Archie Andrews (Photo : Reuters)
The new mini-series "Archie Vs. Predator" will hit stores on April 15 at a cover price of $3.99, IGN reported.
Drawn by Fernando Ruiz and written by Alex De Campi, "Archie Vs. Predator" features Archie and his friends hitting Costa Rica for Spring Break. While enjoying beach games and party games, the teens will encounter the "Most Dangerous Game."
In 2014, "Archie" was banned Singapore after the country's Media Development Authority assessed the book "upon receiving a complaint and found its content to be in breach of guidelines because of its depiction of the same-sex marriage of two characters in the comic."
The MDA "informed the local distributor not to import or distribute the comic in retail outlets" and based on their guidelines on comics allowed for release in Singapore, "themes or depictions of alternative lifestyles or deviant sexual practices should not be featured." Such themes include "homosexuality, group sex and sado-masochism".
According to the MDA, the members ot the Publications Consultative Panel, which comprises a cross-section of 28 members from Singapore society, advised that "the theme of the comic was not in line with social norms and is in breach of existing content guidelines."
The comic book ban comes amid tensions between religious conservatives and the growing gay-rights lobby in Singapore. The ban was uncovered by a 39-year-old graphic novelist based in Singapore, Sonny Liew, who wrote to bookseller Kinokuniya on July 10.
Sex between men is illegal and punishable by up to two years in prison in Singapore under a provision in the country's penal code that dates back to British colonial rule, according to Raw Story reported.
