Mourning Daily Musings

Imagine a family with a 7-9 year old approach your convention table. The boy is cosplaying as a flesh eating Zombie from THE WALKING DEAD. His costume is complete with fake blood, torn clothes and the look of rotting flesh. They asked me if one of my stories was appropriate for him to read. (The book that they were interested I rated for a teen.) I said, “If he was allowed to read THE WALKING DEAD he could read my comic.” I told the parents to flip through my book to decide for themselves.

I have one slightly questionable scene in the book that they looked at. Because of it, I rate that particular story for teens. It is a simple, short shower scene. The scene itself had everyone’s “goodies” covered. I thought that it was ok for that particular child to read it. Only because the parents told me that they let their child read THE WALKING DEAD. THE WALKING DEAD is filled with tons of violence, gore, complete nudity, rape and consensual sex.

All in all, the parents did not find my comic appropriate for their child to read. I was shocked… The key to a double standard is popularity. I learned that rape and consensual sex is ok for a 7-9 year old to read as long as it was popular.  

When selling your artwork, have you ever had to deal with this type of strange double standard?

-MD