Skip to main content

Brian K. Vaughan apologizes for saying Apple banned 'Saga' after Comixology confusion

Brian K. Vaughan apologizes for saying Apple banned 'Saga' after Comixology confusion

Share this story

via puu.sh
via puu.sh

A day after Image Comics announced that Brian K. Vaughan's comic Saga #12 would not be available for purchase in iOS apps, the comic will be coming back to the store — and Vaughan has issued an apology. Initially, Image published a statement saying that Apple had banned the latest issue of Saga because of explicit sexual content, despite similar content being published in the past. Now, Comixology has come forward saying that the problem was an issue with interpreting Apple's guidelines, not an explicit ban, and Vaughan has given us the following:

I wanted to apologize to everyone for this entire Saga #12 kerfuffle. Yesterday, I was mistakenly led to believe that this issue was solely with Apple, but it's now clear that it was only ever Comixology too conservatively interpreting Apple's rules. I'm truly sorry. I never thought either company was being homophobic, only weirdly inconsistent about what kind of adult material was permissible. I'm grateful that the situation was cleared up so quickly, and I'm delighted I can go back to reading smutty comics on my Retina Display iPad.

Comixology's CEO has also issued a statement, saying that the comic wasn't released because "Based on our understanding of those policies, we believed that Saga #12 could not be made available in our app... Given this, it should be clear that Apple did not reject Saga #12." In its announcement, it said it had spoken to Apple and that the comic would be coming to Comixology on iOS "soon." As both we and Vaughan stated yesterday, Apple had always been expected to sell the comic in the iBookstore.

At this point, the situation looks to be resolved, even if it's not totally clear what happened. From what Comixology and Vaughan say, Apple didn't contact them with any negative comments on Saga, and the comic will be available on iOS. Oddly, though, Comixology waited almost a full day before discussing the situation: we'd been in communication with them, but there was no hint that Image's story was incorrect until today's update. Though we've reached out for further details, Comixology has told us that its post "will be the extent of our comment on the situation." Apple, which we also contacted yesterday, did not respond.