain matter of defeatism comes up in the discussion again:

Before Miller’s memoir, his comics provided the clearest insight into his mind, but his book makes those thoughts explicit, including his regrets. He looks back on “Holy Terror,” a much-criticized story written out of Miller’s anger after the 9/11 attacks. He now describes it as a rant. Would he ever write another such story?

“I hope I’m never inspired to do so again,” he writes.

Miller urges readers to push walls, especially the ones he helped build. He writes that it drives him “crazy” to see that his version of Batman is now enshrined as foundational.

Once again, Miller, in a way, continues talking out of both sides of his mouth - he urges wall-pushing, but he doesn't want to push it any longer with a GN that took on a challenging issue. But what's this, does he really think it's a shame DKR's vision wound up practically ruining the general take on Bruce Wayne in comics proper? Well he sure hasn't done enough to complain about it. Probably because, as I've guessed before, he doesn't seem to care much about most other takes on Batman save for his own. And to date, I can't even recall him ever chatting about Denny O'Neil and Steve Englehart's writings.

“For one thing, the title ‘Dark Knight’ started appearing in all kinds of comic books,” Miller said in our interview. “Beyond that, he became the unpleasant superhero for a long time. I essentially felt that I was in the business of knocking down walls, and I felt like people had used my work to construct new ones.”

Interesting he should tell this, because again, by the turn of the century, DC editors were practically forcing such a personality upon the Masked Manhunter, and only now, long after Batman's potential was ruined along with countless other mainstream creations, does he have the audacity to tell us this? It's too little, too late.

One more thing I thought of regarding Miller's early writings in Daredevil is the negative take he may have had on the Punisher, and the contrasting take he had when he drew an early Wolverine miniseries co-written with Chris Claremont in 1982. Which would make Miller another scribe with a bewildering double-standard on vigilante-style characters who kill, and it's something else he may not have addressed so far, and probably never will. For now, it's a shame that Miller continues to give signs he sticks with a defeatist position, and some could wonder if his recent positive comments on a movie or two drawing from his writings is another sign of the same. And his continued veering towards the darkness, save for certain challenging issues, is another problem he's got that makes much of his resume since the 1990s so unappealing.

San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum closing, and who knows for how long?

The institution where the disgraced ex-curator Andrew Farago worked has announced on their site that they're closing down, and it looks like it's got something to do with rental issues:

The Cartoon Art Museum will not be renewing its lease at 781 Beach Street when it expires at the end of August. As a result, our current location will close on Sunday, August 2, 2026. [...]

Ten years ago, the cartoon community came together to begin a new chapter for the museum. Scores of funders supported our move to Beach Street in Fisherman’s Wharf. Since then, we have faced significant challenges, including the pandemic and the slow recovery that followed. But we have also enjoyed many successes and countless opportunities to celebrate cartoon art and the people who create it.

Not mentioned, rather predictably, is the aforementioned disgrace who undoubtably embarrassed their reputation, and led to many donors withdrawing their support, to the point they now have difficulty affording rental fees. Farago sure knew how to bring a whole institution to its knees.

I took a look at some of the museum's past exhibitions, and noticed they had at least a few that could be considered "woke", or politically motivated. We can probably guess who had a prominent role in greenlighting exhibitions like those. And if that's how it's going to be, perhaps we're not missing much.

The Daily Cartoonist notes that:

The Cartoon Art Museum first opened in 1984. In 1987 Charles M. Schulz funded the museum’s endowment allowing it to open it’s first venue in downtown San Francisco. It moved three times since landing on Beach Street in 2017. The space offered visitors 8,000 square feet gallery space, a screening area, education space, store, library and collections facility. Cartoon Art Museum reports they have over 9,000 original pieces in their collection.

They might have to sell some of those items to different institutions if they need to pay off any debts that came as a result of Farago's serious lawbreaking. I once noticed artist Ethan Van Sciver telling Farago did not do a good job on his part to ensure they'd be able to retain a steady location, and for all we know, he could've been partly the reason they had to move at least 3 times to different buildings. Depending how you view this, it's obviously a shame a museum whose donors included a famous cartoonist wound up being floored by the offensive behavior of a man who first worked with them at least a year after Schultz's passing. Others could say Schultz made a huge mistake wasting any money on their business. And now, there's no telling if they'll be able to recover from such a scandal as Farago's caused them, so what may have been the only museum of its sort on the west coast could now be history of a different kind. What a shame.

National library of Florence to host Italy's biggest comics archives

The Florentine announced the national library of Florence will be host to Italy's hugest comics archives:

Florence has taken a major step towards becoming Italy’s leading centre for the study and preservation of comic books following the donation of the private archive of Gianni Bono to the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze.

The deed of donation, signed on June 9, transfers one of the most comprehensive and significant collections of Italian comics ever assembled into public ownership. Amassed over decades by Giovanni Attilio Bono, known as Gianni Bono, the publisher, historian, scholar and one of Italy’s foremost experts on comics, the archive is unrivalled for its size, breadth and rarity.

Known as the Fondo Bono, the collection comprises more than 800,000 items, including comic books, magazines, book series, scholarly publications, and Italian and international editions. It also contains original editorial material such as manuscripts, scripts, story outlines, sketches, archival documents, original artwork, posters, promotional material, fanzines and other rare documents charting the history of Italy’s most important comic book creators, characters and publishers. Much of the collection has already been documented in the Guida al fumetto italiano database. [...]

Through the acquisition, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze is laying the foundations for what it hopes will become the Italian Library of Comics, a national centre dedicated to the preservation, study and promotion of comic art and publishing.

That's great. I'm sure Italy's got plenty of their own comics and even animation samples that could use a good archive where everybody could take a look to see what they're like. Congratulations to the library in Florence for this achievement.

A special event for art students at a Massachussettes library

The Greenfield Recorder covered a special project aimed at encouraging children to illustrate comics at a Sunderland library:

For many young readers, comics are a gateway into storytelling. From Monday, June 22, to Friday, June 26, the Sunderland Public Library is helping children take the next step from reading comics to creating their own.

Through a week of comics programming organized in partnership with the Boston Comics Arts Foundation (BCAF), local students will learn directly from professional cartoonists while exploring the fundamentals of visual storytelling. The program features award-winning graphic novelists Jarrett J. Krosoczka and Mike Curato, who will share their experiences as creators and encourage young artists to develop their own voices.

According to Deanna Soukiasian, cartoonist and education coordinator for the Boston Comics Arts Foundation’s Mass Makes Comics initiative, the program grew from a desire to make comics education accessible to more communities.

“In the community, there’s a growing desire for kids to learn visual literacy,” Soukiasian said. “Comics are for everybody, and learning is for everybody.”

Mass Makes Comics focuses on bringing educational opportunities to underfunded communities throughout Massachusetts. By partnering with libraries, artists and families, the organization works to ensure that students who are interested in comics have access to professional instruction regardless of their background.

