Comics Code Authority

The Comics Code seal.

The Comics Code Authority was a body created as part of the Comics Magazine Association of America, as a tool for the comics-publishing industry to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. Member publishers submitted comic books to the CCA, which screened them for adherence to its Comics Code, and authorized the use of their seal on the cover if the books complied. At the height of its influence, it was a de facto censor for the U.S. comic book industry. The last publishers discontinued their participation in 2011.

Founding

The Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) was formed in September 1954 in response to a widespread public concern over gory and horrific comic-book content.^[1] It named New York Magistrate Charles F. Murphy, 44, a specialist in juvenile delinquency, to head the organization and devise a self-policing "code of ethics and standards" for the industry.^[1] He established the Comics Code Authority (CCA), basing its code upon the largely unenforced code drafted by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers in 1948, which in turn had been modeled loosely after the 1930 Hollywood Production Code.^{[citation needed]} This code banned graphic depictions of violence and gore in crime and horror comics, as well as the sexual innuendo of what aficionados refer to as good girl art. 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. The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings in 1954, which focused specifically on comic books, had many publishers concerned about government regulation, prompting them to form a self-regulatory body instead.

Before the CCA was adopted, some cities had already been organizing public burnings and bans on comic books.^[2] The city councils of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Houston, Texas, passed ordinances banning crime and horror comics, although an attempt by Los Angeles County, California was deemed unconstitutional by the courts.^[1]

Like the previous code, the CCA prohibited the presentation of "policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions ... in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority." But it added the requirements that "in every instance good shall triumph over evil" and discouraged "instances of law enforcement officers dying as a result of a criminal's activities." Specific restrictions were placed on the portrayal of kidnapping and concealed weapons. Depictions of "excessive violence" were forbidden, as were "lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations." Vampires, werewolves, ghouls and zombies could not be portrayed. In addition, comics could not use the words "horror" or "terror" in their titles. The use of the word "crime" was subject to numerous restrictions. Where the previous code had condemned the publication of "sexy, wanton comics," the CCA was much more precise: depictions of "sex perversion", "sexual abnormalities", and "illicit sex relations" as well as seduction, rape, sadism, and masochism were specifically forbidden. In words echoing the Hollywood Production Code, love stories were enjoined to emphasize the "sanctity of marriage" and those portraying scenes of passion were advised to avoid stimulating "lower and baser emotions."

Although the CCA had no official control over publishers, most distributors refused to carry comics that did not carry the seal.^[3]

Criticism and enforcement

Some publishers thrived under these restrictions, others adapted by canceling titles and focusing on Code-approved content, and others went out of business.

Publisher William Gaines believed that clauses forbidding the words "crime", "horror", and "terror" in comic book titles had been deliberately aimed at his own best-selling titles Crime SuspenStories, The Vault of Horror, and Tales from the Crypt.^[4][5] These restrictions, as well as those banning vampires, werewolves, and zombies, helped make EC Comics unprofitable; all of its titles except Mad were canceled in the year following the CCA's introduction. Mad itself survived by Gaines converting the publication to a magazine format, to which the Code did not apply.

Wertham dismissed the Code as an inadequate half-measure.^[6] Comics analyst Scott McCloud, on the other hand, later commented that it was as if, in drawing up the code, "the list of requirements a film needs to receive a G rating was doubled, and there were no other acceptable ratings!"^[7]

"Judgment Day"

In one early confrontation between a comic-book publisher and Code authorities, EC Comics' William Gaines reprinted the story "Judgment Day", from the pre-Code Weird Fantasy #18 (April 1953), in Incredible Science Fiction #33 (Feb. 1956).^[8] The reprint was a replacement for a Code-disapproved story — "An Eye For an Eye", drawn by Angelo Torres^[9] — but was itself also "objected to" because of "the central character being black."^[8] The story, by writer Al Feldstein and artist Joe Orlando,^[9] was "a strong allegory on the evils of race prejudice," which point was necessarily "nullified if the lead character" was not black.^[8] Following an order by Code administrator Judge Charles Murphy to change the final panel, which depicted a black astronaut, Gaines engaged in a heated contretemps with Murphy.^[10] He informed Murphy that "if they did not give that issue the Code Seal, he would see that the world found out why", causing Murphy to reverse his initial decision and allow the story to run.^[8] Soon after, however, facing the severe restrictions placed upon his comics by the CCA, and with his "New Direction" titles floundering, Gaines "quit comic book publishing to concentrate on Mad".^[8]

1960s–1970s

Underground comics

In the late 1960s, the underground comics scene arose, with artists creating comics that delved into subject matter explicitly banned by the Code. Since these comics were distributed largely through unconventional channels, such as head shops, they were able to skirt the problem of mainstream distributors who were leery of carrying non-CCA-approved comics. This allowed underground comics to achieve moderate success without CCA approval.

