Last week The Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child came out and became another challenged comic book. Rafael Grandpa’s artwork, which paints a colorful yet haunting image of Gotham, has lead to controversy overseas. His variant cover of has in favor of the Chinese Communist Party claiming it sympathizes with democratic protesters. DC removed the cover from social media, but it was due to design errors. Regardless, The Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child is one of many comics that has been challenged because of “questionable” content. This week, I’m going to shed light on three comics that have also been challenged.
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, art by Jillian Tamaki
This One Summer holds several esteemed titles. The first graphic novel to be a Caldecott honoree. A Michael L. Printz honoree. An Eisner Award winner. The most challenged book of 2016 according to the American Library Association. Several schools in Minnesota and Florida removed the book from libraries. Some adults assumed the book was for younger readers despite the intended audience being 12 plus.
While the book deals with sex, pregnancy, and miscarriage, teens should still have access to this kind of material. Mariko’s writing emulates the conversations my friends and I had about these issues as teens. Jillian’s artwork adds a level of innocence to the characters and heavier issues in the graphic novel. This makes the content easier to swallow for those who are uncomfortable by these topics. It’s a beautiful story that captures the ups and downs of growing up in a dysfunctional family. I recommend it for any reader looking for a story that doesn’t assume children are too naive to grasp reality.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
In 2013, Chicago Public Schools administrators pulled it from several classes. The removal was because of graphic language and imagery. Students protested, claiming what they learned in class was more graphic than Satrapi’s art work, which favors emotion and simplicity over hyper realistic depictions of violence and turmoil. Over the years, four other states have challenged the book, two of which have used Islamophobic rhetoric to question Satrapi’s autobiography.
Students, parents, and educators vocalized how access to this book should not be denied. Two of Persepolis’s core ideas are freedom of speech as well as access to education. Those who took action are following in Satrapi’s footsteps. Persepolis is an important coming of age and historical story. It’s about growing during the Islamic Revolution – and a coming of age standpoint. While this book may deal with unfamiliar issues like torture and war, the heart of the story is family, self expression, and coming into one’s own.
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples
This book has nudity, profanity, sex, and violence. Saga pushes boundaries, showing how absurd, sexy, horrific, and dangerous a space opera can be. However, some believe it should be removed from public access. The comic was seen as age-inappropriate, even though it’s meant for mature audiences. It was also accused of promoting anti-family values. This complaint genuinely shocked me given that the gorgeous cover art of Volume 1 is of a father and mother with their child breastfeeding, which seems pretty pro-family to me.
I started Saga because I love a good space drama, but I kept reading because of the family at the core of the comic. When you strip away the blood, the lasers, and the sex, Saga hits home for a lot of people. There’s an aspect of escapism to it, like most great genre pieces, but there is also an emotional connection to many of the characters because they’re so human, despite all of them being literal aliens.
I want to credit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for the information about these challenged books. If you have a chance, check out the work they’ve done protecting our First Amendment rights in regards to comics
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