blogTO Recent Comments: Sexy fantasy heroines not welcome here.

Gloria

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 20:24:56 PST

Definitely informative thread. Thanks for the heads up, Cameron.

kev

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 14:15:02 PST

Customs has a good overview of what it uses to classify material as "obscene", which is an important distinction from pornography. The overview is available here, and does a good job of spelling out the guidelines that are supposed to be applied. I found the guidelines to be pretty clear, but there is certainly wiggle room for an individual customs agent to block the import of the material.

That said, there's also an appeals process which is well documented. I guess the question I have (not having seen the actual work) would be "are the characters adults?". The article here starts by saying the events take place while they are adults, but muddies the water a little by making it unclear whether they are adults (or adults recounting childhood experiences).

I think The Beguiling has the right attitude. Appeal it once, and get the individual customs agent's decision overturned and set precedent. In any event, do have a look at the guidelines from Customs. While they may not have been applied in this case, it's nice to understand the documented rationale behind determining what's obscene and what isn't.

Chris McLaren

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:46:49 PST

Not that I want to steal a potential sale from Mr. Butcher, who is a scholar and a gentleman, but I believe my LCS here in Halifax, Strange Adventures still has copies and they happily do mail order.

Cameron Drew

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 15:08:00 PST

Hey All, For whatever reason information trickles down slowly. Top Shelf submitted Lost Girls to Canada Customs for review early October. Canada Customs has ruled in favor of allowing Lost Girls into Canada for reasons that I don't have time to get into right here. The good news is that it will be available January 2007. Cameron Drew

Christopher

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 11:23:44 PST

Hi, it's Christopher from The Beguiling here. I just wanted to say that we find it as unfortunate as you do regarding the Lost Girls situation, but we are planning on stocking the book again. As you noted, we have a very strong relationship with Lost Girls publisher Top Shelf Productions, and while their challenge against customs is underway it's really in everyone's best interests to hold off attempting to bring it in.

We're very confident that we will have copies of the book available in time for Christmas; don't worry about not being able to stuff your smut in a stocking Christmas morning...

Matt

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 11:08:08 PST

And here I thought I was being all cool with my investigative journalism. Thanks for the corrections, Anonymous, and you're right: Grant Ellis! Why do I keep doing that! It's Garth Ennis' book that I was referring to. Maybe Grant Ellis is someone I went to school with. D'oh! By the way, correcting my facts while keeping yourself anonymous: I love that! Can I get a "three cheers for the internet"? :)

Hamish Grant

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 09:31:43 PST

Ordered it from amazon.ca - it says '4-6 weeks' on delivery time so we'll see what happens.

Anonymous

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 08:22:25 PST

Quick fact check: even though the writer and illustrator of LOST GIRLS are British, the book was published in the United States, by Top Shelf Comics of Marietta, GA and Portland, OR, so the book does not "originate in the U.K." for the purposes regarding Customs you describe. In fact, the book had been delayed from distribution in the U.K. over copyright issues raised by the holders of the Peter Pan copyrights in the U.K. I've had my own-run ins with Canada Customs over comics in the past, but please get your facts straight. And who's "Grant Ellis"?

Matt

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 07:28:04 PST

The law isn't exactly clear, due to that ephemeral quality known as "artistic merit." Lost Girls certainly has it, and as Gloria points out no actual children were harmed or exploited in its production, so it could probably get by.

Gloria

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 16:47:21 PST

I'm extremely *unclear*, but my feeling is that child pornography laws applicable only to actual children, not illustrations or art (which is of course wildly undefined). Thanks for the note, Emo.

jerrold

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 14:13:25 PST

True story: Driving in Japan, I pulled up at a 7-11 convenience store to buy a snack. I stepped on something as I got out of the car. On the ground in the parking lot was a child porn manga comic, complete with scenes of gang rape and other unbelievables. I was only able to look at one or two pages before I was instantly filled with disgust and anger. Teen porn manga is proflific and ubiquitous in Japan, but this was extreme. So my question is... despite the inherent quality and intent of Alan Moore's Lost Girls, might some people (Canada Customs, for example) have good reason to put a block on this kind of thing? Might there be some validity in the stepping-stone argument? Also, what is the law in Canada regarding this sort of thing? Is it clear? Could a comic buyer be charged with child pornography for having Moore's book? Could a vendor face charges for selling it?

Matt

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 13:16:39 PST

Pages is a good call. I hadn't thought of that but they'd probably be better able to access the book via their channels than the comic book stores.

Ouimet

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 12:59:58 PST

Why don't you download it? http://www.torrentz.com/search_lost-girls

emo

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 12:35:21 PST

this is just ridiculous. it's not like it's perfectly easy to find smut in shops, there's plenty of it on the magazine racks.. btw, pages on queens st still have a few copies of it

Matt

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 18:11:02 PST

Hi Gloria, Unfortunately, not even buying from Amazon.com is necessarily a solution because it's entirely possible that your shipment would get stopped at the border. Until the Canada Customs situation is ironed out, I'm afraid, the only way to get a copy of LG is to either go to the States and smuggle it back, or go to the UK and do the same thing! Hopefully customs figures this out sooner than later... I've got more than a few folk who would love a copy of Lost Girls for Christmas. :)

Gloria

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 17:34:34 PST

By the way, as an aside, I haven't shopped at the Silver Snail for a long time, and now hearing their hypocritical policy on Lost Girls -- barring some kind of clarification -- I never will again.

Gloria

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 17:32:35 PST

Crap, are you SERIOUS? I've been thinking about buying a copy for a long time now. I went to One Million Comics asking about it, and was told they had sold out of their few copies a long while ago and weren't sure when they would be able to restock ... there was no mention of Canada Customs having a stick up their ass. I'd buy it from Amazon, but I'm not willing to pay the customs fees and taxes when it should be perfectly easy to buy a copy in Canada. Be ever so kind and please keep BlogTO readers (well, me) updated on the situation. I'd love to know when this clears up and I can get my smut.