Now this is an interesting piece of news. Writer Mark Sable was detained by airport security because of his latest comic script. It’s both scary and funny at the same time. Poor guy. He took it well though. It reminded me of the time last year when I returned home from Comic-Con and customs went through ALL of my purchases, even my laptop and cameras. That was nowhere near as concerning as this would’ve been though. Of course, this could all be made up. Maybe it never happened at all and is just a clever marketing ploy. Bet it works though.
MARK SABLE DETAINED BY TSA FOR UNTHINKABLE SCRIPT
Ripped-from-the-headlines espionage series causes alarm at LAX
TSA did not understand that comic books could be about anything other than superheroes
“My privacy is a small price to pay for educating the government about the medium.”
Comics writer Mark Sable was detained by TSA security guards at LAX this past weekend when they discovered inflammatory material in a script for Sable’s new BOOM Studios miniseries UNTHINKABLE. The comic series follows members of a government think tank that was tasked with coming up with 9/11-type “unthinkable” terrorist scenarios that now are coming true.
Sable was detained while traveling from LAX to NYC to attend a signing for the premiere of UNTHINKABLE #1 at Jim Hanley’s Universe this Wednesday, May 13th.
Fans and friends were made aware of the TSA detention when Sable “Twittered” about the events at twitter.com/marksable, after he was released.
Sable wrote BOOM! Studios a more in-depth version of the encounter to release to the public:
“Flying from Los Angeles to New York for a signing at Jim Hanley’s Universe Wednesday (May 13th), I was flagged at the gate for ‘extra screening’. I was subjected to not one, but two invasive searches of my person and belongings. TSA agents then “discovered” the script for UNTHINKABLE #3. They sat and read the script while I stood there, without any personal items, identification or ticket, which had all been confiscated.
“The minute I saw the faces of the agents, I knew I was in trouble. The first page of the UNTHINKABLE script mentioned 9/11, terror plots and the fact that the (fictional) world had become a police state. The TSA agents then proceeded to interrogate me, having a hard time understanding that a comic book could be about anything other than superheroes, let alone that anyone actually wrote scripts for comics.
“I cooperated politely and tried to explain to them the irony of the situation. While UNTHINKABLE blurs the line between fiction and reality, the story is based on a real-life government think tank where a writer was tasked to design worst-case terror scenarios. The fictional story of UNTHINKABLE unfolds when the writer’s scenarios come true, and he becomes a suspect in the terrorist attacks.
“In the end, I feel my privacy is a small price to pay for educating the government about the medium.”
Image Comics had great success with the new old-timey crime series, Viking in its larger format and are bringing back another series in the same style. Press release below.