After trying six months of voluntary self-censorship of comic books by the publishers themselves. New York state decided that self-censorship is not enough. Last week Governor Averell Harriman signed into law a bill making it a crime (maximum penalty: $500 fine, one year in prison) to sell "obscene and objectionable comics" to minors, or to use such words as "crime, sex, horror, terror" in comic-book titles. The protests of comic-book publishers were joined by book and newspaper publishers; they pointed out that the wording of the law was subject to loose interpretation as to what is "objectionable." They also opposed even...
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