Nebraska Mom Physha Svendsen is aksking her sons school to remove the Spider-Man: Revelations trade paperback from the library. The book in question is seven years old and was printed in Amazing Spider-Man # 39/480. The mom objected to her son seeing Mary Jane in a bikini and towel penciled by John Romita Jr.
The mom is asking the book be pulled and the librarian is defending the book saying all books go through a screening process.
Click here to see a news report on the spider-book banning. It’s also interesting to read the comments section below the news article.
Here are the images in question. Do you think the book should be in an elementary school library?
Brad Douglas
View articlesBrad created the Crawlspace back in 1998 while attending college at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He’s the webmaster and writes front page news items, and also produces, hosts and edits the podcast. He’s been collecting Spider-Man comics since the age of three and is a life-long fan of the webhead. His website has been featured in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly and on Marvel.com and inside the comics themselves. The Crawlspace is one of the first Spider-Man fan sites to ever hit the internet. Millions of people visit the site every year.
Brad has interviewed several “Spider-Celebrities” over the years including co-creator Stan Lee. He’s also interviewed actors who have portrayed Spider-Man like Paul Soles (Voice Actor from the 67 Spider-Man Cartoon), Dan Gilvezan (Spidey Voice Actor from Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends) ,Yuri Lownthal (Voice Actor from the Spider-Man PlayStation game) and Nicholas Hammond (Spider-Man 1977 Actor).
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- Evan Berry on Panel(s) of the Day #1610 (Mary Jane Monday!): “@Hornacek — I would make a horrible Spider-man. So many times, were I in his place, I would have confided…” Nov 5, 07:53
- Hornacek on Panel(s) of the Day #1610 (Mary Jane Monday!): “At least he said “I have to go take photos for the Bugle.” This is a valid excuse since this…” Nov 5, 04:26
- Paul Penna on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #60 (Legacy #954): “Hit The Road, Zeb” or “All [REDACTED] Things Must Come To An End”: “Yep, as I predicted, Paul is here to stay. Marvel want Peter and MJ apart, and Paul is the story…” Nov 4, 17:43
- Evan Berry on Panel(s) of the Day #1610 (Mary Jane Monday!): “Wow, Peter actually said, “I done blame her.”” Nov 4, 13:28
- Evan Berry on Panel of the Day #1609 (Splash Page Sunday!): “Who knew Peter had a skirt in his closet made out of webbing?” Nov 4, 07:43
- Evan Berry on Panel(s) of the Day #1608 (Ditko!): “That brick wall doesn’t stand a chance.” Nov 4, 07:41
- Hornacek on Panel(s) of the Day #1608 (Ditko!): “Peter is so upset that he forgot his own hyphen. Twice! And he also referred to himself as “The” Spiderman.” Nov 4, 04:28
- Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #60 (Legacy #954): “Hit The Road, Zeb” or “All [REDACTED] Things Must Come To An End”: “@Joshua Nelson: At this point I don’t expect Marvel to have Peter tell Aunt May that he’s Spider-Man. If they…” Nov 3, 00:40
- Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #60 (Legacy #954): “Hit The Road, Zeb” or “All [REDACTED] Things Must Come To An End”: “@Kenneth: I wasn’t even thinking about her health but you’re right. But just from the years of May making wheatcakes…” Nov 3, 00:36
- Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #60 (Legacy #954): “Hit The Road, Zeb” or “All [REDACTED] Things Must Come To An End”: “@Dark Mark: Yeah, this issue really felt like an epilogue and not the final issue of a story. One issue…” Nov 3, 00:35
come on mom. dont you go to the beach or pool. dont be such a stuff shirt
I like how all the people on the KETV link except one or two people dont even know what the story is about. Theres also only 3 pages of MJ wearing a bikini and she makes a big deal out of it, calls the news and doesnt even know what the story is about.
Oh, one more thing, a note to the mom…. NO women in super hero comic books are appropriate for 6 year olds.
ALL of them are illustrated by guys who have never had sex, therefore they must “release” by drawing insanely
unrealistic pornstars as heroes, so that the 14 year old can “read the comic in his room” (masturbate happily)
and not get grounded by his parents for having porn. Sorry, but comics these days (anything from the 80’s to present)
all enjoy massive amounts of cleavage and arse shots. In fact, most comics nowdays even add shiny perky nipples to
the female characters. That’s the way it goes. Even Archie comics has tons of “bikini posters”
of Betty and Veronica… which is WAAAAAY unsettling.
My 4 year old LOVES Spider-Man, but he only gets to see the cartoons, toys, and my old “Spider-Man” kid magazines.
When he’s 12+ he can read my Spiderman comics, and when he’s 15, he can move up to Batman, and no store or library
was forced to bend to my desires.
Um…. It’s the parent’s job to monitor what his/her child looks at. The library is allowed to have comics if it wants to.
I personally hate what Obama is doing to this country, but that doesn’t mean I demand his books be removed from stores, or libraries.
Taking the fun away from everyone to satisfy one b-tch makes zero sense, but sadly the whiners rule the world these days,
and personal responsibility has gone down the s-itter.
But now that I’ve ranted about this mom making fun of a Spider-man comic, I really think that perhaps this book (as well as most comics these days) are a little over kid’s this ages’ heads; I mean watch the video; he’s reading Cat-in-the-Hat and still trying to sound out the words, lol! Think Accelerated Reader (or whatever equivilant you had in school); it’s more of a Junior High level than an Elementary School level (regardless of “sexual” content, lol ;P); Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s early runs (and perhaps even the Marvel Age/Adventures titles and Batman: The Brave and the Bold) are more of an Elemntary School level (once again; reagardless of any “sexual” content, lol ;P).
