Remember a couple of weeks ago, when there was a fuss about Saga #11 not being available in comiXology’s iOS apps because of some sexy content? And then it turned out that comiXology, not Apple, had rejected the comics, because they felt that they didn’t comply with Apple’s content guidelines so Apple would have rejected them anyway?
Turns out they may have been on to something.
On Tuesday, comiXology announced, via its blog, that several comics had been removed from the apps “In order to comply with the Apple App Store guidelines regarding adult or inappropriate content, some new releases were rejected for our iOS app this week. In addition, certain previously released titles that fall outside of these guidelines were also rejected and will be removed from sale.”
This was blandly cast as a “content update,” and the rejected/removed comics were grouped together as “Featured Digital Comics.” (This is the cautious approach; when some Digital Manga titles were booted from Amazon’s Kindle Store two years ago, Digital gleefully responded by packaging the books as a “Too Hot for Kindle” bundle for every other platform.)
The list of too-hot-for-Apple comics is impressive and eclectic. As of this writing, there are 55 titles, including Howard Chaykin’s Black Kiss, Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit and Angry Youth Comix, Jess Fink’s Chester 5000, the classic Omaha the Cat Dancer, and, predictably, a handful of Digital Manga titles.
While some may bristle at Apple’s action, the fact is that these comics are still available on comiXology—they just can’t be purchased by in-app buying. Instead, readers will have to buy them through the comiXology web store or Android app, and then sync to get them on their iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.
A former book editor and newspaper reporter, Brigid Alverson started MangaBlog to keep track of her daughters¹ reading habits and now covers comics and graphic novels for Comic Book Resources , School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly Comics World, Robot 6, and MTV Geek. She also edits the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. Brigid was a judge for the 2012 Eisner Awards. Send her an email to wordballoons@gmail.com