Stan Lee Speaks Out in Video for Banned Books Week

Lately, I've been all about Marvel films. It started with Thor, the 2011 superhero movie starring Chris Hemsworth as the hammer-wielding title character. 

Stan Lee (left) with Chris Hemsworth, star of the 2011 Marvel film Thor.
Image via the interwebs

After watching Thor, I offered my none-too-favorable opinion of the film through a social media outlet. Almost immediately, friends whom I didn't know were comic book geeks chimed in, saying I had to watch the Marvel films in a certain order in order to fully understand and appreciate each one. Two of these friends even presented the chronological output of these films so that I could watch them in the order that they were released. From that point, there was no turning back.

Of course, there would be no Marvel films without Marvel Comics, the publishing powerhouse that releases comic books featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, X-Men, and other now-iconic characters that were co-created by Stan Lee. Lee is undeniably the face of Marvel Comics, appearing at comic conventions and making cameos in films based on Marvel comic books, among other acts of publicity.

Lee is, not surprisingly, a huge proponent of the comic book as a medium. He sees comic books as integral to fostering a love of reading in children, who for decades have been engaged by comics' stunning visuals, larger-than-life characters, and gripping storylines. Lee also supports the freedom to read comic books, poo-pooing pushes throughout the years to ban them.

In a video produced by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), Stan Lee speaks out against the banning of comic books, just in time for Banned Books Week. You can watch the video at THIS LINK.

Defending Banned Comics During Banned Books Week

While browsing Powell's recently, I came across a book by David Hajdu. It was The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America.
 

Image via http://comicsresearch.blogspot.com

Smartly positioned on an end display in the comics section of the bookstore, Hajdu's book documents the rise in popularity of comic books after World War II and the subsequent backlash at the local and national levels against their supposedly lurid content and corruptible influence on American youth. This backlash reached a fever pitch in the mid-1950s, with congressional hearings, book burnings, and the censorship of comic books and their artists and writers.

Today, comic books are still at the center of censorship battles. The fight to keep titles such as Maus by Art Spiegelman out of schools and libraries is ongoing, due to parents or other local figures deeming their content unsuitable for children. However, these books continue to be available (as they should be), thus ensuring they will continue to be challenged by "concerned" parties in the future.

In addition to Maus, a number of other comic books have been challenged because of their content. Robert Tutton lists just a few of these comic books in his Paste Magazine article, titled "In Defense of Banned Comics: 10 of Our Favorite Challenged Works." Spiegelman's Maus is among them. "The simple fact is that Maus is important — not just as a great comic, but as a cultural artifact," Tutton says. "Maus paints an eternally compelling portrait of the toll the Holocaust took on those who endure it. If the image of a gestapo officer bashing children into a brick wall is unsettling, that's because it's supposed to be." I didn't read Maus until I was in college; maybe that's when educators thought we could handle the book.

Image via en.wikipedia.org

Other comic books that Tutton mentions are Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland; Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley; Bone by Jeff Smith; Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (congrats to Bechdel for being one of this year's recipients of the MacArthur Foundation genius grant); Tank Girl by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett; Stuck in the Middle by Ariel Schrag; Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse; Ice Haven (formerly Eightball #22) by Daniel Clowes; and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.  

Persepolis happens to be one of my all-time favorites; I'll admit to reading it after having watched the award-winning 2007 film adaptation, directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. Initially, I read Persepolis during my morning and evening commutes. But then I got so wrapped up in the story of Satrapi's coming of age during the revolution in Iran that I continued to read it in any spare moment I got. I didn't expect to be as moved by the story as I was, and there are certain parts that I can't forget. Yes, the story isn't pretty, but neither is revolution. "The people who challenged Persepolis were right," says Tutton in his Paste article. "There is violence in this book, and it's there for a reason. The image of a theater full of people set on fire is meant to be haunting. This is a war-time memoir at its most candid."

For more of Robert Tutton's straightforward "Defense of Banned Comics," you can read the Paste Magazine article by clicking on THIS LINK.

Librarians and Libraries in Comic Books

Almost everyone who has enjoyed a classic Batman comic book knows that Batgirl was a librarian. Working at the Gotham City Public Library, the superheroine put more than just wayward patrons in their place when she donned her bat mask.
 

