Given all of the attention that Maus is getting following a Tennessee school board’s vote to remove it from the eighth-grade curriculum, we thought we’d highlight some other banned graphic memoirs. With more than 50 bills aiming to ban teaching topics across the country and the unprecedented, whopping 300 book “challenges” reported to the American Library Association last fall, perhaps we need a spring “banned book week” in addition to the annual fall celebration. Here are some of our picks:
Barefoot Gen - Keiji Nakazawa
Synopsis: Based off of Nakazawa’s experience, this manga follows an atomic bomb survivor and his family in Hiroshima, as they cope with the aftermath.
Banned in: Matsue, Japan
Reason banned: Depiction of violence
Read more about the banning here.
Fun Home - Alison Bechdel
Synopsis: Alison Bechdel’s lauded graphic memoir tells the story of her complicated relationship with her father, from her childhood in rural Pennsylvania to adulthood. Bechdel explores her own sexuality as well as her father through memory and various texts.
Most recently banned in: Wentzville, MO
Reason banned: Controversial material
Read more about the banning here - although students have sued to undo the banning, as of now, Fun Home is still off the shelves.
Blankets - Craig Thompson
Synopsis: This Midwestern coming-of-age story centers around Thompson’s first love and crisis of faith.
Banned in: Missouri
Reason banned: Objectionable images
Read more about the banning here.
Gender Queer - Maia Kobabe
Synopsis: Maia Kobabe’s autobiographical graphic novel explores eir identity and discovery of being nonbinary and asexual.
Banned in: Brevard, Florida (and numerous other places)
Reason banned: “adult images that have no place in education”
Read more about the banning and student resistance here.
Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
Synopsis: Growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran and its aftermath, Marjane Satrapi depicts her struggles and joys in this graphic memoir.
Banned in: Franklin Regional School District, PA
Reason banned: Vague complaints resulted in the school board pulling the book from classes
Read more about the banning here.
Of course, censoring and banning comics isn’t new. If you are interested in reading more about the history, check out The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu.
Book Riot has a great (and sad!) regular column on book censorship. It’s looking mighty long these days…if you can support banned authors, please do so!