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Sex, violence and the modern comic book

Broadcast Date: April 11, 1988

By the mid-1980s comics in Canada and elsewhere were in the throes of a creative revolution. Weaned on the underground comics of the 1960s, a new generation of cartoonists began pushing the boundaries of the medium with sophisticated story lines that tackled adult themes and featured sex and violence. Despite being intended for adult eyes, these "new wave" comics found their way into the hands of kids leading to public outrage and calls for censorship. In this 1988 clip, comic fans, retailers and a young cartoonist named Chester Brown come to the defence of their medium. WARNING: This clip features graphic images.

Sex, violence and the modern comic book

• Beginning in 1954, comic book publishers were required to submit their books to the U.S.-based Comics Code Authority (or CCA) which reviewed them for graphic depiction of violence, gore and sex.
• To learn more about comic book censorship during this period, go to out clip: Seduction of the Innocent?.

• For decades, magazine distributors required comic books to have the CCA's familiar seal before they could be sent out to magazine stores, corner shops and drug stores, where the lion's share of comics were bought.
• In the late 1960s, a wave of underground comics emerged. In part a reaction to the restrictive CCA, these comics revelled in sexuality and depictions of drug use and found a home in head shops and in stores that specialized in the sale of comics.

• Using alternate distribution methods, this new breed of comics (which included the likes of Robert Crumb and Vancouver-native Rand Holmes) found a huge audience outside the reach of the CCA.
• Over the next two decades, the alternative comic scene faded only to re-emerge in the 1980s in what has been called the "Alternative Comics Boom." In Canada, this trend was typified by the likes of Dave Sim (Cerebus), David Boswell (Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman), Arn Saba (Neil the Horse), Bernie Mireault (Mackenzie Queen), Ty Templeton (Stig's Inferno), Dean Motter (Mister X) and Chester Brown's Yummy Fur.

• By 1986, there were enough comic book specialty stores across North America to allow for the emergence of a "direct-sales" market that allowed comic publishers to distribute directly to stores.
• This also allowed them to sell comics outside of the traditional magazine distributors – and therefore without the approval of the CCA. This quickly led to a raft of unrated new titles aimed at an older audience, rather than children.
• This trend affected both underground and mainstream publishers, like DC and Marvel Comics which also began to release adult themed books.

• By the time this CBC Television report aired in the spring of 1988, the mass media had just begun to react to the new reality of comics. This item is typical of the trend, and mirrors the anti-comics crusade of the 1950s.
• In May 1987, the Mulroney government tabled its controversial anti-pornography bill called C-54. In its original form, it would have re-defined pornography to include any depictions of intercourse between two adults – something depicted in these comics.

• To learn more about censorship, got to out topic Artists Busted: Censorship in Canada.
• The bill was criticized by arts groups, who were concerned that it could be interpreted to effectively ban artistic representations of nudity of sexuality.
• In this clip, an academic questions whether or not alternative comics – like Yummy Fur – would fall under the proposed legislation.

• A few months after this clip aired, Bill C-54 died in Parliament after more than a year of widespread protest.
• Nearly two decades later, Chester Brown's story Ed The Happy Clown (which is singled out for ridicule in this clip) is considered a groundbreaking graphic novel.
• In 1988, DC Comics instituted its own rating system for its direct market comics which include a "Suggested for Mature Readers" label.

• The Comics Code Authority still exists (2006), though its influence has greatly diminished. In 2001, Marvel Comics stopped submitting its comics for approval in favour of a self-regulating system.
• As of July 2006, DC Comics and Archie Comics were the only major comic publishers still submitting their books to the CCA.

Sex, violence and the modern comic book

Medium: Television

Program: Monitor

Broadcast Date: April 11, 1988

Guest(s): Mark Askwith, Margaret Booth, Chester Brown, Aaron Cooper, Keith Cooper, Alison Kerr, Alok Mukherjee, Steve Solomos

Reporter: Christina Pochmursky

Duration: 13:09

Last updated:
March 28, 2008