No one ever suspects the librarian: Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, behind the info desk at her day job.
Image via www.bat-mania.co.uk

But you may be surprised to know that Batgirl isn't the only librarian to have been featured in the pages of a comic book. As a matter of fact, librarians and libraries are often at the center of the action in comics. For instance, there is Rupert Giles, the school librarian at Sunnydale High, in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book series. Then there's the X-Men's Karma, a member of the New Mutants who just happens to work as a librarian at the University of Chicago. In the Superman comics, the Man of Steel's biological mother is an archivist and librarian in the capital city's archives on the planet Krypton. And in the Rex Libris comics, there's Rex Libris himself; he's the no-nonsense head librarian at Middelton Public Library who goes after rebellious borrowers and "loitering zombies" alike.

Mychal R. Ludwig has come up with even more examples of librarians and libraries in comic books for an article he wrote for INALJ.com. Admitting that his "current obsession of comic books [was] a vehicle for exploring this topic," he said, "I've gone through my own back-issue and trade collection and included an encouragingly diverse set of librarians and other info-workers." In addition to Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ludwig names Ms. Marvel:

"Here in a one-shot issue of Marvel Comics Ms. Marvel, this public librarian, a completely incidental character, is shown in perhaps the most stereotypical, and some would say negative, way possible. Shelving, older, a Caucasian woman with a tight bun, glasses, and a skirt; if only she told the boys to 'shhh,' then it'd be complete. I think we'd all agree this is the most enduring image of the librarian, unfortunately or not."

Ludwig also makes mention of The Walking Dead:

"In both the comic books and in the television show, our survivors inhabit a somewhat abandoned prison. Within it they find the prison library, full of books, magazines, DVDs, and all sorts of things they hadn't thought or cared about while fending off walkers. The sudden realization that they missed enjoying the fiction that the library offered, or by others, the information offered, really leads me to ponder quite often about the role of information, libraries, and librarians in a post-apocalyptic world. I'd read a book or comic book series that revolved around a librarian who provided survivors with vital information."

In his INALJ.com article, Ludwig also remarks on librarians and libraries that are prominent in My Little Pony, Six-Gun Gorilla, and more. Read it HERE.

Free Comic Book Day This Saturday

Are you a fan of comic books? Maybe your kids, significant other, or younger family members are. If so, then you probably already know that tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. Celebrated on the first Saturday of May, it's the day when comic book stores give away comic books to anyone who walks through the door.
 

A classic issue of Fantastic Four seen in 1997's The Ice Storm.
Image via http://blogs.evtrib.com

Free Comic Book Day is recognized far and wide. The popular event takes place across North America and even around the world. On Free Comic Book Day, fans of this fun genre often line up bright and early outside their favorite comic book shops, eagerly anticipating the free goods they'll soon get. So if you're taking part this year, it's a good idea to arrive at the comic book shops earlier, rather than later, to guarantee that you'll get your free comics.

For a list of comic book stores participating in Free Comic Book Day, go to THIS LINK. Some of these stores are hosting special events in addition to giving away comic books. And a number of stores will have policies in place regarding just how many comic books will be available for free. Call ahead before you go.

Here's hoping that you'll score a bundle of free comic books for your kids, nieces or nephews, or for yourself (hey, why not?) this Free Comic Book Day!

T.S. Eliot Gets the Comics Treatment

I've been a fan of comics since my childhood days of sitting cross-legged on the floor of the family den with copies of Marvel's Fantastic Four. (Do you remember the ads for the sea monkeys in the back?) The level of artistry and detail involved would captivate me for hours at a time. And who could resist a good story? 

Today, my admiration for the comics genre is just as strong. I've especially come to appreciate talent that is outside the mainstream. Take for instance Julian Peters, a comic book artist and illustrator who is based in Montreal, Canada.

In recent years, Julian Peters has been furiously adapting classic poems into comics. Among the many works that he has brought to life in comics form are "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats, "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe, and "Le Bateau Ivre" and "Sensations" by Arthur Rimbaud.

One of his latest is a striking adaptation of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot. Wonderfully illustrated, the comic expertly illuminates in black and white the inner monologue of the pained subject of Eliot's 1915 poem. Peters' intricate shadowing technique, razor-sharp attention to detail, and obvious mastery of creating an illusion of depth only heighten the anguish and sense of foreboding that plague the titular Prufrock.

You can admire the artistry of Julian Peters' adaptation of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" at THIS LINK. While you're at the artist's website, check out his other comics and illustrative work. You're quite likely to be blown away!

All above illustrations are from http://julianpeterscomics.com