If you remember correctly, you may be aware that the people who approve content for Apple’s digital realm were quite unhappy with the sexual content of a book called “Sex”, banning it from the iOS stores and forcing readers to find ulterior ways of finding the wonderful book (including, but not limited to, buying on the Comixology website and syncing to your iOS device).
Now it’s happened again, and this time it’s because of tiny, pint-sized images of gay sex in “Saga” #12. I’ve read the issue; the images are very minor, easily missable and otherwise inoffensive (unless you don’t like gay sex, I guess) contained in a much larger story that seemingly pays tribute to Quentin Tarantino’s use of dialogue to create tension with very minimal action. That’s what I focused on, anyway — I suppose for others, that one little moment of gay sex is inescapable.
Some people find it confusing, and rightfully so. This is a book that has featured giant crusty troll testicles and dino-dildos at a place called Sextillion. Heck, “Saga” #11 opened with straight sex, and the first issue featured a woman giving birth on the first few pages. So I guess we’ve learned where the line is drawn?
If you’d like to see what you’re in for, future legend and all-around great guy Tim Daniel has released a humorous parody of the scene featuring what it was that offended Apple so. It’s an edited image with an added segment to bust Apple’s chops and is 100% NSFW, but you’ll see the offending content. For added fun, view it on your iPad! There’s a bit more on the next page as well, but you get the idea.
So you can’t buy “Saga” #12 on your iOS device. Fortunately for you, this registered very lowly on Brian K Vaughan’s “Give A Fuck” meter, and he has responded with the following press release:
As has hopefully been clear from the first page of our first issue, SAGA is a series for the proverbial “mature reader.” Unfortunately, because of two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex, Apple is banning tomorrow’s SAGA #12 from being sold through any iOS apps. This is a drag, especially because our book has featured what I would consider much more graphic imagery in the past, but there you go. Fiona and I could always edit the images in question, but everything we put into the book is there to advance our story, not (just) to shock or titillate, so we’re not changing shit.
Apologies to everyone who reads our series on iPads or iPhones, but here are your alternatives for Wednesday:
1) Head over to you friendly neighborhood comics shop and pick up a physical copy of our issue that you can have and hold forever.
2) While you’re at it, don’t forget to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which helps protect retailers who are brave enough to carry work that some in their communities might consider offensive. You can find signed copies of Saga at the CBLDF site right now.
3) Download the issue directly through sites like https://comics.imagecomics.com or on your non-Apple smartphone or tablet.
4) If all else fails, you might be able to find SAGA #12 in Apple’s iBookstore, which apparently sometimes allows more adult material to be sold than through its apps. Crazy, right?
Anyway, special thanks to Eric Stephenson and everyone at Image for supporting our decision, and for always being so supportive of creators. Sorry again to readers for the inconvenience, but I hope everyone will be able to find an issue that Fiona and I are particularly proud of. And after you do, please check out PanelSyndicate.com, the new digital comics site I own with artist Marcos Martin, which remains 100% uncensored by corporate overlords.
Your pal,
Brian
You can, of course, buy the comic on Comixology’s site right here tomorrow as well and just sync it to your device, if that’s what you prefer.
The ultimate point being: don’t worry. You can get your comic one way or another. There’s certainly a larger issue here in terms of how content is assessed, but that’s a different battle altogether.
