Labels: censorship, political cartooning

• Another obit for Robert Bierman, the political cartoonist who passed away April 16.

• The Comic Book Bin chronicles the move from print to web by cartoonist Karl Kerschl.

• Ivan Anchukov of Voronezh, Russia, won the 8th Annual International Competition for Editorial Cartoonists from among 700 cartoons submitted from 40 countries, in an award handed out in Ottawa May 2nd in honour of International Press Freedom day (May 3).
  

• The comics critics: "Jog" tackles Dave Sim's Glamourpuss comic while Tom Spurgeon casts a wide net over Michel Rabagliati's graphic novel Paul Goes Fishing.

• Chris Butcher wants your help in i.d.-ing the hottest obscure manga.

• The second volume in the Cosmos Cafe album series by Quebec bedeist Tristan Demers in now out.

• Newsarama interviews graphic novelist Faith Erin Hicks.

Labels: awards, censorship, graphic novels, links, political cartooning

• This article about changes at Little Sister's bookstore in Vancouver and the freedom fighters who run it includes a quote from employee and cartoonist Ken Boesem.

• Derek McCormack writes about superhero costumes for the National Post.

• The newspaper in Milton, Ontario, reminds us that Free Comic Book Day is coming up this Saturday, May 2, and that Milton's comic book shop is called Geekdom.

• Quill and Quire covers the Canadian Eisner nominees (subscription required).

• Canadian icon, columnist, playwright, and champion of liberty Rick Salutin, reflects on the Siegel legal decision in the U.S. and ponders the chicken/egg nature of creation and myth.

• On the subject of showing the Mohammed cartoons on CBC.

• Jeet Heer interviewed about superheroes on the CBC.

• Gary Groth and a Toronto comic buyer with a scanner interviewed by the CBC about online comics piracy.

• Newsarama at Calgary Comic Expo.

• Chris Butcher is celebrating 6 years of blogging. Congratulations!

• "BIFF! BANG! POW! Music isn't just for kids anymore!"

Labels: censorship, comics history, copyright, events links, interviews, pod casts, U.S. superhero franchises

• On the heels of yesterday's report on attacks on comics in libraries comes news of the latest batch of comics seized by Canada Customs (via Journalista). Publishers include Fantagraphics/Eros and Icarus Publishing.

• Michel Viau highlights some of the bd bestsellers in Montreal comic shops.

• Syed Soharwardy offers to meet with Ezra Levant.

• Some reports from last weekend's Kei-kon in Victoria: 1 2 3

• I think I get what Tom Spurgeon is saying: The Hulk is stronger, right?

• Jeet Heer on Krazy Kat and homosexuality.

Labels: bd, censorship, Global Links, manga

Labels: censorship, comics in libraries, graphic novels

• The Comic Book Bin's Christopher Moshier takes a page from the Overstreet Price Guide and probes the early "Platinum Age" history of DC Comics.

• Winnipeg bouncer creates superhero to protect children, Canadian Shield. (bonus: video)

• International: in a move sure to be reflected on Canadian bestseller lists, VIZ has announced the publication of a new Naruto series, following the adventures of the titular ninja student as a teenager: the launch of the long-awaited new NARUTO manga story arc begins with Volume 28, "which is the first to feature Naruto as a teenager. The volume is expected to hit stores nationwide on March 4 with an estimated retail price of $7.95"

• Free speech and Alberta Human Rights Commission to become election issue after cartoon controversy?

• Robin Bougie and co-conspirators are interviewed on the Inkstuds podcast about the recent launch of Cinema Sewer and Sleazy Slice.

• Lisa Fortuner at the Newsarama blog offers up some compelling reasons for not reading Dave Sim's Glamourama.

Labels: censorship, comics history, floppies, international, manga

Labels: censorship, legal news, political cartooning, publishing

Labels: censorship, events, graphic novels, manga, publishing

• More on Ezra Levant's cartoon case is kangaroo court, this time from A.M Lamey (who shares a blog with freedom fighter Jeet Heer).

• Herve St-Louis has an excellent essay about the general suckiness of comic book publisher websites, especially when considered from the point of view of journalists and bloggers.

• Cartoonist Sarah Lazarovic is one of the panelists reviewing the Persepolis film for the National Post.

• Xtra West reports that Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium is for sale. Long plagued by Canada Customs, the store has been fighting to freely import books and comics, regardless of sexual content. Here's hoping the new owners continue the good fight:

News that Deva and Smyth are relinquishing ownership of Little Sister's is being met with shock and sadness, but also with a sense of profound gratitude for the leadership role they've assumed on issues that resonate with the queer community. Issues like spearheading the response to Aaron Webster's murder in 2001; community policing; housing issues in the West End; and a community resource and gathering space.

