The Comics Code, while not much more than a memory today, had a huge effect on the direction of American comics for half a decade. David Hajdu’s book The Ten-Cent Plague looks at the events that led up to the code, following the development of comics — and the protests against them — through the first half of the twentieth century. Why were comics scapegoated for social ills? Tim and Paul discuss the book.
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The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly recently passed a law that further limits minors’ access to “Any manga, animation, or pictures (but not including real life pictures or footage) that features either sexual or pseudo sexual acts that would be illegal in real life, or sexual or pseudo sexual acts between close relatives whose marriage would be illegal, where such depictions and / or presentations unjustifiably glorify or exaggerate the activity.” Perhaps understandable, but without clear guidelines for determining what is OK and what is not, there are fears of a slippery slope. Could this become defacto, outright censorship? Tim, Kumar, and Mulele discuss the new law, and how this situation compares to the events in the U.S. that led up to the creation of the comics code.
Dan Kanemitsu’s Paper Trail — many good blog postings on the topic
Publishers boycott anime convention
“My publisher has banned school uniforms” — (visuals on this site are NOT SAFE FOR WORK)
Child sex in manga: Art or Obscenity? — The Japan Times
JL Roberson touts Deconstructing Comics
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