Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest

The Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest is an annual student competition dedicated to telling the story of banned art – books, music, film and more – and encouraging discussion of the complex relationship between art and society. The contest is sponsored by VCU Libraries with generous support from the James Branch Cabell Library Associates.

The Jurgen Comics Contest is named after James Branch Cabell’s ribald and satirical fantasy, Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice. In 1920, Jurgen was declared a “certain offensive, lewd, lascivious and indecent book” by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. Suppressed just as Prohibition took effect, "bookleggers" sold copies of Jurgen at exorbitant prices. Two years later, courts exonerated Cabell's work, and Jurgen was again available–reaching an even wider audience due to the interest generated by the sensational trial.

Fall 2023 Grand Prize: Wanda Felsenhardt — The Right to Read: Censorship in America’s Prisons
Artistry: Naomy Cardoso Perez and Gillian Grunenfelder — Monument Woman
Storytelling: Winston Broiles — Spider-Man, Terror of the Comics Code Authority
Research: Hannah Diment — Allegory of Artemisia
Honorable Mention: Cici Eltermann — America’s Sailor Moon; Ayla Bramblett — Dystopian University

2023 Grand Prize: Rena Bridge — A Quick History of Gay Batman
Runners-up: Alexander Tyree — Driven Underground; Emil George — Female Nudity
Honorable Mention: John Novak — Aftertaste; H. M. Smith — The Devil's Fire
First-Time Comic Creators: Daniel Lee — Behind the Scene; Sophia Shokraei — Malicious Compliance

2022 Grand Prize: Erin Crawford — Cabell Walks into a Bar
Runners-up: Jay Crilley — Swear to It; Tess Wladar — The Judging of Jurgen
Honorable Mention: Katy Hooper — Moral of the Story; Hannah Smith — The Banning of Jurgen;
Ty Campbell — A Silent Fate

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Jurgen Comics Contest Newspaper and Artwork - Fall 2023

Julia Martinez

Digital edition of the Jurgen Comics Contest broadsheet newspaper celebrating the Fall 2023 Contest winners. The newspaper design and supplemental artwork were created by contest student editor Julia Martinez. Supplemental promotional materials include a poster for an online information session.

The Fall 2023 Jurgen Comics Contest invited VCU students to explore a specific historical incident of censorship or suppression of visual art, books, music, film or performance.
Dystopian University

Ayla Bramblett

Honorable Mention in the Fall 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest

An evocative look at the conflict between student identify and artistic expression and the structure of an arts curriculum.
Spider-Man, Terror of the Comics Code Authority

Winston Broiles

Storytelling prize winner in the Fall 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest

A humorous comic about how Spider-Man comics emboldened the comics industry to reject oversight and censorship by the C.C.A.
Monument Woman

Naomy Cardoso Perez and Gillian Grunenfelder

Artistry prize winner in the Fall 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest

The story of Nazi attempts to control art and of the bravery of Rose Valland, a French art historian and member of the Resistance, who secretly documented Nazi art theft.
Allegory of Artemisia

Hannah Diment

Research prize winner in the Fall 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest

A consideration of the challenges faced by the talented 17th-century woman painter, Artemisia Gentileschi.
America's Sailor Moon

Cici Eltermann

Honorable mention in the Fall 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

A wry account of how the relationship of two queer characters in the Japanese anime “Sailor Moon” was changed for the English-language dub.
The Right to Read: Censorship in America’s Prisons

Wanda Felsenhardt

Grand Prize winner in the Fall 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest

A surprising look into the vast number of titles banned by state prison systems and the many restrictions that keep books out of prisoners' hands.
The Blind Art Collector

Rabeeha Adnan

A wordless comic exploring literal and metaphorical blindness and the unwritten codes that influence the art market. Inspired by a story told by Fran Liebowitz. The Morse Code in the comic spells out B-L-I-N-D A-R-T C-O-L-L-E-C-T-O-R.
A Quick History of Gay Batman

Rena Bridge

Grand Prize winner in the 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

A humorous look at ongoing discussions about the nature of Batman and Robin's relationship, beginning with Frederic Wertham's influential book, Seduction of the Innocent (1954).
Female Nudity

