''Meng and Ecker'' was a British underground

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

written by David Britton and illustrated by Kris Guidio.Greenland, Colin (March 12, 2003). "The Thursday Book: A Wallow In The Sump Of The Popular Psyche". ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Comment; Pg. 21 It was published in 1989 by the controversial

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

-based company Savoy and lasted for nine issues before being banned in 1992 under

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

laws.

Concept

The characters Meng and Ecker were inspired by Nazi doctor

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...

.Foster, Jonathan (July 30, 1992). "Legal challenge on seizure of anti-Semitic fantasy". ''

''. Pg. 5 Authorities pulped thousands of copies of ''Meng & Ecker'' after finding the book "obscene and likely to corrupt."McCrum, Robert (March 16, 1997). "The Week In Reviews: Books: The Bare-Faced Cheek Of It". ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. Pg. 16 In finding the comic obscene, the judge said, "This comic could be read - and possibly gloated over - by people who enjoyed viciousness and violence. It had pictures that would be repulsive to right-thinking people."Guardian staff. (July 31, 1992). "Lord Horror Book Is 'Not Obscene'". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Pg. 7 Meng and Ecker also appeared in three controversial prose novels written by Britton: ''Lord Horror'' (1990), ''Motherfuckers: The Auschwitz of Oz'' (1996), and ''Baptised in the Blood of Millions'' (2001). The first novel, ''Lord Horror,'' was the first book to be banned in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

since Hubert Selby's ''

Last Exit to Brooklyn ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' is a 1964 novel by American author Hubert Selby Jr. The novel takes a harsh, uncompromising look at lower class Brooklyn in the 1950s written in spare, stripped-down prose. Critics and fellow writers praised the b ...

'' was banned in 1968. The name 'Meng & Ecker' is a homage to a Manchester Tearooms, which operated near St Ann's Square for most of the twentieth century.

References

British comics Defunct British comics British underground comics 1989 comics debuts 1992 comics endings Fictional twins Fictional murderers Fictional cannibals Fictional Nazis in comics Black comedy comics Comics controversies Male characters in comics Obscenity controversies in comics Obscenity controversies in literature {{UK-comics-stub