John Jelley of Pyrimid Comics & Games in Sierra Vista, Arizona has been following the recent controversies surrounding a couple of DC's New 52 titles (see "New 52 Controversies") and had this to say.

After reading this and several other reviews and commentaries, I again am reminded why we have the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the first amendment.  Here we go again with the thought police, and telling people what they should read or not read.  Or how the satire of government-run institutions will scar an entire generation.  This has been one of the cornerstones of comic books.  It's controversial issues and satire that allow people to escape from the reality of today's society.

When the atomic age was at its height many people turned to comic books and novels to escape the reality that this issue might be the last one they ever read.  With the powers that be ready to sacrifice the entire world to stop Communism, it was one of the many escapes that allowed kids and young adults not to think of the realities facing them every day.

In today's society we are faced with the same types of problems, and we have our escapes like comic books, video games, etc.  And yet like in the age of McCarthyism we have again people who think they are smarter than everyone else, telling us what we should or should not read.  This, like in the Atomic Age, is more of people who have too much time on their hands, not enough sense in their heads, and truly lacking an exciting romantic interest.

Comic books should and hopefully will stay edgy, relevant, controversial and exciting.  People who do not read comic books other than to find shame, criticism, outrage, and lacking of any moral substance should and hopefully will get a life, use some common sense, and find someone to spend some time with other than utilizing the mental self service pumps.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.