Category: News Blog

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Looking Back on Oklahoma’s War on Comics

With the conclusion of Wizard World Tulsa, local news outlet Tulsa World took a look back on the war Tulsa and neighboring Oklahoma cities waged against comics in the mid-1950s. From book swaps exchanging comics for perceived “higher literature” and independent review committees organized by…

Chick Tracts: Comics in the Service of Censorship

Comics evangelist Jack T. Chick died this week at 92, leaving a complicated legacy of free speech in the service of censorship. Less than a decade after comics were burned and censored by those who saw them as the cause…

Breast Cancer Self-Exam Video Censored on Facebook

Even health education isn’t safe from Facebook’s arbitrary nudity policy. The Swedish Cancer Society, Cancerfonden, ran into trouble with the social media giant earlier this month when they posted an animated breast cancer awareness video. It was taken down due to…

Thai Authorities Crack Down on Royal Critics Online and Abroad

Thai authorities are scrambling to quash any perceived insult to their late King Bhumibol Adulyadej following his death on October 13, going so far as to scrub unfavorable results from Google services including the main search engine and YouTube. They…

Signed Brian K. Vaughan Books Benefit CBLDF!

We have some great Brian K. Vaughan books available this week, including the beautiful Saga Volume One deluxe edition hardcover, Y: The Last Man Book One deluxe hardcover, and Paper Girls Volume One trade paperback! In addition to these great books, we are…

Columbia University Cancels Reading After Author Refuses Censorship

Due to concerns over maintaining the “values” of Columbia University and its radio station WKCR, a planned reading by author Laurie Stone was abruptly cancelled. A long time contributor to the Village Voice, a theater critic for The Nation, critic-at-large…

Parent Complaint Leads to Censorship of Student Mural

A recent high school graduate in Scotts Valley, California is hoping to “spark a conversation about art and censorship” at her alma mater after a parent complained about nudity in her senior art project and she was given the choice…

Documentary The Trial of Mike Diana Coming in 2017

Over two decades after Boiled Angel creator Mike Diana became the first and only U.S. artist ever convicted of obscenity, an upcoming documentary aims to tell his story. Directed by cult filmmaker Frank Henenlotter and funded in part by a…

Serbian Cartoonist Suspects Government Pressure Led to Contract Cancellation

A longtime editorial cartoonist for the Serbian daily newspaper Politika is airing his suspicion that the recent cancellation of his contract came about under pressure from Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic or other government officials. After a statement of denial from…

Burmese Artists Explore Freedom of Expression

Although 2012 saw the abolition of pre-publication censorship in Burma, many still feel the influence of the decades-long political climate that silenced artists and closed bookstores. A recent set of interviews by DVB demonstrates that a new wave of Burmese artists aren’t…