Comic Book Resources

Do parents not go to the beach anymore? Christ.

America is always so sissy about these silly things.

As I noted in the original post on this, MJ has done more serious cheesecake than that in her time. My 13 or 14 year old self thinks back fondly to MJ in lingerie circa Amazing 299-300ish.

Seems to me that a bikini shot is fine for the 12+ book.

At least the pages weren't stuck together.

Crap, i'm in her area. As a citizen of Omaha, Nebraska, I officially apoligise to the entire world for this incident and the dingbat in question.

why do elementary school libraries carry comics in the first place? why would a six yr old need to read up on a 12+ comics? I feel like if any comics should be carried, it should be the marvel adventures line.

To the concerned mothers of Nebraska,

I have now subscribed all of you to Warren Ellis' mailing list. Please read his drunken ramblings, and remember, this is the man who scribes your kids' precious X-Men stories. You're welcome.

Love,
Sensible Humans

Oh, sh--

again that nonsense =/

So, americans ARE stupid, after all....

Wow... That's the big deal, huh?

Being that it's Nebraska, I'm guessing the kid has never been to a beach. But all the same, I bet he's seeing images much worse on TV all the time. Even in commericals? How about all those Viagra ads that run during ballgames? Not that I consider that a big problem either, but my point is that I don't think a drawing of MJ in a bikini is going to scar this child or cause him irrevocable harm.

I officially retract my support for the mom on this issue. Like others here have stated, there's nothing in those issues that you can't find on any public beach or neighborhood swimming pool, much less any beer commercial.

If you lined everybody in this thread up, I'm sure I'd be on the far right, and even I think this is nonsense.

Having said that... last time I checked, elementary school ended at fifth grade, where kids are 11 years old, max. Even books that are rated 12+ may not ALWAYS be appropriate for kids 10 and under. Just because it has "Spider-Man" on the cover doesn't mean it's the best choice for Mrs. Johnson's first graders. Especially when the Marvel Adventures line is so readily available.

I've bought early Image books at that age much worse than that.

Yeah, when I was that kid's age I was reading stuff way worse than MJ in a bikini. Hell, I practically had a subscribtion to Shadow Hawk. Those were the days...

Christ, how f@$#%ing ridiculous.

If the kid grows up to be a serial killer its not because he saw an illustration of a bikini clad woman, it's because his mother sheltered him from reality. The kids six already, he should have a tattoo on his neck by now.

I am a school librarian. I also know my comics, and I was a comics reader since I was around 5-6 years old. That being said, there are library resources out there that can help school (and public) librarians who don't know much about comics to get age-appropriate titles into their collections. I also work for a book distributor as its graphic novel selector and as the graphic novel selector for a major library reference publisher. We provide help for librarians who'd just admit they need it and will use what we provide. There are also several library listservs to which librarians can post their questions regarding the suitability of any comic book title. There are plenty of us out there who are knowledgeable and are willing to share our expertise. I've been working as a librarian for more than a quarter-century and have been a comics reader for almost 50 years. The news about this challenge, and the circumstances around it, are extremely frustrating to me, because it was preventable. No party involved is exempt from blame - not the librarian, not the parent; and the media are particularly to blame for sensationalizing the story in the first place.

This is such a let down. I went to an elementary school in Quebec which had numerous French comics. There were the normal ones such as TinTin and Obelisk and Asterix, but I remember one in particular having frontal nudity. It wasn't a sexual, I believe the girl was bathing in a river.

Image if this mother had seen that comic. That would have at least warranted a debate.

The sad thing is I would be mad that my child would be reading anything from Stracynski's run or after, because let's face it, he killed that character.

I wonder if they're going to edit out Mary Jane in all future trades. She'll be replaced by Debbie, a generic character that no one remembers. You know Quesada's just crazy enough to do it.

Just as I thought, Stracynski is to blame!

But, yeah, that's ridiculous.

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)

Wasn't the first Spider-Man movie a huge hit with kids and rated PG? Where Kirsten Dunst's glass-cutting nipples are pearcing through her wet top in the famous kissing scene?

And hell, it's John Romita Jr. drawing MJ in a bikini, not Terry Dodson! Even if TD drew it, there's no cause for complaint. Lighten up, MOM.