Emil Georges

Runner-up in the 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

A nearly wordless comic conveying the emotional experience of an artist encountering gallery content restrictions.
New Queer Cinema: Fighting Censorship with Independent Film

Rowan Leary

A look at examples of the New Queer Cinema movement and how queer filmmakers rebelled against the lingering impact of the Hays Code, film industry standards and the MPAA rating system.
Behind the Scene

Daniel Lee

First-Time Comic Creator winner in the 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

This comic asks the question, "Do the words you hear really come from the person holding the microphone?"
Aftertaste

John Novak

Honorable mention in the 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

A metaphorical consideration of the outsized impact a single censor can have on the larger community.
Malicious Compliance

Sophia Shokraei

First-Time Comic Creator winner in the 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

This comic depicts a musician's act of self-censorship and silent protest when faced with a broadcast network's performance restrictions. Inspired by real events.
The Devil's Fire

H. M. Smith

Honorable mention in the 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

This comic captures the drama of a 1979 vinyl record burning and counter-protest.
Jurgen Comics Contest Newspaper and Artwork - 2023

Jess Soffian

Digital edition of the Jurgen Comics Contest broadsheet newspaper celebrating the 2023 Contest winners. The newspaper design and supplemental artwork was created by contest student editor Jess Soffian. Supplemental promotional materials include a poster and comics related to the 2023 theme.

The 2023 Jurgen Comics Contest invited VCU students to explore codes, censorship and conflict in a single-page, multi-panel comic. Students could enter in either of two categories, Grand Prize ($1,000 top prize) or First-Time Comic Creator ($100 top prize).
Driven Underground

Alexander Tyree

Runner-up in the 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

This comic takes the reader on a journey beneath the streets while exploring the language of the 1954 Comics Code and its effect on the subsequent underground comix scene.
Jurgen Comics Contest Newspaper and Artwork - 2022

Alyson Piccione

Digital edition of the Jurgen Comics Contest broadsheet newspaper celebrating the 2022 Contest winners. The newspaper design and supplemental artwork was created by contest student editor Alyson Piccione. Supplemental promotional materials include poster, comic, and caricatures of historical figures who played a role in the censorship of James Branch Cabell's work Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice.

The 2022 Jurgen Comics Contest invited VCU students to explore some episode or aspect of the seizure and censorship of James Branch Cabell’s Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice in a single-page, multi-panel comic.
A Silent Fate

Ty Campbell

Honorable mention in the 2022 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

This comic reimagines a statement by the Great Tumblebug in James Branch Cabell's satirical fable, "The Judging of Jurgen." Here, a character is given a book with a hidden message, "To make literature and to make trouble are synonyms."
Cabell Walks into a Bar

Erin Crawford

Grand Prize winner in the 2022 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

Literary figures F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald make an appearance in this wry work calling to mind the Sunday comics of Winsor McCay. The Prohibition era story is told with a modern twist, as characters drink from juice boxes. Their heads are drawn as speech bubbles as a commentary on how we are all our thoughts and words/actions.
Swear to It

Jay Crilley

Runner-up award in the 2022 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

This colorful comic draws from a newspaper account of the “Propriety and Impropriety in Literature” debate held at the National Arts Club on Nov. 8, 1922, only weeks after the case against Cabell's Jurgen was dismissed.
Moral of the Story

Katy Hooper

Honorable mention in the 2022 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

A student works with laptop and sketchbook to develop insight into the events and issues surrounding the censorship of James Branch Cabell's book Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice. A drawing of a devil taunts the artist throughout the comic.
The Banning of Jurgen

Hannah Smith

Honorable mention in the 2022 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

Inspired by the work of Frank C. Papé, one of the illustrators of Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice, this comic features a young Jurgen and numerous fanciful creatures surrounded by an angry crowd calling for them to be banned.
The Judging of Jurgen

Tess Wladar

Runner-up award in the 2022 Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest.

Playing with sight gags and double-entendre, this comic refers to James Branch Cabell's own response to New York Society for the Suppression of Vice censor John S. Sumner. Cabell wrote a satirical fable called "The Judging of Jurgen," featuring a tumblebug, or dung beetle, who made accusations against King Jurgen in the court of Philistia.