Comic-Con: Comic book creators feel chill of book ban attempts

Book banning movements have proliferated in the last several years, and comic books and graphic novel creators have found themselves in the crosshairs too.

A panel of experts, including San Diego educators, lamented the impact of book bans on the comics industry on the first full day of San Diego Comic-Con Thursday.

Pamela Jackson, co-director of the Center for Comics Studies at San Diego State University, said most people disagree with book bans but a “loud minority” has made their voices heard.

“It’s an organized attack, what’s happening in the country,” she said.

In 2024, the American Library Association tracked 821 attempts to censor library materials and services, which far exceed the numbers prior to 2020.

The comics that show up on ban lists usually deal with gender and LGBTQ issues. Comic books and graphic novels by their nature are easier for critics to find things to complain about, said William Nericcio, an English professor at SDSU.

“In order to ban books, you have to read them,” he said. “But comics, all you have to do is flip the pages.”

Although book ban efforts have been defeated, they still create a chilling atmosphere for writers and artists, leading to self-censorship, said panelists. This is nothing new for the comics industry, they said, citing debates about the comics industry early on that led to creation of a comics authority code.

Nericcio, who teaches a comics history course, said some young minds should be challenged with more adult works.

“Comics are a gateway drug to high literature,” he joked.

Citing his own experiences, he added: “I looked at all kinds of works I wasn’t supposed to. But that’s what books do. They fracture our imagination, and we grow from that.”

In the meantime, organizations like the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund will continue to advocate for artists, writers and comic book retailers.

“You have to keep fighting the fight,” Jackson said.