Research Guides: Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest: Home

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2021 Contest

Jurgen Comics Contest

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For additional research information try these guides:

Comic Arts Research Guide
This guide provides an overview of how to locate and use items in the VCU Comic Arts Collection.

Underground and Independent Comics

Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels
Documents the entire spectrum of underground and independent North American and European comics and graphic novels. Includes over 75,000 pages of original material from the 1950s to today, along with interviews, commentary, theory, and criticism.

Arts Research Librarian

Carla-Mae Crookendale

(she/her)

Contact:

cmcrookendale@vcu.edu
(804) 827-0367
Cabell Library, Room 121-L

Subjects: Arts, Performing, Arts, Visual

2022-2023 Comic Contest

DO THIS! DON’T DO THAT! - Codes, Censorship, and Conflict

VCU Libraries invites VCU students to create a single-page, multi-panel comic telling a story centered on codes, censorship and conflict. Students’ comics may be fictional or nonfictional but should explore issues or instances of attempted or successful censorship related to a code. Students from all departments, working individually or in teams, are invited to enter the competition.

The deadline to enter is Feb. 9, 2023.
For full submission guidelines and additional information on how to participate, visit the links below:

Comics & Censorship

Seal of Approval: the history of the comics code
Call Number: Special Collections and Archives (On-Site Use Only) ; PN6725 .N953 1998
This book examines why comic books were the subject of controversy, beginning with objections that surfaced shortly after the introduction of modern comic books in the mid-1930s, when parents and teachers accused comic books of contaminating children's culture and luring children away from more appropriate reading material.
Red Lines : political cartoons and the struggle against censorship
Call Number: NC1763.P66 G46 2021
A lively graphic narrative reports on censorship of political cartoons around the world, featuring interviews with censored cartoonists from Pittsburgh to Beijing.
The Horror! the Horror!: comic books the government didn't want you to read!
Call Number: PN6726 .H67 2010
A rare visual treasury of some of the most important and neglected stories in American literature-the pre-Code horror comics of the 1950s.
Permitted and Prohibited Desires: mothers, comics, and censorship in Japan
Call Number: ebook
This provocative study of gender and sexuality in contemporary Japan investigates elements of Japanese popular culture including erotic comic books.

Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund/CBLDF)
"The Seal of Approval, once prominently displayed on comic book covers, quietly disappeared in 2011. For nearly 60 years, however, censors funded by the comic book industry enforced rules about acceptable content. Only comics that passed a pre-publication review carried the seal. Designed to resemble a stamp, the seal bore the words “Approved by the Comics Code Authority,” which was the regulatory arm of the Comics Magazine Association of America. The trade association’s Comics Code Authority and its Seal of Approval were the publishers’ answer to their critics."

Media Censorship Beyond Comics

FILM

Film Censorship: regulating America's screen
Call Number: PN1995.62 .B54 2018
Film Censorship is a concise overview of Hollywood censorship and efforts to regulate American films. It provides a lean introductory survey of U.S. cinema censorship from the pre-Code years and classic studio system Golden Age--in which film censorship thrived--to contemporary Hollywood.

Film Ratings (Motion Picture Association of America)
Includes information on the history of the MPAA film rating system and how it works.

MUSIC

You Ask, We Answer: 'Parental Advisory' Labels (NPR)— The Criteria And The History
Answer to the question: "Exactly how much profanity merits a 'Parental Advisory' label on albums or 'Explicit' on songs? Who sets those rules and have they changed recently?"
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was a 22-member committee that sought to increase parental control over children's access to music deemed to have violent, drug-related or sexual themes. The PMRC labeled albums with Parental Advisory stickers.

BOOKS

120 Banned Books : censorship histories of world literature
Call Number: Z658.U5 K35 2005
Tracing the censorship histories of 120 works from around the world, this title provides a summary of each work, its censorship history, and suggestions for further reading.

