Saga creator Brian K. Vaughan has issued a press release announcing that issue #12 of Saga, which is due in stores on Wednesday, has been banned by Apple for sale through any iOS apps "because of two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex." Vaughan notes that from the very first issue of the extremely popular science fiction saga he and artist Fiona Staples have made it clear that Saga was a title intended for mature readers. Vaughan urges those who have been reading Saga on their iOS devices to head to a comic shop and purchase a physical copy of issue #12 (and to contribute to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund as well). The ban applies only to sales through iOS platforms; the digital version of the book will be available on the comiXology and Image Websites, on comic store Digital Storefronts, and via the comiXology and Image Android apps as well, and once purchased, can be read across platforms.
Saga #12 is just the latest example of the difficulty that Apple, which recently banned some 1500 French comics that were on the Izneo Comics App because they contained nudity, is having in dealing with the digital distribution of "mature readers" material. This is not the first time that Apple has been accused of an anti-gay bias in its censorship moves (though it must be said that given the size of the offending images in Saga #12 and the wide range of beings portrayed in Saga, it is not clear that the images in issue #12 actually represent gay sex). Over a year ago a similar censorship dispute arose over Apple’s decision to ban Digital Manga’s homosexual-themed yaoi titles (see "Anti-Gay Bias in iPad Censorship"), and Vaughan admits that previous issues of Saga had "featured what I consider much more graphic imagery," which raises the question of why Apple has chosen to censor Saga at this point.
Saga is one of the hottest new creator-owned titles published in recent years, with strong sales especially of the first Saga trade paperback collection, which has become a fixture on the monthly direct market Top 300 graphic novel list published by ICv2 (see "'Guardians' Debuts Over 200K") since the first Saga graphic novel collection appeared last October.
--Disclosure: ICv2 has a business relationship with comiXology as a representative for its Retailer Tools; ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp also serves on the board of comiXology.
--Disclosure: ICv2 has a business relationship with comiXology as a representative for its Retailer Tools; ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp also serves on the board of comiXology.
