| Project: A-Kon - Sunday
- Comic Book Legal Defense Fund |
 At Katsucon,
this site encountered Chris Oarr, executive director of the Comic Book
Legal Defense Fund. The man in charge of the group that fights censorship
complaints against the comics industry warned in February that there had
been a police crackdown against anime in Corpus Christi, Texas. At Project:
A-Kon, Adam Richards of the fund said there was better news on that front:
the harassment had stopped after a fund attorney had informed police that
their action was essentially a form of illegal search and seizure. "We
were lucky to have a good attorney," said Richards. |
 Sadly, the
fund has encountered other censorship moves against comics specialty stores
in Texas, Richards said. Ironically, one may have been prompted by a person
who went to a store looking for Pokemon merchandise and spotted mature
material that he didn't like. To show how far objections against anime
and manga can go: according to Richards, a man purchased a Dragon Ball
comic from a Toys 'R Us store, didn't like it, complained to the company
- and the toy store chain pulled the comics from all of its stores. "Even
though the comic was marketed to children, all it takes is someone to say
it's obscene," he noted. |
 However, not
every move to water down comics will work. Richards pointed to a case from
San Antonio of an artist whose strip was printed in an alternative newspaper.
Some people saw it, complained and tried to shut down the strip and the
paper. But, "Once the word got out, everyone snapped up their papers. It
increased their circulation - no one would drop it." |
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