But the store and its owners and manager are probably best known for their decades-long battle with Canada Customs (now Canada Border Services Agency) which began seizing their shipments in 1984 on the grounds that their gay and lesbian imports were obscene.

With its shelves sitting half-empty and shipments arriving in a tattered state, Little Sister's took Customs to court for the first time in 1987 for unfairly targeting the community's material.

Labels: censorship, interweb

Labels: censorship, legal news, political cartooning, publishing

• Western Standard ex-publisher Ezra Levant goes before the Alberta Human Rights Commission today to "defend his former magazine's 2006 publication of a series of Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad," according to this article from the Calgary Herald. This court (really an interview to determine if the charge warrants a full hearing) is in session because the head of Islamic Supreme Council of Canada filed a complaint about the cartoons.


• No Bookstores for Sim: Dave Sim talks about his new comic book series Glamourpuss, insisting "that brick-and-mortar comic book stores be the only environments to profit from my work.

• Jog the Blog on Nog a Dod

• Speaking of Marc Bell, read all about how the Inkstuds gang is celebrating their 2nd anniversary with art shows and jams.

• Shuffleboil interviews Jeff Lemire about his graphic novel Essex County 2: Ghost Stories.

• As Kevin Boyd notes, the first draft of a list of all eligible artists, writers, and cartoonists who produced work in 2007 is up at the Shuster Awards site. Any additions should be emailed to them pronto.

• Rachelle Goguen's Best of 2007 list

• Madeline Ashby explains why manga is better than U.S. superhero comics

Labels: censorship, comics retailers, events, graphic novels, manga, political cartooning, U.S. superhero franchises

• Writing for Xtra, Chris Butcher provides a primer on Yaoi tranlations and OEL Yaoi available to North American readers.

• Leroy Douresseaux reviews Jeff Lemire's Essex County 2 for Comic Book Bin.

• Man who blocked Vancouver bridge dressed as superhero in 2004 loses appeal for appeal.

• The National Post's policart Gary Clement snags a top 10 berth on the Time magazine list of best editorial cartoons of 2007. It's actually a sequential gag, to boot.

• Writing for Boston's Edge magazine, Steve Stiffler provides an exhaustive overview of the problems with Canada Customs vis a vis comics: "A far more insidious quality of life incursion is being perpetrated by our neighbors to the north. Yes, the "friendly giant" of Canada has not been so friendly--or at least gay-friendly--of late.

Labels: blogosphere, censorship, graphic novels, manga, political cartooning, reviews

• Jeet Heer provides a nice chrestomathy (yeah, I had to look it up) of John Updike's utterances on comics.

• The Shuster Awards are calling for submissions from Canadian creators in order to "compile the list of eligible creators and their works published in 2007 for the 2008 Joe Shuster Awards, which will be presented in mid-2008 at a time and location to be announced." Details at Kevin Boyd's blog.
  

• Madeline Ashby provides a Canadian academic's take on anime fansubs and the lag time between the publication of popular manga like Bleach and Death Note and their eventual translation for tv.

• I really liked this review of a classic Archie comic story

• Tv chef James Barber was also a cartoonist

• Herve St-Louis has been doing a bang-up job of covering the upcoming introduction of U.S.-style copyright law to Canada. Most recently, he tried to get some answers from Industry Minister Jim Prentice about why the Harper government seems to be bowing to pressure from the U.S. government, Hollywood, Microsoft, and the U.S. music industry. Check out the links at the bottom of St-Louis' article for more background, or read this column at rabble.ca for an overview and steps Canadian citizens can take to avoid getting sued by Warner Bros now that the fair use laws (in Canada, we call it "fair dealing") are in danger.

• Robin Bougie hooks you up with the best banned porn comics, courtesy of the Canadian government.

• This Canadian Press article explains how a propaganda comic about the Afghan legal system, created in part by Canadians, is being distributed in Kandahar province.

Labels: awards, blogosphere, censorship, copyright, floppies, links, manga

There is another reason Rousseau says he didn't protest the seizure. "We didn't protest because it was mostly about younger boys and incest," he says. "We have protested before, but we decided that after looking into the matter it is too much."

"They were determined to be obscene," says CBSA spokesperson Chris Williams. "The indicators ranged from depictions of incest to sex with pain and sexual mutilation, defecation and vomiting."

