Broken Frontier

Social values will be, and always have been the acid test for any kind of art. Whether it is done for shock value, such as making The Rawhide Kid into a homosexual, or as a census, like the creation of the CCA in 1954 (Comics Code Authority), which became the governing body on violence and sex in comics.

Different cultures have different moral standards and values, some of these are universal, such as the prohibition of taking another human’s life.  Other boundaries are blurred and sometimes not as clearly laid out, particularly when it comes to things of a sexual nature. Whilst these have never been much of an issue before, rather instead serving to identify individual cultures and origins, with the modern world set on a somewhat homogenous globalisation, these conflictions of interest are colliding at an unprecedented rate with some often disastrous and prohibitive consequences.

These different approaches to life are important in the comic industry. With an influx of influences from all over the world pouring into the American comic market, from Japan and Europe, some of it home-grown, some of it talent snatched up to be absorbed into the mainstream market these problems are surfacing with an ever increasing regularity.

Particularly when it comes to sex.

Violence in comics is everywhere, sometimes extreme, sometimes ‘cartoon’ violence, but it is ever present.  However, sex in a lot of its forms tends to be skirted around in an almost shifty fashion, as though it is something seedy and disgusting. Living in a society as rich in religion as we do today, we can understand somewhat where this attitude comes from. Religion has always treated sex as a taboo, some in extreme forms, as practiced in African tribes, others in a less obvious but more pervasive manners, such as Christianity, and it’s treating of the subject as almost an anathema.

This is reflected in what society as a whole deems as acceptable, in all forms of media. It would be irrelevant if all comic fans were liberal, we are a tiny proportion of the rest of the population, and if they as a whole decreed that certain things were inappropriate, then we are bound by what has been said. This isn’t the case, and there is a broad base of comic fans, some who think sex in comics is acceptable, in any form, and those who think it is best kept completely out. The problems arise when trying to keep a balance.

When is it acceptable to portray sex, and when is it out of order? Love Hina was selected as a target by a local sheriff as been deemed to have inappropriate sexual situations. Not sex itself, but just the very suggestion of that sort of behaviour. We should be asking ourselves, “Is it a good thing to suppress a very basic human instinct?” Suppression rarely solves the problem; it merely drives it underground, look at what happened during Prohibition.

You could argue that the social issues raised in Love Hina are out of context, after all, if the characters in this comic look young, the age of consensual sex in Japan between a man and a woman is 13, so why shouldn’t they? This was never written as something to entertain people from other cultures, so it is completely acceptable within its home environment. With paranoia levels so high over paedophilia in the US and the UK, these sorts of cultural gaps suddenly become gulfs, particularly when manga is directly aimed at the younger end of the market. Regardless of the fact that older readers buy it, when you see it advertised, you instantly get the feeling that it is aimed at kids, specially with the proliferation and popularity of such series as Dragon Ball, Yu Gi Oh, and Pokemon.

Japanese and European comics struggle to be released in America without being heavily censored. Humanoid Publishing is well versed in having its content seriously trimmed for release in other English speaking countries, only set to become more pronounced with its deal with DC for US distribution. It is interesting to observe that the simple naked form is unacceptable in mainstream comics. People seize upon it and scream perversion and filth, yet, is the naked form really that bad? This is of course talking about nakedness as just being there without any sexual attachments, as in a girl getting dressed, being just in her bra and underwear, or having a shower. Simple casual nudity that has little bearing on anything of a sexual nature is decried as being the undoing of the fabric of society.

You could argue that what is the point of it, why have a nude figure in the story? It doesn’t drive the plot; it doesn’t need to be there. On the other hand, how many of you walk through your house naked before getting dressed? For whatever reason. Often the thinking behind such panels is to go for something as humdrum as making a cup of coffee. Depiction of real life events, will eventually include nudity, you can’t get away from it, as people don’t go mouldy in the same clothes terrified to take them off. If you argue that it is pointless, you should also argue that seeing a character eating a sandwich at a snack bar is as equally irrelevant, after all it isn’t driving the plot along. It is merely showing the character doing an activity that is ordinary. Of course this doesn’t mean that we should all strip off and run naked through the streets, more that certain things need to be looked at with an ounce of common sense.

