This week Henry and Colin are joined by writer and comics critic Jeet Heer and Jeff Trexler, Interim Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, to discuss the broader context for the censorship of graphic novels in schools. Jumping off from the recent censorship of Art Spiegelman’s Maus by a TN school board, we review the long history and reasoning of censorship, policing, gatekeeping of comics – from early newspaper strips, to the first magazine books sold to kids in drug stores, the Senate investigation and self-censorship code of the 50s, and on to the Underground comics movement for adults and the independent comics of the 80s. Recently, we’ve seen the same concerns arise anew as equal protection laws have brought things that were once considered private into the public sphere, and the pandemic brought the classroom and its educational use of graphic novels into the home. We point out the changes that have led teachers and librarians to “switch sides” in this argument and become proponents of comics as literature, and talk about the role comics can play in engaging readers of all ages, as well as helping to express the full diversity of American culture. We end with some thoughts about how individuals can respond to the challenges comics are once again coming under and support their role in this dialogue.A full transcript of this episode will be available soon!Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:Jeet Heer, columns in The Nation, The New Republicbooks: Arguing Comics, A Comic Studies Reader, The Superhero Reader, In Love with ArtJeff Trexler, Interim Director, Comic Book Legal Defense FundMcMinn, TN Education board censorship of Maus; Jeet’s writing immediately afterLeander, TX school district banning of graphic novel versions of The Handmaid’s Tale & The LotteryEarly newspaper comics: Katzenjammer Kids, Mutt & JeffComics for older youth:Duck Comics, Carl BarksCrime Does Not Pay, Charles BiroEC Horror comics, William GainesFor more about the history of horror comics, see Episode 74: Horror, Social Change, andExperimentation with Michael Monello and Qiana WhittedFrederic Wertham and Moral Panic around Horror and Crime ComicsFrederick Wertham speechThe Comics CodeUnderground Comics and the origins of the CBLDF:Friendly Franks comics shopDennis Kitchen, comics publisherZap Comix, Robert CrumbRaw, Art Spiegelman & Françoise MoulyFilm, Comic Book ConfidentialIndependent comics of the 80s aimed at adults:WatchmenThe Dark KnightThe new wave of graphic novels aimed at youth again:Bone, Jeff SmithTOON Books, Françoise MoulyMangaBooks By Raina TelgemeierOther critically-acclaimed yet controversial graphic novels:Gender Queer, Maia KobabePersepolis, Marjane SatrapiFun Home, Alison BechdelEarly proponent of comics for children Josette FrankAnd today: Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table of the American Library AssociationHenry’s book Comics and StuffShare your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected]:“In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmetSpaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeatsCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumentalFree Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceshipMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Share your thoughts via Twitter with Henry, Colin and the How Do You Like It So Far? account! You can also email us at [email protected]:“In Time” by Dylan Emmett and “Spaceship” by Lesion X.In Time (Instrumental) by Dylan Emmet  https://soundcloud.com/dylanemmetSpaceship by Lesion X https://soundcloud.com/lesionxbeatsCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/in-time-instrumentalFree Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lesion-x-spaceshipMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AzYoVrMLa1Q––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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