If he’s 6 he wouldn’t have even hit puberty right? If that’s the case would he even think anything about a woman in a bikini? I mean he’d see the same thing at the beach wouldn’t he? Besides; this art is not nearly as sexy as the real thing. But then, she does have a right to be concerned for her son, but there’s no reason to ban the book just because she doesn’t like the pictures, lol. The poor kids probably wondering what the fuss is about. I watch Batman & Robin when I was about 9 or 10 and I didn’t really think anything of the sexual overtones (ok, maybe I was a little behind the curve, but this kid is 6)–I guess I knew that Poison Ivy was trying to seduce Batman or whatever, but it din’t adversely affect me since I didn’t completely understand, lol.
She doesn’t have to let her kids read it if she doesn’t want too. Just because she’s some ultra conservative freak doesn’t mean everyone else needs to be denied their sexy MJ. LoL! XD
There’s no question she has no right to get it banned, every parent should decide what is or is right for their kids.
Mac, since my cous was 4 years old I had to invent a new approach instead of just reading everything on page. I used the panels, speech bubbles and a dash of my own creativity to tell my own story, leaving out all the murder and torture, still couldn’t explain away Black Cats outfit though.
Yes, she does have the right to decide what is and isn’t appropriate for her six year old. BUT, she has no right to have it banned. She has no right to make that decision for anybody else.
I’m pretty sure that the trade has the same rating as the most harshly rated comic contained in it, which I assume is this one (meaning it’s a T+). In other words, a 6-year-old shouldn’t be able to get his hands on it anyway. It’s the same argument about R-rated movies, porno mags, etc. — they’re rated the way they are expressly so parents, retailers, etc. can exercise discretion.
Besides, I’d be much more concerned about the brutal violence in some of those issues than a woman in a bikini …
I walked into a library one time and the librarian (25 year-old female, gorgeous and busty) was naked. I asked her “Do you have the latest Spider-Man?” And she said, “No, it’s been banned.” And I said “What about the religious section? Anything over there worth reading?” And she said “No, everything over there has been banned, too.” And then I said, “Do you ever get cold sitting there naked like that?” And she said, “Nah, the book burning fires keep me warm.”
And here’s one of my favorite comments…
“I must say, unfortunetly, I know of this woman. As much as I believe in a mother’s thoughts and rights, I know for a fact this woman is going straight for publicity. She has tried being a model, an actor, a mom. Come on–she’s nuts. And ‘myworld’ is right. Though I do understand why a mother would frown on these books, they are nothing worse than you would see in a basic cartoon–obviously the library goes through an eliminating phase–they are kids–comics have been around for years, Physha–back off.”
I just remembered something ELSE JR Jr drew that I actually thought was decent.
Well, she’s completely wrong about the comic in question not having any literary value, because I remember that issue telling a pretty powerful story about separation and loneliness without dialogue, and that’s an artistic achievement. I don’t know whether it’s appropriate for six-year-olds or not, but I always err on the side of not excluding ideas from any forum, especially not school libraries. The Catcher In The Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird were also banned from libraries at one time. If the parent feels so strongly about it, she needs to worry about parenting her own child and stop trying to impose her own sensibilities on everyone else.
Wow Johnny, what time did your cousin get to sleep that night? 🙂
She’s probably the same nut who doesn’t let her kid eat oatmeal because it has preservatives. Freak. I hope she reads this.
You can all say “you can see far worse on tv” and you’d be right but 6 year olds tend to not watch the same tv we do, even at the age of 11 I had a grandma that wouldn’t let me watch tv after 9. You may think this woman is exaggerating but she does have a right to choose what is appropriate for her kids. I don’t have any kids like Mac does but if I did I probably wouldn’t read them that story.
Then again, I once read Milllars entire marvel knights run to my 4 year old cousin for a bedtime story….hippocrite alert.
I think the point is that she doesn’t have to read it, it’s got pictures with heavy sexual overtones that her 6 yr old was being exposed to.
I’m going to be in the minority here, I know, but she does have a point. Now, the comments after the article seem to suggest that she’s doing this for publicity, apparently she’s attempted to be a model, and she could cetainly be accused of blowing everything out of proportion.
But the fact is, that issue in question ( ASM vol 2 39 ) , carried a T+ rating, apparently that means the content isn’t appropriate for a 6 year old. Damn shame when ASM isn’t appropriate for a 6 year old IMO, but there we are, Marvel chose to certify themselves instead of using the Comic Code stamp, and that’s fine, but surely certification should mean something?
Let me be clear, I don’t think the images in question are any worse than what her little precious would see on TV, nor am I singling JMS out. But as a parent, she has the right to feel that the school her son goes to makes responsible choices, and not just think “it’s Spider-Man, the kids will love it.”
QUESADA!!! what the hell you do cross dressing!!! lol
Anyway, won’t happen, same thing happen with some woman from Georgia wanting Harry Potter banned, bet this mother hasnt actually read the content
Kids these days see far worse on T.V.
Oh for the love of…
Even back when MJ was in-character (not like the OOC seperation version represented here) in the 1990s, she was wearing just as many revealing nightdresses.