These problems and arguments become even more complex when the comics in question start showing scenes of sex, whether explicit or, as in the case of Avengers #71 the mere suggestion of carnal activity. The uproar caused by the depiction of a couple having sex was in all probability well calculated, but the response was interesting. Arguments erupted over whether comics are for kids, what should be acceptable and what shouldn’t be for young eyes to see, the responsibility of adults in these situations. It was a hotbed of debate. In a more practical sense though, when should it be acceptable to portray such an event? What age range should the readers be before being reading such things in a comic book? The age of sexual consent seems a good target perhaps, but adults should be aware that most kids are interested in sex before then anyway, if not simply because it was the same when you were that age.

The over-exposure of the human figure in every form of advertising and TV constantly surrounds us, from the front of magazines, to the newspapers we read, and advertisements on television, you can’t get away from it. Whilst what Ms. Jackson did at the Superbowl was very close to stepping over the boundaries of decency, no one batted an eyelid at advertisements for erectile dysfunction. Being from the UK, I haven’t seen this advertisement, although I am pretty sure there were no explicit pictures in it, hence assumable this is more acceptable? Perceptions of what is and isn’t acceptable, such as the desire to be thin are manipulated cruelly and un-mercilessly by the media at large, and are tolerated, yet in a small and relatively isolate incident in a comic book the reaction was generally negative.

Of course, the repression of sexuality and sexualisation in comics bubbles through in other ways. The minute you make things abhorrent, people will exploit it, whether subtly or blatantly. A classic example is the reference to certain comics as T&A mags, or ‘stroke’ magazines. Yet this over-depiction and hyper realisation of the female form, (and the male form for that matter), is a direct consequence of being prudish about it in the mainstream. It is almost ironic that this kind of over inflation particularly on the female models was exactly what the CCA was set up to prevent, yet it is proliferate in comics today.

Most comics that do contain lots of sexual reference, both in the script and in the images, come with mature reader labels or warnings of sexual content. Del Ray hit a stumbling block when wanting to publish Negima from Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina). Since this manga contains scenes of nudity, it caused a huge conflict of interest. To solve this issue, and still print it in its original format, they have decided to shrink-wrap the book and it will come with a 16+ warning label.

Most comics from the erotic publishers also take a similar stance, even so far as to send mail-shots out in plain covers, like Eros do. What is often overlooked in the erotic comic market is the fact that a lot of these stories are wonderfully whimsical looks on life, from a sexual point of view. There is great humour in sex, both in situations that can arise from it, and the act itself, just look at works by Colleen Coover or Phil Foglio, two fantastic American erotic artists whose work is wickedly hilarious. Certainly a lot of the European erotic artists are very much like that, Noe did several great very small serials, that are virtually situational comedies, but all about sex, or the brilliantly inspired SoundFX, where the only words are sound effects. A lot of people take one look at the fact that it is erotic, and contains graphic sex, and that is as far as it goes. Granted, it isn’t for everyone, but sometimes attitudes are judgemental.

Sex is part of basic human nature, avoiding it or suppressing it usually results in it escaping in far more negative outlets. Censorship is and always will be an issue.  How much we should be able to see as discerning adults, and how much is just too extreme, are topics that are unlikely to ever diminish over time. Values change as society adjusts to different pressures and issues of the day. Sometimes however, taking a more open-minded approach to certain topics will achieve a lot more in the long run than the short-term reactions of simply banning anything that is deemed controversial, such as sex in comics. Comics are a medium that has a very large age range in its readership, and touches all walks of life.  What makes it such a great field to be a part of is its very diversity and ability to challenge and make us think about issues that play a larger role in everything we do in our day to day lives.

- Immelda Alty