Well that's great they want to encourage students to try their luck in illustration. But, I hope they recognize the vitality of being a talented artist and writer too, otherwise, how does an aspiring creator expect anybody to read his or her productions? It's also worth considering that if you inject heavy-handed leftist ideology into your work, that too could discourage potential audiences. Provided all involved are willing to consider that, their project and convention should work out well enough.

Even a UK collector only thinks of selling his trove through auctions and not donating to museums

The BBC covered the story of a collector from Newcastle, who's got a sizable collection that he too can only seem to think of selling through auctions now that he feels he'll have to part with it, and doesn't consider contributing to a museum any more than his USA counterparts:

Many children collected comic books, from The Topper to Roy of the Rovers, The Dandy to The Beano.

But Peter Hansen never stopped, with his haul growing into one of the country's largest private collections of British comics.

Now at the age of 70, he is starting to part with the bulk of his beloved books, which are stored in a barn in Northumberland.

Two recent auctions saw parts of his 45,000 item collection sell for more than £250,000.

"After all this time, I think it's time to let go," Hansen said.

Well boy, did he ever. To the point where he doesn't think future generations should see any of these famous publications on display at a museum. What a sad farce this is. And the biggest irony is that:

His collection became so prestigious he often loaned material to institutions such as the Cartoon Museum and the National Centre for Children's Books.

But he wouldn't fully sell or contribute his collection to them? That's what makes this auction sale all the more ridiculous. Many of the buyers at auctions likely won't read the stories, and only keep them locked away tight; that seems to be the norm these days, and it's quite frankly atrocious. It's a real shame this auction farce continues even overseas, because it's not furthering the medium, but rather, perpetuating its obscuration, and taking up valuble space in the news that could be filled by articles arguing why comics have to make the shift to paperback/hardcover instead of pamphlets or issues of an anthology. How much longer will this absurdity continue even in Europe?

The history of black masculinities in comicdom

Union News Daily covered a recent conference that was held at Vauxhall Library about black masculinity in comics history. And along the way, perhaps unsurprisingly, some problematic parts come up:

Black superheroes began showing up in comic strips and comic books as early as the mid-1930s. However, in mainstream comic publishing the depictions of Black people were inaccurate.

Recently, at Vauxhall Library, the community gathered to watch the film “White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in American Comic Books” (2012), directed by Jonathan Gayles. The 54-minute documentary examined 40 years of changing representations of Black masculinity in American comic books, focusing on characters from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. The movie featured scholars, artists and cultural critics analyzing how Black superheroes have been burdened by stereotypes and how these images shifted to reflect changing times. [...]

Black Panther made his Marvel debut in 1966 and Gayles said he saw himself reflected as a hero. “Everyone in the comic book was Black,” he said in the film.

John Stewart was DC’s first Black superhero, introduced in the 1970s.

Dr. William H. Foster III is a renowned comic book historian, scholar and collector. He’s recognized as a leading authority on the portrayal of African Americans and minorities in American comic books and comic strips. In the film he said, “John Stewart came in with heavy attitude. He caused the death of a planet. He dated aliens. He was the first Black superhero who stepped out of a small town and into the universe.”

Stop right there for a moment. Unmentioned is that the Cosmic Odyssey miniseries is where John led to the slaughter of a planet, and they don't find that the least bit repellent he'd have such a setup forced upon him? The omission of any critical or objective view of that monstrosity of a tale is head-shaking. As for aliens, yes, he certainly dated one such lady, Katma Tui, but I don't think it can be said he dated busloads, and as mentioned before, Katma was executed in the repulsive Green Lantern entries in Action Comics Weekly.

Oh, and if they're talking about BP's debut in Fantastic Four 52, not everyone in the issue was black. There was also the FF team themselves, who were white, unless you count the Thing being orange per Ben Grimm's transformation from the cosmic radiation that was part of the premise for the team coming to be in 1961. And what about Ulysses Klaw, the evil scientist who changed himself into a living sound creature, though that was left for a later issue? This is a very awkward article, proving again why many mainstream newspapers are unreliable on history.

Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, was a Marvel superhero in 1972. He wore a yellow disco shirt, a metal headband and a chain around his waist. He goes to jail for crimes he didn’t commit and a racist guard tries to kill him. Luke was supposed to be urban, but came across as corny. His sayings didn’t reflect real Black language.

Tyroc was a minor DC Comics character in 1976 and showed how diversity was handled badly. He was a character 1,000 years in the future, where Black people were escaped slaves living on an island.

Regarding Luke, it could be argued his dialogue, including exclamations like "sweet Christmas", was meant to be surreal, and in a sci-fi setting, that's par for the course. Regarding Tyroc's residence, I think the premise in the mid-1970s was that the black inhabitants of the island of Marzal were descendants of 18th century slaves who'd revolted upon a ship and then reached the island, where they lived as isolationists. So it's not accurate to say the inhabitants of Marzal several centuries later were slaves, though there's a valid arguemnt to make that Tyroc's introduction was sadly very questionable, yet that was no excuse for artist Mike Grell insulting the character by drawing him a costume that looked almost like a bustier.

A key takeaway from the film is that white heroes such as Spider-Man were portrayed as normal and relatable. Black heroes were hyper-masculine and spectacularly different, therefore hindering identification for Black readers.

Depending how you see this, if the masculinity of black men was respected at the time, wasn't that a good thing? But, if what they're concerned about is whether the black protagonists have flaws, moral or otherwise, applied to their character, then what about Cyborg from New Teen Titans, in example? Why doesn't he come up? Even the Falcon could serve as a good example.

And if masculinity's important, then were black women ever portrayed as hyper-feminine? I've looked over various comics from the Golden Age till the turn of the century, and I noticed that in the Golden Age, there were at least a few examples where black women were depicted as short-haired tomboys, and as a result, made to look far less hot than the white women were, if at all. By the late 1960s early 1970s, this was beginning to change, although some portrayals of black women at the time only gave them round Afro-hairstyles that were anything but long, and Misty Knight and 2nd Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau were at least 2 examples during the Bronze Age. Storm in X-Men was one black woman who did have a longer mane of hair, even if it was colored white by contrast. To be sure, since then there have been some black women whose hairstyles were longer, illustrated as both curly and straight. But a real absurdity would have to be Brian Bendis' creation of Riri Williams, who was portrayed with the round Afro-hairstyle long past the time it was common, though much worse is that she was not created as her own agency; she was created as part of the social justice pandering of the past decade, and almost put to use for replacing Tony Stark as Iron Man, as if it weren't bad enough Kieron Gillen forcibly retconned Tony's background. Some of the SJW-pandering creations of the past 2 decades have been forgotten at this point, although the Muslim Ms. Marvel, perhaps unshockingly, is still being foisted on the MCU, no matter how awful the political structure of her creation makes it, but some sadly still remains, and DC/Marvel have been climbing some high trees while keeping them around.

