Apple Bans 59 Comics From Comixology App in 2013 Due to Mature Content

As sales of digital comics increase, Apple is hurting the sales of some comics by banning them from apps on the iPad and iPhone.

According to a report from Publisher’s Weekly, in 2013 alone Apple has banned a total of 59 digital comics from apps such as Comixology due to the company’s content guidelines for apps. Most of the comics are banned due to what Apple views as graphic sexual content.

One of the most notable comics banned by Apple is the new series “Sex Criminals” by writer Matt Fraction and artist Chip Zdarsky. The comic is published by Image Comics, and is a comedic comic about a couple who discover they can stop time whenever they have sex, and use their power to rob a bank in the first issue.

Apple originally approved “Sex Criminals” #1 for the Comixology app, but then rejected the second issue. The third issue was similarly rejected along with a retroactive rejection of issue #1. The company’s response to the comic is a perfect example of how fluid and open for interpretation Apple’s standards for mature content are.

By banning comics from Comixology and similar apps, Apple can harm the sales of those digital comics. The comics are still available through the Comixology web and Android apps, where users can buy the comics and then sync them to their iPad or iPhone, but the process is complicated an inconvenient for many users.

Strangely, while Apple banned almost five dozen comics from Comixology and other apps this year so far, it lets those comics into the iBookstore. Apple’s content guidelines, it seems, don’t actually apply to Apple’s own apps.

That’d be good news for comic writers and publishers is iBooks wasn’t so far behind other comics apps in terms of sales. As Image publisher Eric Stephenson says, Comixology and the Image comics apps powered by Comixology are where the publisher sells most of its comics, and “the iBookstore is a distant second.”

The goods news for comic fans is writers aren’t toning down their content simply because Apple objects to it. "I guess they might, but we certainly aren’t telling people to change anything,” Stephenson said when asked about writers toning down their content. “I mean, we’re doing the Black Kiss II Christmas Special, and I guarantee you Howard Chaykin isn’t toning anything down to suit Apple’s prudish tastes."