Marjane Satrapi Mariko Tamaki The good thing is that these people who ban things, If you pull a book from it’s like they are completely unaware of what a hu- CREATORS ON a library shelf, it’s not man being is. If you want to make adolescents read available to the kid who a book, ban it! And then they gets their books at the all want to read it. Because CENSORSHIP! library. So, you’re im- pacting that library as a then they’re rebellious. Why Censorship disproportionately impacts comics. We gathered quotes from creators resource to the readers not just explain it? It’s not (Source: Amer- about censorship and the importance of free expression. who depend on it. (Source: like kids are dumb.

She Changed Comics) ican Libraries Magazine) Alison Bechdel Mariko and Jillian Tamaki’s Marjane Satrapi’s Perse- This One Summer was the polis is often challenged My first reaction [to being banned] is: What a great honor! My second reaction is, first graphic novel to earn the for the depiction of Islam. it’s a very interesting situation, and it’s all about the power of images, which I think Caldecott Honor. CBLDF has defended the graphic novel is something people need to talk about. I can understand why people wouldn’t from censorship on several © Marjane Satrapi. want their children to accidentally think this was a funny comic book and pick it up occasions. From Persepolis © Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. and see pictures of people having sex. I can understand that. I think banning books is the wrong approach. (Source: The Comics Journal) Alison Bechdel’s acclaimed Fun Home is one of Raina Telgemeier

© Alison Bechdel. From Fun Home © Alison Bechdel. From the most frequently challenged graphic novels. [The censorship of diverse content] sends a problematic message to readers. Every flavor of young person deserves Neil Gaiman © Ariel Schrag. From “Plan of the Number 7 Bus,” Stuck in Middle to see themselves in literature, and the powers-that-be chal- I don’t think there is such a thing as a bad book for children. Every lenging content that isn’t straight–white–cis–conservative now and again it becomes fashionable among some adults to point tells everyone else that they’re not worthy. The future is at a subset of children’s books, a genre, perhaps, or an author, and to bright, though. The storytellers coming of age now have ac- declare them bad books, books that children should be stopped from cess to such a goldmine of diverse content, and they’re al- reading. I’ve seen it happen over and over; Enid Blyton was declared ready busy adding their own voices to the mix. I don’t think a bad author, so was RL Stine, so were dozens of others. Comics have anyone will be able to stop them. (Source: She Changed Comics) Raina Telgemeier’s Drama has been challenged been decried as fostering illiteracy. © Raina Telgemeier. From Drama for the depiction of gay characters. It’s tosh. It’s snobbery and it’s foolishness… Alan Moore Well-meaning adults can G. Willow Wilson If parents are making the decisions that their children can easily destroy a child’s Honestly, I don’t know why anybody or cannot read this sort of book in the home, that’s fair love of reading: stop them bothers to try to censor books anymore. enough. The parents can take the consequences of that. Haven’t they learned? Attempting to reading what they enjoy, or Ariel Schrag It won’t necessarily stop the children reading it, but at give them worthy-but-dull Every parent has the right to moni- censor books sends sales through the roof. When you tell people a book is too least it’s a transaction between the child and the parent books that you like, the tor his or her child’s reading (or TV and it’s the parent taking responsibility for their chil- 21st-century equivalents watching, or movie watching, etc.), risqué or dangerous to read, they will go out of their way to read that book, be- dren... I prefer to let my children Watchmen © and ™ DC Comics of Victorian “improving” and if you don’t want your child read- cause now it read anything, but I want to know literature. You’ll wind up ing Stuck in the Middle, I completely respect that choice. However, there’s has the appeal what they’re reading, and if there’s with a generation con- of something anything they come across which vinced that reading is un- a big difference between making that choice for your child and making it forbidden. You might be disturbing, then I’m al- cool and worse, unpleas- for every child, which is what ban- can’t contain a ways on hand to talk about it with ant. (Source: The Guardian) story once it’s ning the book does. (Source: CBLDF interview, them. Which, to me, seems to be out there. (Source: Neil Gaiman is the author of several http://cbldf.org/?p=30305) the responsible attitude. (Source: The award-winning novels and comics, She Changed Comics) including The Sandman, Never- Ariel Schrag’s anthology Stuck in the Middle has Comics Journal #118) where, and The Graveyard Book, all been challenged several times due to Schrag’s G. Willow Wilson Alan Moore’s Watchmen, League of Extraor- of which have been challenged. commitment to authentic stories that accurately writes Ms. Marvel. dinary Gentlemen, and Batman: The Killing reflect the realities of middle school. Photo Credit: Kimberly Butler Joke have drawn the ire of censors. Ms. Marvel © and ™ Marvel Comics. Art by Jamie McKelvie.