In a shocking incident, children who attended Comic Con Bengaluru were handed a sexually explicit graphic novel, Saga. Outraged parents posted about it on social media and demanded an answer from Comic Con.
Brian K Vaughan's Saga is an epic space opera/fantasy comic book series. The series is heavily influenced by Star Wars, and based on ideas Vaughan conceived both as a child and as a parent. The novel however, is not recommend for anyone below 17 years of age.
Milli Venkatesh, mother of two, feels that there is barely any content out there to engage children and thus one has to be all the more particular about what reaches the child.
“There are very few spaces or very few events out there that keep children engaged in a constructive fashion. I definitely don’t want the kids to see such explicit images because one doesn’t know what impact it can have on the kid. Even if it is in a cartoon form, it does not mean that it is consumable for the kids.”Milli Venkatesh to The Quint
Vaishali Sood, also a mother of two, is absolutely shocked by the gross negligence by Comic Con, Bengaluru.
“One has barely spoken about sex or private parts with 7-9 year olds. And for them to encounter such graphic content at a seemingly ‘safe’ space is appalling. I’m sure the kids won’t understand anything but the imagery can sustain in their minds and have an impact in the long run.”Vaishali Sood to The Quint
Even on Twitter, parents were livid.
Here’s what Comic Con had to say about the incident:
We sincerely apologize for the inadvertent mix up that has occurred at Bengaluru Comic Con 2018. In almost 7 years of our show, we have never had such a thing happen. We as an organisation neither support nor promote such content for underage audience.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)