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Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.
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In the final installment of a trilogy of posts explicitly dedicated to comics censorship, we shift our focus from the history and legacy of burning and banning comics to the current state of affairs. You can catch up on the first two stories, which examine the appeal of comic book burnings in post-World War II America and the silver linings of that comic censorship, as groundwork for how we got where we are.
Comics have long been a contentious medium for those seeking to limit access to books. It began in the 1940s and 1950s with the fear that comics might lead to juvenile delinquency, continued throughout the rest of the century with complaints over “inappropriateness,” and in the early 2000s, saw a fresh wave of challenges as the medium grew in popularity and accessibility. The late 2000s were a time when comics became more prominent in libraries. By the time we reached the 2020s, not only are comics a staple in both public schools and public libraries, but they are also regularly honored among the best literature of the year.
Comics are a target because it’s a medium that requires a unique literacy to understand. Comic books make for easy targets because a person who has been infected by right-wing rhetoric can print the pages sitting on RatedBooks, Take Back the Classroom, or their predecessor BookLooks, and claim the comics are inappropriate without any context about the where, why, or how of that image within the book itself. Unfortunately, these people are not interested in learning literacy. By spreading these images without context, they inflame other people who don’t have the time or capacity to develop that literacy and actually “do their own research” on the matter. Comics are a collaborative dance between the words and the art. Young people with access to and exposure to comics are honing crucial intellectual skills while also enjoying creative, clever, fun, and educational stories.
Since 2021, comics have been among the top books banned in America. Many of these comics are far from new; they, too, are averaging the age of the typical high schooler. It’s worth taking a peek at the most banned comics since 2000 and seeing where and how they’re simply copied and pasted in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, with the addition of primarily queer-focused comics and comics by creators of color.
PEN America released their comprehensive report on book bans in the 2024-2025 school year in October. This data includes book bans reported to the organization,