While Xtra has so far been unable to examine all the seized material, the Justin books are available on-line in English at the artist's website.

"Does that mean that only certain people who are Internet savvy can access pornography?" asks Jim Deva, co-owner of Vancouver's Little Sister's Bookstore. "That it's available on-line raises the question of how are we protecting Canadians from it."

The on-line versions of the Justin books tell the story of a gay man who is reunited with his 18-year-old son, Justin, after several years. Justin moves in with his father and soon confesses his sexual attraction to him. In the two books, the two are depicted having oral and anal sex and, in one scene, Justin's father urinates on him.

Priape purchaser Denis Leblanc says he didn't know the storylines of the books when the store ordered them.

"I knew it wasn't a church book. I knew it was erotic stories and that it was comics, but I didn't know specifically what it was about," says Leblanc.

Tourtois maintains that as adult fantasy comics, obscenity is H&O's raison d'etre, and that they are not harmful and no actors are harmed or exploited in their production. He also says that no other country has stopped shipment of the books.

Labels: bd, censorship, international, links

Labels: blogosphere, censorship, fanfic

The store's cause is starting to get support from individuals across the country.

Toronto-area resident Terry Lewis, who describes himself as "perfectly straight," says he was so outraged by Little Sister's troubles that he's trying to mount his own fundraising campaign.

"You can't call it anything less than abuse by Canada Customs," says Lewis. "Someone in Canada Customs has decided they don't like the material that Little Sister's imports. The problem with that kind of abuse of authority is there's no knowing where it's going to stop."

Labels: censorship, news

"push for independence may be due to the student union’s decision to confiscate an edition of the paper last winter that contained controversial Muhammad cartoons. The cartoons sparked outrage in the Muslim community for depicting the prophet Muhammad."

Labels: censorship, political cartooning

The ruling all but chokes any possibility of advance funding in future cases, University of Toronto Law Professor Brenda Cossman said. "In order to get advance costs, you have to show that your case is unbelievably, totally special," she said. "If this case wasn't exceptional, I don't know what is.

This was an action involving an unrelenting censor with whom Little Sisters had been battling for 12 years -- and they were operating in defiance of a Supreme Court order," Prof. Cossman said. "If Little Sisters doesn't challenge them, no one will."

For more than a decade Little Sister's has taken on "Big Brother" - in the words of Justice Binnie, the little bookstore on Davie Street "has borne the brunt of the battle on this branch of expression and equality
rights". Today that battle has been lost by Little Sister's - not because Canada Customs has been vindicated,but rather because Little Sister's does not have the financial resources to continue the battle.

The current round of litigation arose from the banning of four books - two comic books and two books by Larry Townsend, a writer well-known in the gay community. Little Sister's appealed the prohibition of these books and in the process of the appeal found evidence of Canada Customs continuing to disproportionately detain gay and lesbian literature (70% of all items seized, as found by Justice Binnie), continuing to ban books that had been central to the Court's findings in Little Sister's #1 (e.g. Macho Sluts by Pat Califia), and that indeed Customs may not be living up to the commitment it made to the Court in Little Sister's #1 - i.e. that it had taken effective measures to remedy the systemic discrimination identified by the Courts in Little Sister's #1.

The outcome of this case means that unless there is a litigant with pockets deep enough to take on Canada Customs, the bureaucracy will continue to determine what Canadians can and cannot read, unscrutinized by public hearings.

Jim Deva, owner of Little Sister's Bookstore, says that this is a very sad day in Canada for free expression, equality rights and access to justice. As noted by Justices Binnie and Fish, after successfully establishing the existence of systemic Charter violations in Little Sister's #1, "the present issue is whether the rights established in that case in principle have (or will) become rights in reality."

"Today's decision denies Little Sister's, and indeed all Canadians, the answer to that important question. That can only be viewed as a setback to the expression rights, equality rights and access to justice for all Canadians."

Joe Arvay, counsel for the bookstore, adds that "all Canadians should be deeply concerned about this erosion of our expression and equality rights and access to justice." Mr. Arvay agrees with the observation of Justice Binnie who, with Justice Fish, dissented from the majority decision. Justice Binnie opined:

"Today four books, tomorrow another four books. Litigation follows litigation until the rational businessperson is forced to throw in the towel. This is how civil liberties can be eroded, little by little, yields in small increments that case by case are not worth the cost of the fight. It takes an unbusinesslike litigation like Little Sister's to elbow aside purely financial considerations ... and carry on what it sees as unfinished Charter business against the government."

Labels: censorship, links, news