SuicideGirls Banned From San Diego Comic-Con?

Read Comic-Con's response here
 
Packed with thousands of fans and members of the media, San Diego Comic Con is the largest comic book convention in the United States. If you have ever been a member of the media or comic book industry, then you know that obtaining a booth at San Diego International can be difficult, something the SuicideGirls know all about considering they have been on the waiting list since 2006. When Missy Suicide called SDCC organizers once again this year to request a booth for her girls at the show, she was told that her company, the SuicideGirls, had been banned from San Diego Comic Con. You might recall the SuicideGirls' appearance in Hack/Slash, when Cassie Hack became a SuicideGirl in the series published by Devils Due Comics. We caught up with Missy to find out what happened. 

"We have applied for a booth for four years," says Missy Suicide, co-founder of the Suicide Girls, a website community that 'celebrates alternative beauty and alternative culture from all over the world.' "We applied for a booth since 2006, so the last four years. There are companies that were created in 2006 that have obtained booths before us. We had a booth at WonderCon this year and [the Suicide Girls] have had a significant [amount of] participation and consistent presence at San Diego Comic Con. "
 
Missy was shocked when she first heard that the Suicide Girls had been banned. She questioned why Comic-Con had not brought the matter to her attention sooner, but rather had waited to tell her until after she submitted a request for a booth at their upcoming show.  "When I called Rod Mojika, [Comic-Con's go to guy for exhibits and sales] to ask about setting up a booth for the SuicideGirls at San Diego Comic Con, I was told that we had been banned from having a significant presence at their show." In a conversation with Mojika, Ms. Suicide was told that a member of the San Diego Comic-Con Board-of-Directors had purchased a Suicide Girls adult DVD at WonderCon and had not been carded. The same individual also stated that he had witnessed a Suicide Girl sell a DVD to a minor without requesting proper identification.  

If this is true, then is this member of the Comic-Con Board of Directors essentially accusing the SuicideGirls of distributing pornographic material to a minor? And if this is indeed true, then why wasn't Missy Suicide contacted regarding the incident sooner?

In a conversation with LAWeekly, Missy stated that she instructs all of the Suicide Girls who are present at the conventions to check ID's at their booths for "anyone who looks under 30. We have a large sign up at our booth[s] that says 'You must be 18+ with ID to purchase."

When asked whether the SuicideGirls were indeed banned, Comic-Con International's Director of Marketing and Public Relations David Glanzer told the LAWeekly that no one is banned.
""No one is banned...My understanding is that SuicideGirls didn't have a booth and there is a 400+ waiting list...We got a report that they were handing out material that was not all ages appropriate. It's happened before where companies have not complied with our standards ... Does that mean that they're banned for life? No, we don't do that. Next year could be a different thing."

Glancing at Comic-Con's general terms and conditions exhibitor contract, nowhere in the contract does it explicitly state that materials sold at the convention must be "All ages appropriate." However, under article six of the contract, it does state that in order to sell adult materials, the retailer would need prior written permission of SDCC; something the SuicideGirls must have obtained in order to distribute their merchandise at Wondercon.  

Missy Suicide wants the conflict resolved. "We were told the convention was already too full and that the waiting list is too long. We love Comic-Con. We love having our girls fly from Canada and across the United States to attend the show. We want to clear this up." San Diego Comic Con could not be reached for comment.