I am extremely against censorship, I speak about that more often on my personal blog, but it is can sometimes be a real issue with comic books. Within this interview I mention the panel about the Comics Code and it certainly was harmful to the industry. It is at least partially responsible for the fact that we’re just now getting back to where we were in the 50s in terms of comic book genres. But I wondered, with the Internet around and (in the USA) unregulated, what does the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund need to do? So I spoke with Charles Bronstein about it.
This is an absolutely huge topic that I could have spoken to Charles for at least an hour, if not more, about. Important takeaways from the interview:
- If your school district is banning comics, read and distribute this pamphlet and consider talking to the CBLDF about getting some visibility on the banning. As Bronstein said in the panel, as a parent it’s your right not to have your child read something you find objectionable, but it’s not your right to ban everyone else’s child from reading it!
- Don’t take freedom of speech on the Internet for granted (even in America!) CBLDF had to fight for your right to have uncensored comics online. Free speech is a never-ending fight!
- Comics ratings are OK as long as they’re used as a marketing tool, not imposed from above or used to ban books from being sold