From the “About” page of “International Read Comics in Public Day:
Comics are now widely accepted as a legitimate and vibrant art form—so why do I still feel a bit embarrassed to let strangers know about my not-so-secret passion?
My fellow Daily Cross Hatch editor Sarah Morean suggested that we turn the joke into something a bit nobler—and perhaps more permanent. And thus, the first annual Read Comics in Public Day was born.
The concept is fairly simple: we’re asking that everyone take an hour or two out of their day on August 28th (also the birthday of Jack “King” Kirby, incidentally) to read a comic book in a public setting—a park bench, a beach, a bus, the front steps of your local library (we do ask, however, that you be mindful of local loitering laws). Let strangers see you reading a piece of sequential art.
This was prompted by Nancy King who is running for re-election as a state senator in Maryland. Her campaign indicates that the consequences of her not winning re-election would be teacher layoffs, which would lead, naturally, to kids reading comic books (horrror of horrors!).
“The message King’s sending to her constituents — and to me, Dean Trippe and our entire industry — is that comics are a terrifying consequence, that reading them is the equivalent of not having teachers. That they are, in fact, the opposite of education. It’s a “This could happen… TO YOU!” scare tactic that, again, literally uses children reading as the consequence that we have to elect her to avoid, and that just blows my mind.
What’s the worst that could happen from kids reading comics? Watch out, they might learn to enjoy reading! Be careful, they could learn new words like “sepulchre” or “fission,” two that I picked up as a kid reading Batman stories. They might even learn to use their imaginations to create stories of their own, and then what a world we’d be living in.” Chris Sims Comics Alliance.
The Archive says: Good to hear it's not only the UK who suffers with moronic politicians.
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