Code of Ethics (American Library Association)
"The Code of Ethics is the document that translates the values of intellectual freedom that define the profession of librarianship into broad principles that may be used by individual members of that profession as well as by others employed in a library as a framework for dealing with situations involving ethical conflicts. "
Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists (ALA)
Every year, the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools.
Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights
Learn what a School Book Ban is, what kinds of stories are being banned, and current efforts to censor/ban books in schools.
Code of Virginia - "Obscene" Defined
Obscenity charges brought against books and other works of art are based on definitions and laws such as may be found in the Code of Virginia.

ART

September Morn
The September Morn Archive is dedicated to collecting, examining, and sharing the outpouring of ephemera and cultural materials produced in the wake of the 1913 controversy surrounding Paul Chabas's painting September Morn.

Censoring Art
Call Number: N8740 .C46 2018
Provides diverse ways of understanding the purpose and mechanisms of art censorship across distinct geopolitical and cultural contexts.

Censorship in the News Now

Censorship in the News Now!

Looking for inspiration based on current news stories? Browse the newspaper resources below for access to articles about censorship in the news without paywalls.

New York Times
More than a newspaper for an American city, the New York Times is an international record of national and world news, as well as personal stories of how events affect individuals. Covers from the first issue in 1851 to three years prior to the current year.
Washington Post
The Washington Post covers local, national and global news, national security and politics, business, technology, arts and entertainment, health and medicine, and sports. Opinion columnists focus on politics, economics, culture, and global concerns.
Access World News
Access World News is one of the larger databases of newspapers and includes the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Access World News: Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD)
To search for articles in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD), click this link, then use the right toolbar and click on the box for "Richmond Times-Dispatch Collection." You can search the RTD from 1903-present.
more...less...
The Richmond Times Dispatch website (richmond.com) has very limited access to non-subscribers. Using the link to Access World News offers full-text articles in an easy to use platform.

Comic Arts History & Design

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Call Number: PN6710 .M335 1994 (General, Reference and Special Collections)
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, this innovative comic book provides a detailed look at the history, meaning, and art of comics and cartooning.
Comics: a global history, 1968 to the present
Call Number: Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives (On-Site Use Only) (PN6710 .M3323 2014 )
Comics, manga, bandes dessinees, fumetti, tebeo, historietas... no matter the name, they have been a powerful medium across four continents for decades. This is the history of comics around the world from the late 1960s to the dawn of the 21st century.
The Comics: an illustrated history of comic strip art 1895-2010
Call Number: Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives - Oversize (PN6725 .R6 2011 )
Chronicles the origins and evolution of comic strips, from prior to The Yellow Kid through today, and highlights the game-changing contributions of such creative luminaries as Milton Caniff, Walt Kelly, Hal Foster, and Winsor McCay, among countless others.
Mangasia: the definitive guide to Asian comics
Call Number: PN6790.A78 G73 2017
Charts the evolution of manga from its roots in late 19th-century Japan through the many and varied forms of comics, cartoons and animation created throughout Asia for more than 100 years.
One Thousand Years of Manga
Call Number: PN6790.J3 K6913 2022
This book spans the history of manga in all its splendour and diversity: from Hokusai's seminal Manga in 1814 to the latest creations from Jiro Taniguchi, each period is covered in detail.
Critical Survey of Graphic Novels
Call Number: Cabell Library Reference (PN6725 .C7536 2012 )
Over 65 essays covering themes and concepts of graphic novels, including genres, time periods, foreign language traditions, social relevance, and craftsmanship such as penciling and inking.

Working Methods: comic creators detail their storytelling and artistic processes
Call Number: NC1764 .L69 2007
Puts the minds of comic artists under the microscope, highlighting the intricacies of the creative process step by step.
Professional Storyboarding
Call Number: ebook
Offers highly illustrative examples of basic storyboarding concepts, as well as sound, career-oriented advice for the new artist.
Beginning Illustration and Storyboarding for Games
Call Number: ebook
Fundamental techniques used in creating concept art for game design. Readers will learn how to create game art and design clear, concise storyboards as well as how their art is used in a game design document.

Review 101: Tools for Reviewing Comics (CBR)
An intro to the appropriate descriptive language to use for visual analysis of comics and graphic novels.