Tag: banned books

‘Drama’ once again lands on the ALA’s ‘Most Challenged Books’ list

Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novel continues its run on the yearly list of the most challenged/censored books.

The award-winning, best-selling graphic novel Drama by Raina Telgemeier has yet again found its way onto the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books list. The ALA released the list of the most challenged/censored books of 2019 earlier this month.

Challenged for “LGBTQIA+ content and for concerns that it goes against ‘family values/morals,’” Drama has appeared on the yearly list five times since it was published in 2012. This year it came in at No. 8, sandwiched between The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

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Idaho school bans ‘The Walking Dead’

Despite a committee vote to keep it at the school, the district superintendent calls for the removal of the popular Image Comics series.

Wallace Junior/Senior High School in Wallace, Idaho has removed The Walking Dead from its library shelves following complaints from a teacher and parents.

According to the Shoshone News-Press, a teacher saw a student reading a volume of The Walking Dead during the 2018-2019 school year and objected to the content, including the “graphic language, violence and sexually explicit content.” Upon discovering the school library had several volumes of the comic, he took his concerns to the school’s principal, Chris Lund.

The principal then formed an 11-person committee that included students, staff and parents to review the material and vote on whether The Walking Dead should be removed from the school library.

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Comics Lowdown: Comic books sales up in 2018, Marvel top publisher; stalker sets cosplayer’s car on fire

Plus: ‘Drama’ drama with the Ottawa Catholic School Board! Faith Erin Hicks! Jed MacKay! And more!

The 2018 direct market numbers from Diamond are in and comic sales are ever so slightly up from 2017. Comics saw an increase to sales by 3.3%, but graphic novels were down by 6.6%. The combined sales of the two formats mean a wee increase of 0.6% for the direct market.

Marvel Comics increased their market share slightly to gain an extra 2% over DC Comics, who seemed to have flat lined and lost 0.3% of their market share. This indicates that Marvel’s market share gains mostly come from the expense of small publishers or independent comic sales, with the exception of Image Comics, who also saw a slight increase.

The best-selling graphic novel of the year was Infinity Gauntlet. The 1991 story is enjoying a revival because of the Avengers: Infinity War movie. The best-selling comics was Action #1000, a landmark issue featuring unpublished artwork by legendary Superman artist Curt Swan and the introduction of writer Brain Michael Bendis to the DC universe.

Complete lists and more insight are available on comichron.com.

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Quoted: Jillian & Mariko Tamaki on frequently challenged ‘This One Summer’

As their award-winning book continues to face censorship, they note that, “A book doesn’t stop existing by taking it off the shelf. Nor do the ideas contained within.”

Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, whose This One Summer, landed at the top of the American Library Association’s list of 2016’s most challenged books, issued a statement about the book’s frequent challenges:

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‘This One Summer,’ ‘Drama’ top list of most banned books of 2016

‘Big Hard Sex Criminals’ also among the most challenged books, according to the American Library Association.

Mariko and Jillian Tamaki’s This One Summer and Raina Telgemeier’s Drama topped the list of 2016’s most challenged books, according to the American Library Association. Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s Big Hard Sex Criminals also landed in the top 10 as the seventh most challenged book of 2016.

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