Yesterday we reported that issue 12 of the comic series, Saga, would not be sold in the iOS version of ComiXology due to sexual content. The news broke after Brian K. Vaughan, the author of Saga, wrote that the issue was banned “because of two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex.” Softonic verified that the comic was not available in ComiXology for iOS this morning, but is now available.
There are some inconsistencies about what actually happened. For example, why didn’t ComiXology take Apple’s policies into account for other issues of Saga, which feature violence and sexual content? Why didn’t ComiXology dispute Vaughan’s blog post until an entire day had passed? Why was Saga #12 available in Apple’s own iBooks?
Both Apple and ComiXology received tons of backlash and now ComiXology has issued a public apology, taking blame for the entire ordeal.
David Steinberger, the CEO and co-founder of ComiXology, wrote in a blog post explaining why issue 12 of Saga was blocked from its iOS app. He writes:
“In the last 24 hours there has been a lot of chatter about Apple banning Saga #12 from our Comics App on the Apple App Store due to depictions of gay sex. This is simply not true, and we’d like to clarify.”
Steinberger goes on to take the blame for the entire ordeal. Apparently, ComiXology had been in talks with Apple yesterday about the banning of the comic and admitted to misinterpreting Apple’s policies. The blog post ends with an apology to Vaughan, Fiona Staples (artist for Saga), and Image comics for any confusion.
“We apologize to Saga creator Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples and Image Comics for any confusion this may have caused.”
Vaughan went on to publish an apology of his own today, citing misinformation that the ban was solely Apple’s fault.
“Yesterday, I was mistakenly led to believe that this issue was solely with Apple, but it’s now clear that it was only ever Comixology too conservatively interpreting Apple’s rules. I’m truly sorry. I never thought either company was being homophobic, only weirdly inconsistent about what kind of adult material was permissible.”
Apple declined to comment about the whole controversy, even though the company had been in talks with ComiXology.
Source: ComiXology | The Verge
