Do you own any of the following:
Wanted (Top Cow)
Batman: The Killing Joke (DC)
Watchmen (DC)
Punisher (Marvel)
Lost Girls (Top Shelf Productions)
Manga (pick a title)
Cerebus (Aardvark Vanaheim)
(The list continues)
Congratulations you are a comic book fan and the
government would like to arrest you, fine you, confiscate your comic collection
and ask you to sign the sex offenders' list.
Do I have your attention? Think I am joking? Read on.
The Criminal Justice Act (2008)
comes into effect at the end of January 2009 and says:
(2) An "extreme pornographic image" is
an image which is both-
(a) pornographic, and
(b) an extreme image.
(3) An image is "pornographic" if it is of such a nature that
it must reasonably be assumed to have been produced solely or principally
for the purpose of sexual arousal.
When the act comes into force the only exclusion is given to film which
means the law could include cartoons and therefore comic books.
Because this is a minefield for the law it then falls on the Police to enforce it, and it is their judgement that could lead to a prosecution. We COULD get to a point where the police could legitimately visit your home or workplace, and sanctioned by an un-elected magistrate or judge go through your collection and if they find any comic book that they feel will cause sexual arousal or displays extreme violence then they could arrest you.
And what is frightening about this law is that it gives them carte blanche to invade our lives, to shut down our comic shops and ultimately it could lead to censorship of books and films as well.
· an act which involves sexual interference with a human corpse (fair enough)
· a person performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal (whether dead or alive). (Again, can’t argue with that)
· an act which threatens a person’s life (Hold on! Isn’t that how Batman, Punisher, Judge Dredd get anything done?)
· an act which results, or is likely to result, in serious injury to a person’s anus, breasts or genitals. (A kick in the balls or arse would constitute this, and a kick in the balls is a well trodden part of humour)
Email, write, telephone your MP's, and lobby your local representatives. It is now time for us all to stand up and be counted, it is now time for readers, writers, artists and publishers to stand up and stand together, to say 'Enough is enough, we are not perverts and degenerates. We like comic books, we like literature and great artwork. We are law-abiding citizens free to form our own judgements and make our own choices.'
It may be too late but laws can be changed. Ultimately we elect the likes of Brown, Cameron & the MP's and if they do not perform to the will of the people they can and should be un-elected at the next election.
The three MP's largely responsible, and indeed most vocal supporters for the Criminal Justice & Immigration Act 2008, have been named by the Justice Department as (click here)
For a complete look at the
proposals visit the official site:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080004_en_9
For further comments see:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/19/evil_cartoon_badness/
If you wish to contact us either to express support, request updates on the story or if you would like to know what else you can do then please email:
comicshopvoice@aol.com
**Thanks to Tom at Dangerous Ink Magazine