The articles does say there are indie creators who've come up with their own creations, and that's good, but the point that really needs to be made is that, based on the collapse of coherency and morality in Marvel/DC, that's why we all have to stop relying almost entirely upon them to deliver entertainment value, and the time's come to focus on creator-owned stories instead. But till this day, nobody in the press seems to want to write an op-ed making such a point, nor why, if Marvel/DC are to be considered worth reading again someday, they can't continue under a conglomerate ownership.

The reception of comics in India, and what they were used for

The Print covered a convention panel in Delhi about the history of Indian comics, and what their reception was like:

For Mahima, who runs the operations of the Mehrauli Community Library, comics are not just fun books or distractions, but a bridge to literacy.

“Comics meet children where they are in their language, their humour and their reality,” she said, speaking at the roundtable discussion titled ‘Comics as Witness’ on 14 March at the Foundation For Indian Contemporary Art Reading Room in Delhi. [...]

According to Mahima, comics are changing how people read. “Comics invite collaboration unlike picture books where one person reads to another,” she said, adding that comics build read-aloud and performance skills as well as teamwork.

She said kids are most drawn to comics that use their language. “Once a child finishes one, they immediately hunt for the next in the series, building a consistent reading habit.”

‘A precious commodity’

India has a rich tradition of comics that cover diverse topics like mythology, social satire, and superheroes. But from the mid-1990s, its craze has been declining, said graphic designer Orijit Sen, who has authored River of Stories, considered India’s first graphic novel published in 1994.

“Comics were a precious commodity when we were brought up. However, it was not a respectable thing,” he added.

That's possibly similar to the reception in the USA, which extended to animation, and led to the latter being all but ghettoized until the mid-90s as just a "children's medium". Even today, depending what's involved, the perception hasn't changed much. It's just that now, comics and animation are viewed by leftists in the west as an ideal way to indoctrinate children with political propaganda, or certainly were in the past decade. Speaking of which:

“Translation is one thing to reach different communities,” said Mahanta. She highlighted feminist collaborations for making comics and how the medium can help visualise oral histories. [...]

Sabhaney said that since 1990, comic reading has decreased but more people are now reading graphic novels. “Creators have a set of stories that they want to tell. Comics are created for particular issues such as documenting protest,” she said.

If this were the USA, seeing them talk about feminism would be more concerning. I think even the late cartoonist Will Eisner once wrote he found feminism troubling, based on how it did more harm than good to women's status in the west. And what protests are we talking about? There are obviously legitimate concerns in India that require protest, and we can only hope this alludes the right kind of topics. I think an interesting point to glean from this article is that comics came to serve as political platforms based on how they were considered an underutilized medium. But of course, that shouldn't get in the way of building science-fiction and fantasy stories as well to go alongside such products.

When an audience member asked about comics moving online, Sablania said, “The dynamic of comics is changing. The creator wants to reach as many people”.

You just have to hope it's for the right reasons, no matter the country. So if comicdom's making a comeback in India, let's hope it gets somewhere on the right foot.

Thief who robbed comics from Florida university receives 18 month sentencing

In an update to this story from a few weeks ago, FS View now reports the thief who stole 5000 back issues from the Strozier Library in Florida will go to prison for 18 months after he plead guilty:

Former Florida State University Libraries head of security, Todd Peak, was sentenced for the grand theft of nearly 5,000 comics from the special collections archive at Strozier Library on Feb. 27. Court records indicate an estimated lost value from the stolen books to be between $250,000 and $500,000.

Peak pleaded guilty with no contest, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, 10 years of probation, and must pay $70,000 in restitution. Of that amount, $50,000 will be paid to FSU in $250 monthly payments upon his release, according to court records.

Peak stole 4,996 valuable, rare comics and related literature, the majority dating from the 1950s to 70s, from the Robert M. Ervin, Jr. Collection starting as early as March 17, 2020. The Robert M. Ervin, Jr. collection was donated to the university by the late esteemed Tallahassee couple, Robert M. Ervin and Frances Ervin, in 1981, and is named after their son, who collected the books as a child. [...]

Those who worked at the library at the time of the theft were affected by Peak’s disregard for the protection of the valuable research materials.

"This was a difficult experience for those who knew and trusted Todd Peak … and those who have responsibility for stewardship of special collections,” Cooper said.

Riley Kasprzyk, the president of the 2099 Comic Book Club, told the FSView that many were shocked by the theft and were happy with the sentencing. Kasprzyk also saw the incident as indicative of a broader issue in the “speculator” market of comic books, where Hollywood’s big-budget adaptations shift prices dramatically.

“In some ways, I think their theft and sale represent a big problem facing the way people view comics,” Kasprzyk said. “People often think of comics in terms of how much they're worth to resellers, instead of the craft and art that they are … too many people view comics as IP, and that in turn has fueled a somewhat nasty speculator market and scalping. We need to remember that comics are an art form, and like any other art form, the passion and talent behind them are breathtaking.”

Ava Sears, an English major and member of the 2099 Comic Book Club at FSU, found the theft frustrating and a hit to the preservation of a once disposable literature.

“It's a massive loss to the public accessibility of the medium,” Sears said to the FSView. “With comic books, preservation is super important due to low print quality and a lack of early preservation tactics … The fact that someone stole thousands of publicly available and preserved copies of some of the oldest pulps and comics still around for profit on the private market is absolutely maddening to me.”

To ensure the preservation of these materials, University Libraries took measures to improve security and safeguard them for future researchers.

And this is another reason why I find the speculator market so reprehensible. What if some back issues circulating on the speculator market were stolen from archives, public or private? And all by people who solely care about dollar signs, not entertainment value? Unfortunately, few speculators are likely to be convinced by this news to stop making a mockery of the medium and donate to museums and other preservation archives instead. Nor will they buy paintings of various comics characters to hang on the wall of a household, even though that's a more tasteful alternative. But perhaps this news will prompt some archivists to express some rightful resentment of the speculator market, due to the bad influence it's had, and I hope some professional archivists will speak out against said market in the near future and how it's made a joke of how everyone perceives the whole medium.

This is also why I firmly believe the pamphlet format has to be phased out, and a shift made to paperback/hardcover formats instead. With any luck, will any archivists at museums and universities take note of my appeal to them to do whatver possible to convince people not to invest in the speculator market and stop making perceptions of the medium look so absurd? It's about time already, and might serve as a good way to persuade publishers to stop sticking so tight with a now outmoded format for comicdom.

Video game producer donates classic back issues to the Smithsonian

I previously wrote about what I thought was a questionable article by one of the founders of Riot Games, producer of League of Legends. Now, it looks like there is something good he's done that should serve as vital example in this day and age, as the Smithsonian magazine's announced Brandon Beck donated some classic back issues to the museum's archives:

Before Superman and Captain America became global symbols of heroism, joined cinematic universes and inspired Halloween costumes, they were just ink on cheap newsprint—bold, bright and bursting with possibility. Now, the comic book debuts of two of the world’s most iconic superheroes have found a permanent home at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

In an extraordinary acquisition, gifted by Brandon Beck, co-founder of the video game developer Riot Games, the museum has added Action Comics No. 1 and Captain America Comics No. 1 to its collection. These comic books were the public’s introduction to characters whose influence today spans movies, television, toys and the imaginations of several generations.

