The removal of Alan Moore’s graphic novel Neonomicon from the shelves of a library in South Carolina has been described as “censorship” by free speech campaigners.

The award-winning horror comic has been at the centre of a long-running row at Greenville County public libraries, after a 14-year-old borrowed the novel in June and her mother objected.

“She (my 14-year-old) came into my living room and asked me what a certain word meant, and I said, ‘Honey, where did you hear that word?’ I said, ‘That’s a nasty word. We don’t use that in the house,” mother Carrie Gaske told local news broadcaster WSPA in June. Gaske went on to file a challenge to the novel over its “sexually graphic” images.

Her daughter had borrowed the book from the adult section of the library, using an adult card, according to WSPA. A committee then voted to keep the book on shelves, WSPA reported, but their decision has been overruled by the library’s executive director Beverly James, who “did not feel the book’s content was appropriate for the library system’s collection”.

“In looking at it (Neonomicon) again, as I say, it was purchased on the basis of being an award winner and on the reputation of the author, but then with further consideration, we decided that those qualifications were outweighed by some of the disturbing content of the item,” the library’s access services manager Barbara Yonce told WSPA.

Neonomicon sees two FBI agents, Brears and Lamper, investigating a series of ritual murders. An exploration of the works of HP Lovecraft, it looks at issues of race and sexuality and contains a brutal rape scene. It is also the winner of the Bram Stoker award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. In June, the National Coalition Against Censorship and other free speech organisations said that the authors’ “deliberately disturbing depictions of sexual violence are included as a critical comment on how such subject matter is handled elsewhere within the genre”, and that the book’s “critical acclaim testifies to its artistic value which is aided, not eclipsed, by its sexual content”.

Quick Guide The five Alan Moore comics you must read Show V for Vendetta (1982 - 1989) This dystopian graphic novel continues to be relevant even 30 years after it ended. With its warnings against fascism, white supremacy and the horrors of a police state, V for Vendetta follows one woman and a revolutionary anarchist on a campaign to challenge and change the world. Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow (1986) Moore's quintessential Superman story. Though it has not aged as well as some of his work, this comic is still one of the best Man of Steel stories ever written, and one of the most memorable comics in DC's canon. A Small Killing (1991) This introspective, stream-of-consciousness comic follows a successful ad man who begins to have a midlife crisis after realising the moral failings of his life and work. Tom Strong (1999 - 2006) A love letter to the silver age of comics that nods to Buck Rogers and other classics of pulp fiction. Tom Strong embodies all of the ideals Moore holds for what a superhero should be.

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (1999-2019) One of Moore's best known comic series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the ultimate in crossover works, drawing on characters from all across the literary world who are on a mission to save it.

Learning of the library’s decision to remove the book this month, Acacia O’Connor, project coordinator for the Kids’ Right to Read Project, said that “they may be calling it ‘deselection’ but we have another name for it: censorship”.

“Librarians are often our staunchest allies in the fight for the freedom to read; it is surprising that the library services director in this case is not working to defend that right. There are patrons in the district who do want to read books like Neonomicon and are not offended by its content,” said O’Connor. “Those readers have the right to make up their own minds about whether they want to read the book and not have their choices dictated by the subjective views of others.”

Moore, author of the graphic novels Watchmen and V for Vendetta, is one of the most acclaimed comic book writers working today.