No matter what your view on the criminal “justice” system in the US is, one thing is certain: denying prisoners the right to read and to learn is cruel and evil. Non-profits like Books to Prisoners Seattle have been fighting the good fight to get books to incarcerated folks for decades, and we are proud to have been partnering with them these last three years to help get some of the most highly requested books into the hands of readers.
That’s right, comics, manga, and graphic novels are some of *the* most requested books!
One of the most common questions we get is “why is only a small selection of comics available for donation?” Often, folks want to share their favorite comics and support their favorite creators by donating their favorites. However, that’s not always possible, and to celebrate the 2025 Independent Bookstore Day Books to Prisoners donation match let’s take a deep dive on why that is and how we, with the help of Books to Prisoners staff, choose the wishlist items.
Prison Operators Have Strict Rules for Books
First and foremost, prison operators make it hard to get books into prisons. From age-old “security concerns” to modern switches to tablets operated by profiteering corporations, the reasons are many. But ultimately we need to play by their rules if we want books to get into the hands of folks who need them.
Comic Books Will Poke Your Eyes Out
The thing that impacts us the most is the way comics are bound. The staples that bind almost all single issue comic books are security concerns and banned by virtually all prisons, which means that Books to Prisoners cannot send single issue comics to prisoners. This is why you’ll never see things like, say, the DC Power Company or Marvel Voices one-shots in the wishlist area even though (as we’ll discuss later) they would be great otherwise.
Second thing is… we can’t send hardcovers. Prison operators are afraid that contraband can get snuck in by being placed in covers, so all hardcovers will get rejected as well. Less of an issue for us, but much more so for traditional bookstores—especially with new releases that don’t come in paperback yet.
And You Thought Moms for Liberty Was Bad
Prison operators don’t just reject books based on physical characteristics; they also censor ideas and reject books based on what their content is. Here is just a list of some topics and content that we need to avoid when selecting books:
- sexual content, nudity, and eroticism
- violence and gore (unless it’s cartoonish or low level comic violence)
- any kind of escape scenario, regardless of legality (e.g., escaping from being kidnapped)
- anything that may teach survival skills
So things that may seem completely reasonable to most people would be rejected because, say, a group of teens go camping or Batman gets his hands tied up.
That’s right: we can’t send Lumberjanes to incarcerated readers.
And of course, prison operators can make up new rules for anything they don’t like.
Censorship of information available for prisoners has been a pervasive problem in the US and has been happening for a long, long, time. The way books are banned from prisons makes the current crusade against “woke” books in school look almost not completely reprehensible. Almost.
To learn more about prison censorship, I’d recommend you start with this 10 minute podcast featuring Books to Prisoners board member and volunteer Michelle Dillon.
When Books are Random Access
Another challenge that faces comic books in particular is that Books to Prisoners and other methods of getting books into prisons aren’t like ordering from a store. Between prison restrictions on how many packages folks can receive and how unreliable the whole system of getting them books are, there’s no guarantee that someone in prison can get the exact books they want.
Now imagine yourself reading a comic that ends in a cliffhanger and having absolutely no way to get the next volume.
This is the big reason why we focus on self-contained graphic novels, trades that collect a full miniseries or storyline (or at least a story arc), and collections of small stories. Basically anything that includes a complete experience.
Okay But It’s Not All Sad
Now that we’ve narrowed it down to comics that are self-contained in a single paperback that doesn’t contain things that trigger the censors, we get to the second best part of this process (the best part is when folks get the books): the part where we choose titles based on requests that Books to Prisoners have been getting; the part where we pick the best comics for folks we haven’t met and only know a little about.
In no particular order, here are some of the most requested items within the comic book world that we prioritize in the BTP Wishlist / donations:
- classic comics characters
- manga
- queer topics (especially on being trans)
- horror, supernatural, and occult
- sci-fi and fantasy
- diceless role playing games
There are also other genres and topics, but these are kind of Our Thing and what we prioritize.
Let’s Put It All Together
Here are some example items that we stock both on the Wishlist and when we make special orders for donations to Books to Prisoners:
My Hero Academia Vol 1
Manga, especially popular series, are often very hard to do because of how many volumes there are. MHA, however, has the special distinction of having a full complete story arc in the first volume and is one of the only series openers that are standalone.
Goodbye, Eri
We also tend to make sure we have one-shot or omnibus-sized manga available. Goodbye, Eri is a good one because it’s by the creator of Chainsaw Man but doesn’t trigger any of the excessive violence and sex alarm bells. Others that often get sent out to prisoners include Princess Knight (which features a trans/nonbinary main character) and Superman vs Meshi (a non-violent and comedic take on a character everyone knows).
Wayne Family Adventures
The entire line of DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults line (and also the Marvel equivalent, though they are not as good at consolidating it) has been a huge boon for our partnership with Books to Prisoners. Being teen-friendly reinterpretations of classic characters, this imprint fits perfectly into the strong desire for well-known superhero characters while also avoiding the major sex and violence flags that censors look for. Plus they often focus on queer and BIPOC characters!
Becoming Who We Are
Memoirs / anthologies like Becoming Who We Are are also pretty darn important. While it’s true that many prison operators censor the lived experiences of vulnerable populations, not all do and thanks to Books to Prisoners (and your generosity!) many people who would really benefit from these memoirs can get their hands on them.
Okay Wow What Can I Do to Help???
First and foremost, you can make a monetary donation to Books to Prisoners directly. Books aren’t their only cost; shipping books all over the country isn’t cheap!
If you’d like to purchase a book for Books to Prisoners, you can also do so at several Seattle area bookstores including Left Bank Books, The Couth Buzzard, Phinney Books, Queen Anne Book Co, Charlies Queer Books, and of course, Outsider Comics. Several of these bookstores also allow you to purchase books for them online! As for us, we haven’t figured out how to get specific book purchases online working yet, but you can still always buy a book for BTP via our online store.
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