This is what collectors doing it for the sake of the speculator market should really be doing: donating those brilliant treasures to museums, and thankfully, here we're seeing a far better example set. Predictably, however, this article can't evade certain political biases:

Superman first leapt onto the page in 1938’s Action Comics No. 1, widely considered the beginning of the superhero genre. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman—a caped defender of humanity who came to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton—embodied Depression-era yearnings for justice. Nearly 90 years of storytelling were launched from that first issue.

Captain America arrived in December 1940, with the issue dated March 1941, as global conflict intensified. Created by writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby, the star-spangled super soldier debuted with an unforgettable image: delivering a crushing right hook to Adolf Hitler’s jaw, before the United States officially entered World War II in December 1941. The cover was more than sensational art—it was a bold political statement. When a scrawny Brooklyn volunteer named Steve Rogers was transformed by science into a symbol of national resolve, comic books became a vehicle for wartime morale and democratic ideals.

In an era where such values as democracy and morale are being shredded, that's certainly saying something, isn't it? Interesting how they argue that Cap's Golden Age debut was a political statement, but today, when somebody wants to take on issues like Islamic terrorism, suddenly it's inappropriate, and not bold at all. And should it really be described as a political statement? Maybe that's running the gauntlet of hijacking somebody else's creation for their own propaganda goals, and not considering that issues like totalitarianism is a serious topic that transcends mere politics? As though they couldn't give more suggestions their own claim is political, a more recent form of propaganda comes up:

“We use objects from popular culture to reflect and learn about the past, and the comics provide incredible insight into the era from which they come, including the relationships between the books’ Jewish American creators and the beginning of the World War II era, fascination with technological and scientific advancements, and representations of sacrifice and heroism during challenging times,” says Jentsch.

Taken together, the comics reflect societal anxieties and aspirations alike—whether in Superman’s immigrant origins or in Captain America’s wartime ethos. “The pivotal creators of these comics—Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby—were all first-generation Jewish Americans, anxious to make their marks in a country that had welcomed their parents,” says Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics from 2002 to 2009 and writer of many comics, including Superman, via email. “As someone who had the pleasure of knowing them all, I can confidently say that this recognition of their work in the most significant comic book acquisition in decades, would have been a great affirmation of the groundbreaking genre that they created.”

Another article where they fall back on the angering cliche of describing the Man of Steel as an "immigrant" instead of an otherworldly refugee from a destroyed planet. Based on that, it's hard to believe the Smithsonian's really serious about respecting the goals of the Golden Age creators, let alone their ethnic heritage and backgrounds. Considering how disinterested leftist ideologues like the Smithsonian's are in learning and reflecting on the past, what's the use of their acquiring the classic oldies when they may not do justice for their history? And even now, Levitz may not be fully qualified to speak in their name, considering he sold out to Islamic propagandists nearly 2 decades ago, and even indicated he thought abortion was okay years later. As a result, Levitz for one isn't offering the best affirmation of the acquisition.

The timing is apt. In recent decades, superhero narratives have dominated box office returns and streaming platforms, generating expansive programming and reshaping Hollywood economics. Yet the origins of these billion-dollar franchises remain humble: Stapled pages sold for a dime at neighborhood newsstands. Today some of those rare pages are among the most valuable printed materials in existence. Four years ago, Captain America’s first adventure sold for more than $3 million at auction. Last year, a copy of Superman No. 1 was auctioned for more than $9 million. In January, a copy of Action Comics No. 1 sold privately for $15 million.

And it doesn't bother them that outside the donation of Beck's back issues to their archives, there's speculators out there who've sold these back issues round and round, yet never, not once, donated to museums, let alone bought themselves wall paintings of the same characters? What isn't discussed by extension is whether that suggests the speculators are actually ashamed of the products, their desire to own them notwithstanding.

That 2 of the most famous superheroes' premiere issues have been acquired by a museum is a positive example in itself, and Beck deserves credit for setting a good one. But beyond that, there's no telling if an institution that's been pretty left-leaning will do enough to convince they really support the messages Superman and Cap were built upon back in the day, or that they don't wish to exploit the material for the sake of leftist propaganda, as their description of Superman suggests. Do they even know Simon was conservative? Will they ever even put Simon's illustration of Cap smashing Osama bin Laden on display in their future exhibitions? If not, then this purchase amounts to little, and won't be respecting the visions of the original creators.

A case made for why GNs can be great for reading instruction that's spoiled by mention of a propaganda item

Education Week's writing about why graphic novels can be good for reading instruction assignments. There are some interesting points made, but towards the end, the impact is seriously dampened by the mere mention of a propaganda item that distorted history for woke political brownie points:

If the goal is for them to be familiar with the story or examine themes, they can read the graphic novel version. Some Recommendations include Brave New World: A Graphic Novel by Fred Fordham, Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by David Polonsky and Ari Folman, Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds, George Orwell’s 1984 by Matyas Namai, and Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith.

Well gee, this certainly isn't doing any favors by citing leftist animator Folman's questionable GN about Anne Frank as though that's perfect for schools and education. What's the columnist thinking? I'm sorry, but that spoils this whole essay, when there's bound to be other, more historically accurate GNs about Frank and other WW2 Holocaust-related subjects around. Even if the subject is obviously adult to the point where parental guidance would be needed, that Folman's GN exploits the misfortune of a young girl for the sake of LGBT propaganda and other forced smut ruins everything.

One of the worst problems with mainstream news writers like the one who wrote the essay for Education Week is that they always go almost entirely with the easiest of choices and examples, and never do deeper research to see if there's anything more challenging that could be brought up instead. Anybody who's not willing to sit back and determine if a comic like Folman's really makes the best recommendation for educational purposes has no business being in the school management system.

Thief who stole old back issues from Florida university gets jailed

The Tallahassee Democrat announced a man who'd stolen comic back issues from the Florida State University 6 years ago will be imprisoned for his crime:

A comic book bandit, accused of stealing and selling thousands of rare comics from Florida State University six years ago, was declared guilty by a judge Feb. 26 and sentenced to prison.

Todd Peak, 43, will serve a year and a half in prison, followed by 10 years on probation, after taking a plea deal that spared him a possible 30-year sentence, according to court records.

He also must pay back nearly $70,000 in restitution to FSU, among others. [...]

Peak, a former security guard at FSU's library, was arrested in 2020 on grand theft and related charges after more than 5,000 comics disappeared from a collection in FSU’s Special Collections & Archives in Strozier Library.

He purloined from a rare collection predominantly from the 1950s through the 1970s. Publications include those by Marvel Comics, DC Comics, underground publishers, foreign language titles and pulp magazines.

Police said Peak trafficked the comics in online forums and in the backroom of a Crawfordville comics shop where he sold the stolen items.

