NEWSFLASH: BLACK EYE SEIZED AT THE CANADIAN BORDER!
A rather auspicious start to the publication of BLACK EYE 1: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular Hypertension– it has been confiscated (or seized, depending on your preference for high drama) by Canadian customs agents required to act as moral watchdogs stationed on the border with the USA. This event occurred on Friday May 6th, when a contributor to BLACK EYE and friend to RP + CW, artist Tom Neely, was attempting to transport five copies of the book, along with his own titles, to Canada for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival held this weekend. For the details, I’ll let Tom tell the story, as cobbled together from his Facebook post on the subject:
“The 5 copies of Ryan Standfest’s BLACK EYE anthology I brought with me to TCAF were confiscated at the border for “obscenity.” So, all of us artists in this book can now add “banned in Canada” to our resume. They are being sent to officials in Ottawa for “review.” Which probably means they’ll go into some politician’s personal collection of smut. … they took ‘em. I tried to get them to just ship them back to me at home, but they said they were required to send it to Ottawa for review. If they found the material to be “obscene” they would take “further action.” I asked what “further action” meant and (the customs guard) said they would just destroy them, or that there was a chance they might ship them back to me. It was the page of Onsmith’s gags that they first saw. I tried to tell them that it was “parody” and “humor” and the rest of the book had essays on the history of dark humor… The customs guy was really cool and understanding, but he said he just couldn’t let them through. I just hope “further action” doesn’t involve being arrested the next time I try to cross the border. They went through everything in our car. Opened every suitcase and looked through every book.”
Tom did inform me that they gave him a “receipt,” which I hope to post at some point. I must say that I am very curious as to what the bureaucratic mechanism will be in determining the “obscene” content of BLACK EYE. It is entirely too easy to conjure Brazil-like images in one’s mind. I am imagining the books being packaged up, with a form or receipt of course, and shipped to Ottawa (or “The Castle”), where an official in an office, sits at his or her desk carefully examining the material, filling out another form that tracks the obscenity from page to page. The official’s comments will of course illuminate those who are not in-the-know with regard to what is and what is not obscene. Which calls into question– what are Canada’s obscenity laws, and how does the obscene differ from the offensive? And then I wonder about the “further action” discussed, if the material is to be found obscene. How will the book be destroyed? A simple toss in the wastebasket? Burning? Buckshot? Will they have to keep a copy for their files? Will there be a letter sent indicating the rationale for the decision? I yearn to see such documents. Additionally, it has been brought to my attention by the artist Mats!?, another contributor to BLACK EYE, that there was evidently a case in the 90′s involving the confiscation of material, in which it was determined that if the material was printed in Canada, then it is not technically an import and therefore cannot be confiscated. Indeed, BLACK EYE was printed in Canada, as it is proclaimed on page 2 of the book.
The story has been picking up quite a bit of traction on the web, thanks to stories posted on The Comics Journal, Robot 6 and The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, extensive tweeting, and a lot of Facebook sharing. Evidently, there has been a rash of confiscations at the Canadian border related to comic book material being deemed “offensive.” In the end, such actions seem to promote the material, rather than neutralizing it. When will censorious minds ever learn? The essays in the book actually devote some time to the subject of material steeped in black humor pushing the boundary of cultural acceptability that sometimes results in actions such as that by Canadian customs. Simple lines on paper can still have the power to upset.
I thank Tom for his fine and courageous efforts in being searched and doing his best to communicate intentions to the customs agent, while his editor is sitting comfortably back home. What more can an editor ask from a contributor? Who knows, maybe with a few more incidents like this, I could pursue a career as the Maurice Girodias of alternative comics.
More on this to come, hopefully with some documentation.
