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.

New to Graphic Novels? Start with These

My first introduction to the graphic novel was Maus, Art Spiegelman's gripping, visual representation of what his father, a Polish Jew, experienced as a survivor of the Holocaust. Spiegelman's award-winning graphic novel was assigned reading for a college course when I was an undergraduate. After I graduated from college, I really began to sink my teeth into the genre, picking up now-classic titles such as Ghost World by Daniel Clowes and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.
 

Image via amazon.com

All three of these graphic novels — Maus, Ghost World, and Persepolis — are among the "25 Essential Graphic Novels" as chosen by Brie Hiramine in an article for Flavorwire. Calling Maus "beautifully executed," Hiramine says, "The entire tale is depicted in allegorical form — the Nazis are cats, the Jews are mice — but it never feels like a shtick." About Ghost World, she says, "Perhaps you've seen the Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch movie of the same name, but Clowes' original provides a quieter depth to this wispy tale of disaffected youth, complete with perfectly sparse illustration." I'll be honest in saying it was the movie, which also starred Steve Buscemi, that got me interested in the graphic novel. Ditto for Persepolis, which Hiramine explains "depicts Satrapi's life in Iran from age six to 14, during and after the Iranian Revolution." I read both Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return while commuting, and there were moments when I was so moved that I had to fight to keep myself from crying in front of my fellow riders.

Other graphic novels that Hiramine calls "essential" include Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine, Black Hole by Charles Burns, V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Palomar by Gilbert Hernandez, The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman, Blue Angel by Julie Maroh, and My New York Diary by Julie Doucet. Speaking of Tomine, I've become re-interested in his Optic Nerve series, which began as mini comics that he published himself starting in 1991 (Drawn and Quarterly began publishing them in 1995). I really love his aesthetic and storytelling, and I enjoyed attending personal appearances of his during which he discussed his work. At some point, I'm going to purchase a few of his collected works, including Scrapbook: Uncollected Work 1990-2004.

Reading "essential list" articles such as Hiramine's, it's always interesting to look at the comment section, just to get people's opinions on what works were left off the list. A few commentors felt that Moore's Watchmen should have been included on Hiramine's list of "25 Essential Graphic Novels"; others noted that the works of Harvey Pekar (American Splendor and My Cancer Year, with Joyce Brabner) were blatantly missing as well. Others even questioned if some of the titles on the list could even be considered graphic novels. Indeed, there is a fine line between graphic novels and comic books. According to KnowledgeNuts.com, "While a comic book will tell a story over many issues, graphic novels more often have their storylines wrapped up in only one or two books." I'm content with that definition; I'm also content with not quibbling over whether or not Hiramine's selections are all truly graphic novels. All I know is that they're good reads.

For all "25 Essential Graphic Novels," see Brie Hiramine's article at THIS LINK.

PS. My most recent graphic novel purchase is the award-winning Drama, by Raina Telgemeier. As soon as I finish the book for my book club, I'm starting it!
 

Photo by author of this blog

Cleveland Public Library Honors Harvey Pekar

I first heard of Harvey Pekar in 2003, thanks to the publicity surrounding American Splendor, a film based in part on Pekar's graphic novel series of the same name. Intrigued, I went to the local movie theater and, for a little more than an hour and a half, sat absorbed in the story of the Cleveland, Ohio, native. Despite his dark outlook on life, Harvey Pekar shone brightly as a star of the underground comic scene and as an accidental celebrity in the entertainment industry, first as a repeat guest on David Letterman's late-night talk show, then as the subject of a successful comedy-drama loosely based on his life.

A clip from the credit sequence of the 2003 film American Splendor.
Image from http://www.brooklynvegan.com

In 2010, Pekar passed away at the age of 70 from what was later determined to be an accidental overdose from a combination of antidepressants. A year later, in 2011, his widow Joyce Brabner spearheaded a Kickstarter campaign to fund the "Harvey Pekar Library Statue: Comics as Art & Literature Desk." The online campaign was a huge success, raising more than $38,000 for the memorial to the late graphic novelist. This month, the memorial was unveiled on the second floor of the Lee Road Branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, which Harvey Pekar often visited.

On October 14, nearly 200 fans, friends, and family of Pekar attended the unveiling, which was part of a program titled "Harvey Pekar: A Literary, Library Life." Among those present was Joyce Brabner, who gazed at the 2 1/2-foot bronze likeness of her late husband emerging, palms turned upward, from a fiberglass replica of a page from one of his graphic novels. Sculptor Justin Coultor created the statue, which he based on drawings by J.T. Waldman, an illustrator who collaborated with Pekar on the book Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, which was published this year by Hill & Wang's Novel Graphics imprint.

The limited-editon library card featuring a likeness of Pekar.
Image via http://comicsbeat.com

In addition to the dedication of the statue, Cleveland Public Library issued a limited-edition library card that depicts Pekar entering its main branch. The illustration on the card is based on a drawing from Harvey Pekar's Cleveland, a collaboration between Pekar and artist Joe Remnant that was released this year by Zip Comics/Top Shelf. It's the first in a series of library cards bearing the likenesses of famous people from Cleveland. Explaining why he chose Pekar to be the first Clevelander celebrated in this way, Felton Thomas, director of Cleveland Public Library, said, "He brought Cleveland to life through his work and was a loyal patron of CPL. It's our pleasure to offer this card to our patrons in his honor."

For library patrons in Cleveland, Ohio, who want to get their hands on the limited-edition card featuring Harvey Pekar, all that's necessary is to go to a local branch and ask for it - the usual $1 replacement fee will be waived.

Speaking earlier at the statue dedication ceremony, Brabner said, "Ours was a family that believed a library card was a lot more important than a charge card," a statement that drew the day's greatest applause.