More On the League

A follow-up on this story: The Black Dossier threatens public safety. The Black Dossier being the name of Volume Four of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel.

The petition reads in part, "This community is known to have sexual predators, and works such as these encourage those predators to act out their desires or at the very least justify their desires."

Man, I hope they don't learn other things from graphic novels and comic books, like how to fly or shoot lasers out of their eyes. My favourite quote from all I've read about this case comes from an editorial at Omnicomic:

And here we are now. Cook and Boisvert personally attempted to withhold the book from the public in the "best interest" of kids. Which is basically censorship. Honestly, they have no right to do so and the library was completely within it's jurisdiction to terminate these two employees. It's so easy to forget with abortion, healthcare, war, economy, etc. that censorship used to be a big deal as well. Especially in comic books. Way back in the day of Dr. Wertham and his book Seduction of the Innocent comic books were actually burned in many southern towns. Why? Because of their perceived ill-influences on kids.

Aren't we past that? I understand the desire on the part of adults to want to protect kids. What are we protecting them from though? You don't think that if the book was removed that kids wouldn't see this stuff elsewhere? Even further it's the parents decision regarding what kids watch/read. Taking such a critically-acclaimed book and re-checking it out is almost bush league in it's immaturity. Cook and Boisvert had no right whatsoever to impose their views onto those of the library patrons.

Is The Black Dossier appropriate for an eleven-year-old? No. I can't come up with anything off the top of my head from Alan Moore that would be appropriate for an eleven-year-old. The issue isn't whether the book is appropriate, it's whether library workers can decide what's appropriate.