Editor(s):
Steven Wardlaw (Managing Editor); Rick Alonso (Associate Editor International)
Notes:
This particular issue of Verotika was responsible for what became The Planet Comics Case. In March of 1996, Michael Kennedy and John Hunter closed their embattled comic book store, Planet Comics, after months of trials and tribulations resulting from a police raid in September of 1995. Eight weeks after the raid, eight assorted obscenity charges were filed against the owners, stemming from a complaint about Verotika #4 from a member of the Christian Coalition. The unidentified woman was referred to Oklahomans for Children and Families (OCaF), a non-profit obscenity watch-dog group, who pursue enforcement of local obscenity laws. They turned Verotika #4 over to Oklahoma City Police. The trial was eventually set for September 8, 1997. Rather than risk imprisonment and a permanent felony record, the retailers agreed to plead guilty to the two felony charges. In exchange, they were granted a three-year deferred prison sentence and a fine of $1500 each.