From Hell artist Eddie Campbell reports the book is, for all intents and purposes, illegal in his home country of Australia. Copies of the collected edition of From Hell were impounded by Australian Customs Oct. 20 after an Oct. 3 decision by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification effectively banned From Hell #7 from importation. The two impounded copies had been ordered by Quality Comics, a shop in Perth.

The award-winning 568-page graphic-novel meditation on the Jack the Ripper case by Campbell and writer Alan Moore first came to the attention of authorities in March when From Hell #7 was confiscated from an earlier shipment intended for Quality Comics and referred to the Office of Film and Literature Classification. The OFLC determined Oct. 3 that the work was not fit to be allowed in the country, and since issue #7 was included in the collection, customs officials applied the ban to that book, as well.

Campbell told the Journal, "The irony, of course, is that I can buy the book in any country except the one I've been living in for the past 14 years. The location of Perth is very far from the cosmopolitan and enlightened parts of Australia. The officers seemed a little taken aback when the author and publisher phoned from within the country. I told [customs officer Con Greenwood] that the book was highly regarded in America, England and six foreign languages and he replied, 'I don't care what goes on in the rest of the world; this is Australia.' And I'm sure he speaks for a great number."

Greenwood told the Journal, "In Australia, all literature, films and videos are subject to censorship." The OFLC, he said, had found From Hell #7 to be "excessively violent."

Asked if comic books were regarded as a children's medium and scrutinized by customs more carefully than other media, Greenwood told the Journal, "In general terms, that's correct. The classification standards for comic books would be more rigorous than for literature, for example."

Asked if Australian law allows for exceptions on the basis of "redeeming social value," Greenwood said it did. From Hell, however, was apparently not regarded as having such value.

Campbell said customs officer Nicole Moore had told him, "It was the image of the breast being cut off that offended her."

Moore declined to speak to the Journal, and Greenwood, her supervisor, asked not to be quoted. Greenwood refused to give his official title. Campbell said, "The Customs chappie said that if Mr. Dean [from the Journal] quoted him in print that I would find no good will there from here on."

Campbell is currently working his way through governmental red tape in hope of freeing the book for importation. Customs officers told Campbell and the Journal that their hands are tied by the OFLC's "ruling." Since the OFLC makes the decisions there can be no appeal to Customs. According to Campbell, however, the OFLC told him it merely issues guidelines and recommendations, and therefore there is no "ruling" to appeal. Campbell's current course of action is to ask for a new classification for the collected work, since the original ban "recommendation" is based only on a reading of issue #7 out of context.

Since the classification only applies to importation, Campbell is also considering the option of making the book available through a local publisher. Campbell has a narrow window in which to find a resolution to the problem - the film adaptation of the book is scheduled to arrive in Australia in May 2001.

The Journal is continuing to investigate and will report events as they develop. (Webmaster's Note: The follow-up report to this story can be found here.)

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