An Italian street artist who goes by the pseudonym Hogre is facing a blasphemy charge over a poster of a pedophilic Jesus that briefly hung in a Rome bus shelter this summer. The poster titled Ecce Homo Erectus was a…
Author: Maren Williams
London Exhibit to Feature Censored Cartoonists
Persecuted cartoonists from around the world will be in the spotlight this month when London’s Westminster Reference Library hosts the exhibition “Gagged,” featuring “cartoons about censorship and repression of cartoonists from around the world.” The free exhibit will be on…
Conejo Valley Teachers Fight Back Against Proposed ‘Red-Flagging’ Policy
After a months-long standoff over initial curricular approval for Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian this summer, teachers in California’s Conejo Valley Unified School District say that one school board member is trying to push through…
Libya Comic Con Shut Down by Militia; Organizers Detained
Libya’s second annual comic con was cut short on Friday when it was stormed by armed militia forces who shut down the event and detained about 20 people. Most have since been released — not exactly unscathed — but the…
Jordanian Cartoonist Under Investigation for Blasphemy
Jordanian cartoonist Emad Hajjaj is under investigation for “insulting religion” and “inciting sectarian strife” after a private citizen filed a complaint over a cartoon that shows the crucified Jesus denouncing the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. The…
Utah School Says Students Saw ‘Inappropriate Material’ in Oklahoma!
In response to complaints from one set of parents, a Utah school district has acknowledged that about 100 junior high students may have caught a fleeting glimpse of partial nudity while watching a 1999 version of the musical Oklahoma! in…
Chinese Censor Board Frowns on Battle Royale Game Genre
China’s media censor board announced this week that it is unlikely to approve the wildly popular multiplayer online video game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) because it “severely deviates from the socialist core value and the Chinese traditional culture and moral rule.”…
Library of Congress Exhibit to Highlight Women Cartoonists and Illustrators
Following this summer’s comics pop-up exhibit Library of Awesome, the Library of Congress will once again put the spotlight on sequential art next month with “Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists,” a long-term exhibit featuring nearly 70 original…
Minnesota Lawmakers Threaten Funding for Anti-Pipeline Video Game
Some Minnesota state legislators are looking to limit free expression funded by public arts grants after a Native American video game developer and professor created a game where players fight an oil pipeline embodied as a mechanical snake. One lawmaker…
Amazing Spider-Man Anti-Drug Story Hastened Demise of Comics Code
In 1971, American society was changing at such a rapid clip that the Comics Code Authority actually took notice and tried to keep up. Following a tumultuous decade of assassinations, riots, advances in civil rights, and increasing mistrust of government…