March Co-Author Reacts to PA Banning Rep. John Lewis' Autobiographical Graphic Novels; CBR, September 27, 2022

JIM JOHNSON, CBR; March Co-Author Reacts to PA Banning Rep. John Lewis' Autobiographical Graphic Novels

"March, the trilogy of graphic novels chronicling the late Congressman John Lewis' Civil Rights activism, has been banned in one Pennsylvania institution -- and the series' co-author has called out books' ban -- and its timing.

"Kicking off #bannedbooksweek with the news that Allegheny County Jails in Pennsylvania banned March and Run from their facilities over the weekend is a heck of a way to start," tweeted Andrew Aydin, who co-wrote the March trilogy -- and its single-volume sequel Run -- with Rep. Lewis. Nate Powell illustrated the first trilogy, with Powell and L. Fury both handling the art on Run."

CA College Student Challenges Graphic Novel Syllabus; Library Journal, 7/20/15

Anna Murphy, Library Journal; CA College Student Challenges Graphic Novel Syllabus:

"The administration at Crafton Hills College, a community college in Yucaipa, CA, recently denied a student’s request to remove what she considered objectionable material from a college course on graphic novels. After enrolling in the course and purchasing her books, Tara Schultz was surprised to learn that some of the titles included mature material. “I expected Batman and Robin, not pornography,” she told the Redland Daily Facts (RDF). The four books on the syllabus she found objectionable included: Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin, 2006); Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1, by Brian Vaughan (Vertigo, 2003); The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll’s House, by Neil Gaiman (1990, DC Comics); and Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon, 2004)...

Deborah Caldwell-Stone of the American Library Association (ALA) Office of Intellectual Freedom feels that warnings regarding content unfairly influence readers. “Librarians have always had a concern with labeling that tends to prejudice a reader against a book,” she said. “We shouldn’t need labels that say something might be offensive because someone said so. Everyone is free to close a book at any time.”"