During the investigation, a small sample of 38 comics were found in the library, but thousands were still missing.

WCTV also notes:

Library staff first discovered the theft in February 2021. The Ervin Collection contains more than 4,000 comic books from various publishers spanning from the 1950s through the 1970s. FSU notified the public about the theft in September 2021. That’s when a comic book dealer came forward and raised suspicions about Peak, according to arrest records.

Peak was one of only four people at Strozier with a key to the library’s Special Collections area, which is in the sub-basement of the building behind a padlocked fence.

I think this is another reason why back issues should probably be kept more at museums than libraries, though as I fully realize, even museums are not completely safe from theft, and note that the felon betrayed the trust given to him with the keys to the library storage. This makes another case where somebody should be ashamed of only seeing dollar signs in old back issues, but not the value of reading. Let's hope this Peak takes the time to think over his offenses while behind bars.

Comics from India keep up with changing times, and publishers respect suitability for children

France24 wrote about India's comics, which draw from early local mythologies:

Nearly six decades later, the comic, known simply as ACK and meaning "immortal illustrated stories", is still holding its ground in an era ruled by smartphones and streaming television.

Founded by storyteller Anant Pai after he noticed children on a quiz show knew more about Greek gods than their own mythological heroes, ACK quickly became a cultural touchstone.

Its titles, from tales of Hindu deities to biographies of freedom fighters, sold in the millions and were translated into multiple regional languages. [...]

Production depends on the same painstaking research, writing and colouring, although some images of deities have evolved.

"We used to have a very slender Ram, a very slender Shiva, drawn lovingly by artists who drew by hand," said Puri, 68, who has been with ACK for 34 years.

"Today the artists... give them six-pack abs and muscles."

Not all fans love the makeover, but Puri said times change.

"Children today are not used to that old kind of art," Puri said. "We have to adapt to what the children want."

Storytelling has also shifted.

"If, earlier, we used to show the man sitting with a newspaper, and the woman sweeping the floor or cooking food, that's changed," she added.

"It could be the woman sitting and reading a book, and the man gets her a cup of tea."

That's okay, because even women need a rest and a good cup of tea or coffee. That doesn't mean it's wrong, however, to draw a woman doing household chores, but perhaps a balance of both men and women doing housework could be helpful. One other thing that's amazing about this history item is the following:

But one frontier is firmly off‑limits: artificial intelligence.

"Art is to be respected, a writer's work is to be respected", Puri said.

Comic designer Srinath Malolan, 24, who grew up reading ACK in his school library, said the human-made process ensures content remains safe for children.

"The internet can create whatever it wants... we have meticulously looked at what we are giving the kids," Malolan said.

Wow, that's showing a lot more responsibility than what's been seen in the west this past decade or more. Obviously, if you know where to look in the east, there's respect for family and parental values in retaining good taste. I'm sure even in the west, these comics could resonate, so let's hope the publishers make an effort to market them in the USA too, if they haven't done so yet.

Sacramento finally repealing its ban on selling comics to minors

The US Sun reports the Sacramento city council's finally taken official steps to repeal the 1949 ban on selling comics to minors, as previously noted here:

A LONG-FORGOTTEN rule has just been wiped from the books, meaning comics can now be legally handed to kids.

The decades-old ban was so broad it technically put everyday comic culture on the wrong side of the law.

The change happened in Sacramento, California, after city leaders voted to scrap a 1949 ordinance.

On Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council repealed the rule at its regular meeting.

Up until Tuesday afternoon, it was illegal in the city to give a child a comic book under the old prohibition, NBC affiliate KCRA reported. [...]

The repeal passed unanimously after being placed on the council’s consent calendar for non-controversial items.

That's great, but we have to hope it's being done altruistically, as I may have noted before, because the following from a local cartoonist is eyebrow raising:

Local cartoonist Eben Burgoon led the push to get the law removed.

He told ABC10 he viewed it as a free speech issue.

“We wanted to get rid of it and then when we started to see some more freedom of speech issues occurring. Some more graphic novels lately have been become, like, the most banned book across the country,” Burgoon said.

This is fishy, because what if he's alluding to LGBT propaganda comics that were put in school libraries, no matter how mature-themes and unsuited for children they were? It's one thing to sell through a store, but a school library is an entirely different issue, parents do have the right to determine what's suitable for their children's reading, and there's a reason why the MPAA developed their ratings system in the late 1960s for films, and in the 1990s, ratings were developed for video games, and even for comics there was a rating system produced around the 2000s. What if there was a rule that comics had to be sold to children according to suitability ratings? Would that be wrong? Similar cases could surely be made for ordinary books. So then you could sell all sorts of entertainment products, just having to follow the law as to whether it's suitable for them. Is that wrong by contrast?

So I wish some advocates wouldn't just frame this all as only a free speech issue, because while selling comics to children is fine and dandy, it's not acceptable to encourage them to read stuff that's unsuitable from an adult perspective. It'll remain to be seen if this change of law in Sacramento isn't exploited by woke advocates for the sake of foisting propaganda that could have a bad influence on children ideologically. And we should certainly hope that won't be the case.

Book Riot complains about comics being censored over allegedly right-wing standings

Looks like left-wing feminist site Book Riot is trying to make a case for censorship based upon the insinuation that right-wingers are responsible for comics being subjected to it:

Comics are a target because it’s a medium that requires a unique literacy to understand. Comic books make for easy targets because a person who has been infected by right-wing rhetoric can print the pages sitting on RatedBooks, Take Back the Classroom, or their predecessor BookLooks, and claim the comics are inappropriate without any context about the where, why, or how of that image within the book itself. Unfortunately, these people are not interested in learning literacy. By spreading these images without context, they inflame other people who don’t have the time or capacity to develop that literacy and actually “do their own research” on the matter. Comics are a collaborative dance between the words and the art. Young people with access to and exposure to comics are honing crucial intellectual skills while also enjoying creative, clever, fun, and educational stories.

Since 2021, comics have been among the top books banned in America. Many of these comics are far from new; they, too, are averaging the age of the typical high schooler. It’s worth taking a peek at the most banned comics since 2000 and seeing where and how they’re simply copied and pasted in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, with the addition of primarily queer-focused comics and comics by creators of color.

On the one hand, from what I can tell, this is a matter of whether they're stocked in schools. On the other, when I took a look at their list of banned comics since 2000, it shows Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis on the list, and it's actually surprising they allegedly care, considering Iran's one of the worst Islamic regimes still in power now, one that does simultaneously suppress LGBT practice, and so that makes it a contradiction of their whine for the sake of allowing LGBT-themed comics to be kept in school libraries. On which, Book Riot's writer doesn't even explain why they believe LGBT practice should be taught to youngsters, or why they believe it's a better role model than heterosexuality. What's their point?

