APPLAND—When the HuffPo headline screamed “Apple Homophobic?” notice was taken, which of course was the point. (No one actually expects a HuffPo headline to have anything to do with the actual story.) But this story also involved images of graphic gay sex, albeit teeny ones, and an app for a new comic that was supposedly headed for the Apple App Store but was then allegedly pulled by Apple because of the offending image, so our interest was of necessity further piqued. Now it appears the sale of the app is back on, per the comic’s digital distributor, comiXology. So we’re really confused.
Let’s back up. The so-called shit hit the fan Tuesday, when, according to the Washington Post, the comic’s writer, Brian K. Vaughan, posted on artist Fiona Staple’s Tumblr the news that, “Unfortunately, because of two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex, Apple is banning tomorrow’s Saga #12 from being sold through any iOS apps.”
Saga is meant for mature readers, and Vaughan expressed his disappointment about the ban, especially considering the fact that “our book has featured what I would consider much more graphic imagery in the past, but there you go. Fiona and I could always edit the images in question, but everything we put into the book is there to advance our story, not (just) to shock or titillate, so we’re not changing shit.”
But it turned out that Apple had not banned anything. In a Wednesday blog post meant to clarify the situation and end the discussion, comiXology said that it was responsible for proactively deciding not to include the new issue in the Apple App Store.
“As a partner of Apple,” the company noted, “we have an obligation to respect its policies for apps and the books offered in apps. Based on our understanding of those policies, we believed that Saga #12 could not be made available in our app, and so we did not release it today.”
Regarding the depicted sex, which in the image we saw was a blowjob, comiXology correctly noted, “We did not interpret the content in question as involving any particular sexual orientation, and frankly that would have been a completely irrelevant consideration under any circumstance.”
Indeed, our interpretation of Apple policies with respect to sexually graphic depictions is that they have declared a pox on all of it, gay, straight, bi, queer, whatever.
Only … comiXology apparently got that part wrong. Clearing the air about Apple’s supposed banning of SAGA #12, David Steinberger, CEO and co-founder of comiXology, then revealed this: “After hearing from Apple this morning, we can say that our interpretation of its policies was mistaken. You’ll be glad to know that Saga #12 will be available on our App Store app soon.
“We apologize to Saga creator Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples and Image Comics for any confusion this may have caused.”
Only now we were really confused about exactly in what way comiXology had misinterpreted Apple policy, which is hardly vague on the matter. The relevant section is:
18.1 Apps containing pornographic material, defined by Webster's Dictionary as ‘explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings,’ will be rejected.
So we emailed comiXology for a clarification, hoping to learn if by a miracle Apple was lightening up in the sexuality department. It was not to be.
“Thanks for reaching out,” the company responded. “Unfortunately, outside our statement, we'll not be commenting further.”
We’re glad Saga #12 was not banned from the Apple App store, but if a gay blow job is allowed to be sold with their blessing, does that mean straight ones, or others, will be allowed now, too? We don’t expect Apple to give us the time of day, but we’ll try to get an explanation anyway.
Image: from Saga #12
