When asked by ICv2 about a revealing ad for Clive Barker's Saint Sinner that appeared on the back cover of several of Marvel's 'PG' rated comic titles beginning last week, Marvel President Bill Jemas answered that the ad '...just slipped through.' Jemas admitted, 'I honestly don't know how that happened.'  But, he added, 'It doesn't offend me in a PG situation, it's the kind of thing that you would see in a PG movie.'

 

The ad, which thanks to a see-through blouse clearly shows the body part that embarrassed Elaine Benes when it appeared on her Christmas card photo in the Seinfeld TV series, has not resulted in any large number of complaints directed at Marvel.  According to Jemas the ad appeared 'on millions of books' and the publisher has so far received only about a dozen complaints.

 

When we asked whether Marvel had licensed the 'PG' rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, Jemas said that the rating was 'PG Marvel,' and although it meant '...Parental Guidance, and is intended to warn a parent that they should supervise the reading of that book,' it was not the same as the MPAA rating.  Jemas declined to mention the criteria used in applying the Marvel ratings, saying: 'Ratings are extremely subjective and publishing a list of supposedly objective rules really doesn't help the situation.'