Making matters worse is how the writer sets out to paint all right-wingers as inherently stupid, literally don't examine the inner content of the GNs in question, and appears to be insinuating they're the sole ones who led all these campaigns to get the comics out of the schools. And the part about comicdom needing a unique literacy to comprehend is also stupid. Whatever they contain is no different from what a plain-text book could in terms of premise and plot.

A look at PEN’s report is a look at where and how comics have been rising in their profile as among the most banned books. While the top nine most banned books did not include comics, the list of most frequently banned authors includes not one, but two comics creators: Yūsei Matsui and Atsushi Ohkubo. Matsui, creator of Assassination Classroom, saw 54 instances of his manga banned. Ohkubo, creator of Soul Eater and Fire Force, saw his manga banned 45 times. Were these one-shot manga, rather than series with numerous entries, Matsui would be the most banned author in America, with Ohkubo coming in at number two. Both would have had their manga banned twice as much as the number one most banned book in American schools for the 2024-2025 school year.

It should also be noted that if these comics/manga books are available in stores, then they're not censored, they're just not allowed in school libraries, that's all. I guess old horror films like Friday The 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street should be pushed into classrooms at all costs too, huh? The title of Assassination Classroom alone can strongly hint it's a violent affair, and we could honestly do with far less of that. Certainly if it's not a comic dealing with a serious real life issue viewed objectively, something Book Riot's writers seem otherwise disinterested in recommending as a subject for comicdom.

There's really nothing educational in what they're serving as apologists for, and if they really care, maybe they should build their own schools and libraries and then see who's interested in sending their children there to read the comics/manga they're sugarcoating. Unfortunately, when their apologia is as unintelligable as it is, you can't expect them to consider trying out such ideas.

Long after the 1950s censorship problem, Sacramento maintained a ban on selling comics to children under 18

This is something few may have known about one of California's most notable cities, but Sacramento, until now, as reported by KCRA-3, though not throughly enforced, prohibited sales of comics to children under 18, something their local council looks to repeal:

Did you know that it has been technically illegal to distribute most comic books within the city of Sacramento — from Batman to the Marvel Universe — to children who are under the age of 18?

That is why two Sacramento City Council members proposed the repeal of an antiquated, 76-year-old law that was still on the books.

"For me, it's a slam dunk," said Sacramento Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum. "It's been sitting on the books since 1949 pretty much unenforced and we are looking to clean up bits of code we don't need anymore."

Passed in 1949, City Code item 9.12.010 states that "it is unlawful for any person to distribute...for use by persons under the age of eighteen years any book...commonly known as 'comic book' in which there is prominently featured an account of crime, and which depicts... the commission of the crimes of arson, assault with caustic chemicals, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, kidnapping, torture, mayhem, murder, rape, robbery, theft or voluntary manslaughter."

The ordinance essentially jeopardized comic bookstores, libraries and conventions held in Sacramento.

"There are so many things across the country in terms of book banning and freedom of speech and this is our opportunity to reaffirm freedom in this fun space," Pluckebaum said. "While this maybe isn't the highest priority issue facing the city right now, but it is definitely an easy one for us to support."

While repealing and canceling the law is in itself welcome, it can only be hoped PC advocates won't suddenly take advantage of any reversal so they can deliberately market stuff to children that's inappropriate and explicit. Considering what a disaster California's become over the past decade, what if they don't modify the law with a requirement that age ratings should apply to anything explicit, and then, what if any corrupt merchants exploit the opportunity to sell adult-themed comics to children that're unsuitable for younger ages? If the law isn't changed with consideration for what's appropriate for children from an adult perspective, then repealing the law from 1949 will end up in failure.

A city resident wrote an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee giving his thoughts on why the law should be canned:

It’s wild to think this haven could ever be threatened by something as bureaucratic as a city ordinance banning the sale of comic books. Thankfully, that’s not the story’s ending for Big Brother Comics or any shop like it in Sacramento. In 1949, the Sacramento City Council banned the sale of comic books that depict acts such as arson, burglary, murder, torture, mayhem, and assault with caustic chemicals, to be sold to young adults under the age of 18. It has been in the city code ever since. This was back when crime-fighting comics like Detective Comics were all the rage—those pulpy, action-packed stories that made adults nervous and kids dream bigger. Like anything that shakes up the status quo, comics took the heat for daring to be different.

Well it could partly explain why USA animation was ghettoized for many years, and few producers made any attempt to encourage adults to consider otherwise. Of course, another problem is doubtlessly that exploration of themes like communism were considered anathema to a certain crowd as well, which is why as time went by, less comics took issue with communism, if at all, and now look where we are in a time where communism's actually being normalized in the west.

I never quite understood why loving comics made me a target while growing up. Stories about Superman and Green Lantern sparked my imagination and filled my heart, but to most kids, that just made me “nerdy” or worse. In high school, a bully once thought it’d be hilarious to steal my brand-new Suicide Squad vs. Justice League comic, drag it into the bathroom, and ruin it in the grossest way possible. I tried to save it, but the pages were soaked and the smell was unforgettable, in all the worst ways.

“Grow up,” the guy said as he left the bathroom, laughing with his friends.

Something tells me that despite what the creepy bully did, he wasn't against any violent content a comic like that might've contained, and who knows? He might even consider comics like Image's Spawn the most brilliant ideas ever conceived, not to mention repellent video games like Mortal Kombat. Which would suggest the bully only did that for fun, not because he really bought what he thought. Obviously, that's a terrible thing. But it makes clear double-standards can be as bizarre as one might think.

But here’s what he never realized: that comic, and so many others, helped me grow into the person I am today. Comic books helped me make sense of my emotions, face grief, and strive to be my best self in a world that made me feel less than heroic. They have evolved alongside us, leaping from newspaper pages to blockbuster movie screens that rake in billions.

For the council, this vote is an easy lift, a simple bit of housekeeping. But in a climate where it sometimes feels like any book could be banned at the drop of a hat, clearing this old ordinance out is a powerful move. For the comic book lovers in Sacramento, the ones who travel throughout the city going to places like Big Brother Comics or The Cave to find the great stories found in glorious illustrated pages, it means the city finally sees it as art.

Well I hope he doesn't think children should be encouraged to read the nastiest of mayhem and gore that could be concocted in adult-themed comics, including the aforementioned Spawn. Or that LGBT stories are literally appropriate for children. It's one thing to repeal a stupid law. It's another entirely to encourage children to read products that are inappropriate for them at young ages. It reminds me how for years already, G-rated movies become less and less, and the PG-rating from the MPAA was in use far more, because filmmakers concluded even children couldn't dig a story that's far from violent. That kind of thinking is also why children aren't encouraged to become accustomed to drama and romance, which could actually be a great way for them to grow up. If modern kids don't take interest in Shakespeare, no matter the content level, that should be telling something too.

So repeal this crummy law in Sacramento, yes. But any art advocates who're planning to exploit the occasion for exposing children to what isn't suitable for them won't be doing any favors for the medium, and then we'll all be right back at square one sooner than we think. Also, that part about blockbuster movies making billions is awfully dated now, seeing how the comics movies are losing more than they're making at this point, no thanks to wokery involved.

