In the 1940s and ‘50s, comic books were the scapegoat of choice for politicians, parents, and “experts” like Fredric Wertham, who sought something to blame for increasing juvenile delinquency and violence. Of course, that line of argument was cut short…
Category: Features
Using Graphic Novels in Education: The Color of Earth Trilogy
Welcome to Using Graphic Novels in Education, an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of graphic novels and to help parents and teachers raise readers. In this column, we examine graphic novels, including…
Tokyo Government Declares Imōto Paradise! 2 Manga Unhealthy
Under the guise of the revised (and ever more draconian) Youth Healthy Development Ordinance, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government this week declared that the manga Imōto Paradise! 2 was an “unhealthy publication.” Under the ordinance, such materials cannot be sold to…
CBLDF Joins Coalition Defending Challenged Book in Minnesota
Today, a review committee in Rosemount, Minnesota will decide the fate of Barthe DeClements’s Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You, which was challenged by a district parent, who filed a complaint about language in the book. CBLDF has joined a coalition…
As SC Senate Debates Budget, Possible Compromise Emerges Over Fun Home Funding
Last week, South Carolina state senator Brad Hutto led an hours-long filibuster to prevent punitive budget cuts against two colleges that had incorporated LGBT-themed books into elective reading programs. Hutto has hinted a compromise is in the works to try…
Tennessee School Board Bans The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
It’s not often that one word garners a book challenge, but in Wilson County, Tennessee, it appears all you need is the F-bomb to get a book banned. Earlier this week, the Wilson County School Board voted 3-1 to removed…
Writers Speak Out Loud as SC Senate Continues Debate Over Punitive Budget Cuts
As the debate rages on in South Carolina over a proposal that punitively cuts the budgets of two colleges that had incorporated LGBT-themed books — including Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home — into elective reading programs rages, writers are taking a stand.…
CBLDF Comics Code Variant Cover Madness!
The CBLDF office staff is back from a multi-show stint on the road, and we have returned with comics. But not just any comics. Namely, comics with exclusive, awesome, variant covers, just for YOU, the esteemed CBLDF donor! Many of…
Punitive Budget Cuts Don’t Fly with South Carolina Senate Finance Committee
Yesterday, the Associate Press reported an update to the proposed punitive budget cuts against two South Carolina Universities. In early March, the South Carolina House of Representatives passed a budget that cut the funding of two colleges that had incorporated…
Spiked Doonesbury Strip Runs in Washington Post After 41 Years
Last week, the Washington Post finally ran a Doonesbury strip that its editors vetoed in 1973. At the Post’s own Comic Riffs blog, columnist Michael Cavna examined the Watergate-era context of the strip, the paper’s rather weak justification for its…