Comics Code Authority

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I was reading This Wired Magazine Article, and followed the link to This Wikipedia Article, and read all about the Comics Code Authority, which is or was basically a form of censorship for the comic book industry. Essentially, no comic book publishers could expect to received sponsorship through advertising if their comic books did not display the CCA "Seal of Approval":



Although the CCA had no official control over publishers, most distributors refused to carry comics that did not carry the seal. The criteria of the Comics Code Authority included the following stipulations:

• Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
• If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
• Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
• Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
• In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
• Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
• No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.
• All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.
• All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.
• Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.
• Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
• Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.
• Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.
• Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
• Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
• Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes as well as sexual abnormalities are unacceptable.
• Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.
• Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.
• Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals.

Fredric Wertham's 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent had rallied opposition to this type of material in comics, arguing that it was harmful to the children who made up a large segment of the comic book audience. In 2001, Marvel Comics withdrew from the CCA in favor of its own ratings system designating appropriate age groups; in 2010 Bongo Comics discontinued using the Code without any announcements regarding its abandonment. In January 2011, DC Comics announced that it would discontinue participation, adopting a rating system similar to Marvel's. The company noted that it submitted comics for approval through December 2010, but would not say to whom they were submitted. A day later, Archie Comics, the only other publisher still participating in the Code, announced it also was discontinuing it, rendering the Code defunct.

How does this affect you?

Looking at the history of superhero comics, the CCA had already been pruned down from what it had once been way before the 2000s. Rules like the 'no vampires or werewolves' rule had been rendered irrelevant by the time Marvel was publishing Werewolf By Night in Marvel Spotlight and Tomb of Dracula, both in the 1970s, where, only 3 years before the publication of those titles, they were unable to feature a werewolf-themed supervillain, and instead made him a pterodactyl (Karl Lykos/Sauron in X-Men).

Looking at the 'no depiction of excessive violence/gore' rule, by the late 1980s, Marvel and DC had entered their 'grim and gritty' era, pretty much kick-started with the 'Mutant Massacre' crossover from 1987. Uncanny X-Men # 251 (1990) was dedicated in its entirety to Wolverine being painfully tortured. So by the time Marvel rejected the CCA in 2001, the code had been neutered to such an extent as to be pretty much obsolete.

I'm glad the censorship has been abolished. It could be said that the underground comix scene was able to thrive in resistance to the Code (much in the way one could argue that the Reagan/Thatcher era was great for the counterculture) but that's not a reason to continue it.

My local comic book store has a designated section with kiddie titles and toys, where I send my daughter to browse while I am picking up my graphic novels.

That's pretty cool. I had thought kid-friendly comic book stores had all but died out by this point.