How Puerto Rico appears in comics

The New York Times wrote about a comics specialist from Puerto Rico whose worked on an exhibition that tells how the Caribbean island country is seen in the panels:

Manuel Martínez Nazario is a man on a mission: to share stories of Puerto Rico in comic book form. “I want researchers to start wondering ‘What is going on in Puerto Rico? What can I see through the comic books?’” The answer is plenty: “History, sociology, fantasy, whatever you want,” he said.

“¡Wepa! Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics,” which opens Oct. 4 in New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, is built on his decades-long collection and his vast knowledge. Nazario, who was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Puerto Rico, said that in 2021, he was thunderstruck one day when he was staring at his walk-in closet: It was jampacked with 14 bins of comics. “This is too many comic books,” he said, and too few people knew what was available.

His collection of fanzines, political cartoons, comic books and original artwork are all linked by Puerto Rico: The creators and characters are from there or the stories are about the island.

He has also been a frequent source for comics researchers at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, where he was a librarian from 1995 until his retirement in 2024. [...]

A Nueva York section spotlights the White Tiger, the first Puerto Rican super hero published by Marvel in 1975. The section also highlights the work of Angelo Torres, an artist and caricaturist whose work was featured in Mad Magazine from 1969-2010.

Stateside, I wouldn't be surprised if mainstream focus on anything pertinent to Puerto Rico was superficial at best, if they even focused on it at all. That said, another character in comicdom who of a Puerto Rican background was Vibe, created for Justice League of America in 1984 by Gerry Conway, at the time of the Detroit location near the end of the 1960-87 volume's run, but who's noticeably not given any citation in this article, which is a shame, because maybe the historian would like to make the argument DC did the wrong thing to originally kill off Vibe just because he had a stereotypical accent and was a break-dancer. That was a classic case of punishing a fictional character for the errors of the writers/artists/editors, and I think it would do a lot of good if realists would address if they recognize that's a poor approach to mending mistakes.

That said, I appreciate the efforts of the librarian to shed some light on the island country's contributions to the art form, and wish him good luck with his exhibition.

Brian Vaughan's new comic about society's double-standards on violence as opposed to sex, and some history of how censorship affected Canada

CBR's written about a new comic by leftist writer Brian Vaughan, titled Spectators, which is supposed to comment on societal double-standards of how there's desensitiztion to violence, and oversensitization to sex:

There was a fascinating (and depressing) stat that I saw the other day that said something like 1 in every 15 Americans has witnessed a mass shooting. That's shocking, but it also cuts down to the very real fact that that means that 93% of Americans have NEVER witnessed a mass shooting, and that speaks to the way that horrible acts of violence are still truly seen as something that happens to OTHER people by most Americans, and as a result, society is still extremely desensitized to it. Meanwhile, multiple governments around the world are working to restrict access to pornography, or, even more chillingly, stretching the definition of "pornography" to allow them to attack people whose lives don't fit into their ideas of what is "acceptable" in society.

That is the backdrop of Spectators, a new graphic novel that contrasts our desensitization in regard to violence against our oversensitive approach to erotica.

I'll admit it's surprising/amazing somebody as leftist as Vaughan is would want to address a valid topic like this, but it doesn't mean he's willing to acknowledge leftists can do bad things, potentially worse than rightists can. Yet as the columnist notes, the story, about a woman who'd been murdered at a film theater and became a ghost who watches humans for "entertainment", has some surprising allusions to recent events, whether it was intentional or not:

Val's killer is part of a sort of meme cult called #leaderboard, which is all about killing as many people as possible, as the only tangible legacy for anyone is how many people you've killed. These killers are meme-driven, and it really is chilling when you look at how Charlie Kirk's killers engraved his bullets with memes, and you see how much this sort of thing really doesn't seem that unrealistic.

A key flashback in this story is to when Val was a kid and her father let her watch The Terminator with him at her dad's post-divorce, sad single dad apartment, and he covers her eyes during the sex scene, but lets her see all the violence. It makes the sex scene such a big deal to her that she finds a way to steal her dad's VHS copy of The Terminator (which, as you might all know, cost a ton of money back in the day) and to hide it at her mom's house, just so she can watch the sex scene. Violence is okay, sex is bad. That's a lesson that we are taught over and over again, and Vaughan and Henrichon take it to an absurd degree as we see the absurdly increasing amounts of violence in the comic paired with the increasingly elaborate sex that is shown, and the comic eventually gets a bit metafictive about the fact that we, in effect, are like the voyeurs to THIS world that the ghosts are to the living. It's interesting stuff.

The premise certainly is, and the point made about the double-standard taken on violence in films like the Terminator is valid, but again, who knows if a writer as leftist as Vaughan is will be honest about how even leftists are capable of violence, as the Charlie Kirk tragedy makes clear? If it turns out Spectators resorts to the cliche of right-wingers being the perpetrators of violent crime, or them being the sole ones retaining a double-standard on the same as opposed to sex, then the argument gets nowhere fast.

The subject was brought up at the same time as the CBC ran a rather hypocritical report on the history of comics censorship to coincide with news about the Alberta province removing sexually explicit books, comics included, from school shelves:

Alberta's revised restrictions on books in schools take aim at works containing explicit images of sexual acts, but it's not the first time the province has banned graphics in the name of protecting children.

In 1954, the province established the Advisory Board on Objectionable Publications to control the sale of comic books and magazines.

The board was developed in response to a "growing outcry from parents, educators, religious leaders and others," to investigate so-called "crime comics" that supposedly inspired undesirable behaviour in kids.

In July of this year, the provincial government issued a ministerial order asking school employees to remove library materials that depict sexual acts, including those contained in a "written passage." That prompted Edmonton Public Schools to assemble a list of 226 books to remove from shelves and classrooms, including well-known works such as The Handmaid's Tale, The Color Purple and The Godfather.

The uproar over the school board's list forced the government to revise its ministerial order to remove "written passage" and add "visual depiction."

The 2nd of the links in this article says 4 GNs featuring LGBTQ material are among the titles Alberta's government wants removed from school libraries, and if that's the only reason for bringing up the whole subject, then the CBC's report is not altruistic. It does give some history of an incident that led to the early 1950s censorship problems though:

In November 1948, anxieties around the impact of comic books grew exponentially when two boys in Dawson Creek, B.C., were taking potshots with a rifle at vehicles passing by when they fatally struck a driver.

The story made national and international headlines, pointing to one major culprit: comic books. A Time magazine story from 1948 described the boys as having "been reading 40 to 50 comic books a week, and apparently what they read they took to heart.

"One evening last month, they acted like characters in their comic strips."

The Crown prosecutor in the case, A.W. McLellan, is reported to have declared he would like to "see a concerted effort to wipe out this weird and horrible literature with which children are filling their heads."

The case was so widely known, American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham would go on to write about it in his 1954 title Seduction of the Innocent, a book that cemented him as a leading critic of comic books and further fuelled the moral panic already taking shape in Canada, according to Wright.

If it matters, I'm not impressed with Wertham, having discovered he reportedly plagiarized material from other researchers and he was an early form of leftist "progressive", not to mention that his sex-negative viewpoint wasn't all that different from what turned up in the past decade, but I get the sad feeling this report's more about downplaying the effects of violent entertainment than in seriously asking whether censors did the right thing to oppose anything even remotely resembling sex in a comic. On which note:

Later that month, the Edmonton Home and School Council began a campaign against "sex and crime-type comics" with support from the British Columbia Parent Teachers' Association and the Alberta Federation of Home and School Associations, according to an Edmonton Bulletin story.

It was around this time that a 10-year-old future prime minister, Brian Mulroney, delivered a "passionate" award-winning speech on the dangers of crime comics, according to John Bell's book Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe.

In 1949, "crime comics" were added to the Canadian Criminal Code under the obscenity clause, where they remained until 2018.

"What's important to note is that the comics that we're talking about, they're not all 'crime comics.' It was a phrase that was used very arbitrarily to pretty much indicate anything that folks found objectionably concerning," said Wright.

"There was a lot of discussion similar to today and hand wringing about, like, what about children … reading these comic books?"

What's telling is how "sex" gets 1st billing while "violence" is substituted with the word "crime" assuming violence was ever a concern at all back in the day. Indeed, why didn't they use the word "violence" to clearly describe what they felt was offensive, and perhaps get their point across more comprehensibly when it comes to physical assault turning up in visual stories? The ambiguity does suggest even back then, something was terribly wrong with the approach to objections over mature themes.

The board's list of major objections included comics that "glorify crime and criminals," ones that present a "distorted, unhealthy and immoral concept of sex and marriage," and comics that "foster prejudice against class, race, creed, and nationality."

"What the board talks a lot about is this idea of what's 'good' and what's 'bad' reading. So, this idea of: what is harmful to children?" said Wright.

"They used this platform of restricting comics because of the fear that it would be harmful to children and then used those powers to really create more broad newsstand monitoring across the whole province until the early 1970s."

Twenty to 25 per cent of all periodicals, including Playboy and Rolling Stone, were removed in the years the board was active, according to Wright.

Seriously, even Rolling Stone was subject to censorship in Canada? As far as I know, that wasn't a porn magazine like Playboy was. One can only wonder if, in sharp contrast to Playboy, Hustler wasn't, and to my knowledge, that was a very smutty magazine. Either way, the board that was set up in Canada didn't improve matters in the long run.

But public opinion of the board waned over two decades. According to Wright, "by the early 1970s, the public appetite was not there for this kind of oversight."

In 1970, Edmonton Journal reporter Barry Craig spent several days studying the practice of censorship in the city. Writing about his research, Craig concluded that "in the end, censorship appears silly.

"The Edmonton police, the Alberta government … and the Objectionable Publications Board are all trying to keep men's minds pure by limiting what they can see in a magazine or read in a book. It is like Don Quixote and his windmills."

The Advisory Board on Objectionable Publications was officially dissolved in 1976 after about three years of being inactive.

Wright points out that historically, Albertans have pushed back. Fast forward to today, Alberta is again seeing governmental oversight in children's reading material and, again, the move is unpopular with many.

What's not clear from these ambiguous reports is whether anybody actually believes LGBT comics, for example, are suitable for children, if explicit books like these belong literally in a children's library, and whether ridding the library of said books, comics or otherwise, literally constitutes censorship when they're available at other venues where they could be found in adult sections, like bookstores. Doesn't that refute the notion censorship is being enacted by the Alberta government?

"A lot of people talk about the censorship of the 1950s as being something that somehow was accepted by people and it was part of a norm. I don't think that that was as true as people say," Wright said.

"One of the things I found in newspaper articles was how much pushback was happening in Calgary, in Edmonton, in Lethbridge, from citizens writing in and saying, 'Why does the board have the right to decide? You know, we should have the right to decide what our children read.'"

Well why does anybody think children have to read about LGBTQ material, and whether that's universally accepted as though it's a norm, or whether parents must consider it inherently acceptable and a role model for children? Or, why isn't any clear defense being mounted from a modern perspective for whether heterosexual romance is something children should learn to appreciate? Interesting they raise the issue of objections to glorifying crime, because in past years, Hollywood, as mentioned before, glamorized violent criminals. And while censorship is bad, does that mean worries over minimization of violent crime in entertainment aren't valid?

The problem with these news articles is that they don't ask whether complaints are valid about what bad influence violent content can have, and whether worries over sex itself, depending on the angle, are exaggerated by contrast, nor whether any double-standards exist and if they should be reevaluated and changed. Again, I have no idea if Vaughan's new comic, Spectators, will be any improvement over some of his earlier efforts, and no telling if the mainstream press in Canada will be willing to ever address similar topics without bias.

Michigan State University has the planet's largest historical comics collection

Saginaw and Bay City News talks about Michigan State University's massive collection of comics at one of their archives, with material dating back as far as the mid-1930s, and even some 19th century prototype samples, along with plenty of foreign products:

Did you know the world’s largest publicly accessible comic book collection is in Michigan? I didn’t, until my editor pitched me the idea of visiting Michigan State University to peruse the approximately 350,000-strong cache.

The treasure trove grew from a few thousand issues at its inception in 1970.

The collection, housed within the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections, offers something rare in the world of comic preservation — the opportunity to actually handle the materials.

Visitors can access this taxpayer-funded resource by registering online and requesting specific comics at least three days before their planned visit. Upon arrival at the library, located at 366 W. Circle Drive, staff provide proper handling instructions and equip visitors with a page-turning spatula to carefully examine these historic documents.

The collection originated in 1970 through the vision of MSU Professor Russel B. Nye, a pioneer of pop culture studies who recognized comics’ cultural significance when many dismissed them as low art. Nye began with approximately 6,000 issues donated by graduating seniors, establishing what would become an internationally significant archive.

Today, the collection spans every continent except Antarctica, featuring propaganda comics from North Korea, the largest collection of Israeli comics outside Israel, and proto-comics dating to the 1860s. Current collection efforts focus on comics from throughout North and South America.

Beyond their entertainment value, comics serve as cultural artifacts that reflect their times.

I'm impressed they've shown the courage to archive Israeli comics as well in this day and age, and wonder if it includes the cartoonist Uri Fink's late 70s creation, "Sabraman". And lest we forget, many of the early creators since the 1930s were of Israeli descent, like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, of course. No doubt, it's an archive I'll one day want to see if I can visit too, though if modern comics from the Big Two are in this collection, they'd only be good for studying what modern PC propagandists turn out, and not good for entertainment and artistic value. For now, it's great the MSU is gathering only so many comics from around the world to comprise this collection for 55 years already, and it'll be interesting to see if it can continue for a few more decades and see what then can be archived within the span of a century.