"Wolfman" and credits

Writer Marv Wolfman's name was briefly a point of contention between DC Comics and the CCA. In House of Secrets #83 (Jan. 1970), the book's host introduces the story "The Stuff that Dreams are Made of" as one told to him by "a wandering wolfman". (All-capitals comics lettering made no distinction between "wolfman" and "Wolfman".) The CCA rejected the story and flagged the "wolfman" reference as a violation. Fellow writer Gerry Conway explained to the CCA that the story's author was in fact named Wolfman, and asked whether it would still be in violation if that were clearly stated. The CCA agreed to that, so Wolfman received a writer's credit on the first page of the story (which led to DC beginning to credit creators in general).^[11]

Updating the Code

The Code was revised a number of times during 1971, initially on January 28, 1971, to allow for, among other things, the sometimes "sympathetic depiction of criminal behavior... [and] corruption among public officials" ("as long as it is portrayed as exceptional and the culprit is punished"^[8]) as well as permitting some criminal activities to kill law-enforcement officers and the "suggestion but not portrayal of seduction."^[8] Also newly allowed were "vampires, ghouls and werewolves... when handled in the classic tradition such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and other high calibre literary works written by Edgar Allan Poe, Saki, Conan Doyle and other respected authors whose works are read in schools around the world". Zombies, lacking the requisite "literary" background, remained taboo. Marvel in the mid-1970s called the apparently deceased, mind-controlled followers of various Haitian supervillains "zuvembies". This practice carried over to Marvel's superhero line: In The Avengers, when the reanimated superhero Wonder Man returned from the dead, he was also referred to as a "zuvembie".^[12]

Around this time, the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a story about drug abuse.^[8] Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story, portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. While the Code did not specifically forbid depictions of drugs, a general clause prohibited "All elements or techniques not specifically mentioned herein, but which are contrary to the spirit and intent of the code, and are considered violations of good taste or decency".^[13] The CCA had approved at least one previous story involving drugs, the premiere of Deadman in Strange Adventures #205 (Oct. 1967), which clearly depicted the title character fighting an opium dealer.^[13] But Code administrator Leonard Darvin "was ill" at the time of the Spider-Man story,^[8] and acting administrator John L. Goldwater, publisher of Archie Comics, refused to grant Code approval based on the depiction of narcotics being used, regardless of the context,^[8] whereas the Deadman story had depicted only a wholesale business transaction.^[13]

Confident that the original government request would give him credibility, and with the approval of his publisher Martin Goodman, Lee ran the story in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), without CCA approval. The storyline was well-received and the CCA's argument for denying approval was deemed counterproductive. "That was the only big issue that we had" with the Code, Lee recalled in a 1998 interview:

I could understand them; they were like lawyers, people who take things literally and technically. The Code mentioned that you mustn't mention drugs and, according to their rules, they were right. So I didn't even get mad at them then. I said, 'Screw it' and just took the Code seal off for those three issues. Then we went back to the Code again. I never thought about the Code when I was writing a story, because basically I never wanted to do anything that was to my mind too violent or too sexy. I was aware that young people were reading these books, and had there not been a Code, I don't think that I would have done the stories any differently.^[14]

Lee and Marvel drew criticism from DC head Carmine Infantino "for defying the code", stating that DC will not "do any drug stories unless the code is changed".^[8] As a result of publicity surrounding the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's sanctioning of the storyline, however, the CCA revised the Code to permit the depiction of "narcotics or drug addiction" if presented "as a vicious habit". DC itself broached the topic in the Code-approved Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (Sept. 1971), with writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams beginning a story arc involving Green Arrow's teen sidekick Speedy as a heroin addict. A cover line read, "DC attacks youth's greatest problem... Drugs!"^[13]

1980s–2010s

By the 1980s, greater depiction of violence had become acceptable. For example, Elvira's House of Mystery #2 (Feb. 1986) contained numerous decapitations but was still Code-approved. The following issue forwent the code and contained references to masturbation, but the Code seal was reinstated with issue #4.

Periodic revisions were made to the Code to reflect changing attitudes about appropriate subject matter (e.g., the ban on referring to homosexuality was revised in 1989 to allow non-stereotypical depictions of gay men and lesbians),^{[citation needed]} but its influence on the medium continued to wane, and publishers continued to gradually reduce the prominence of the seal on their covers. The development of new distribution channels, especially "direct market" comics specialty shops, provided additional means for publishers of non-Code books to reach a large audience, while newsstand distribution — a shrinking component of industry sales — became less important.

Abandonment

By the 2000s, advertisers no longer made decisions to advertise based on the appearance of the stamp.^[15] Most new publishers to emerge during this time did not join the CCA, regardless of whether their content conformed to its standards.^[15] DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and other CCA sponsors began publishing comics intended for adult audiences, without the CCA seal, and comics labeled for "mature readers" under imprints such as DC's Vertigo and Marvel's Epic Comics were not submitted to the CCA. In the 1990s, Milestone Media (published through DC Comics) submitted all its books to the CCA, but published them regardless of the ruling, placing the seal only on issues that received Code approval.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, Marvel Comics withdrew from the CCA in favor of its own ratings system designating appropriate age groups. In 2010 Bongo Comics quietly discontinued using the Code.^[16] In January 2011, DC Comics announced that it would discontinue participation, adopting a rating system similar to Marvel's.^[17] The company noted that it submitted comics for approval through December 2010, but would not say to whom they were submitted.^[15] A day later, Archie Comics, the only other publisher still participating in the Code, announced it also was discontinuing it,^[18] rendering the Code defunct.

The CMAA, at some point in the 2000s, was managed by the trade-organization management firm the Kellen Company, which ceased its involvement in 2009. In 2010, some publishers, including Archie, placed the seal on its comics without submitting them to the CMAA. Archie Comics President Mike Pellerito stated that the code did not affect his company the way that it did others as "we aren't about to start stuffing bodies into refrigerators".^[15]

On September 29, 2011, it was announced that the CMAA sold intellectual property rights of the Comics Code seal to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund; the sale coincided with Banned Books Week.^[19]

1954 Code criteria

• 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.
• 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 word 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.

Allusions within stories

In the Marvel Comics universe, a fictional Marvel publishes comic books based on the "real-life" exploits of superheroes. In the 1990s Marvel series The Sensational She-Hulk, the She-Hulk is asked how, although her clothes are frequently torn up, she always remains "decent". She responds by showing the label in her clothing: the Comics Code seal. The 2000s series She-Hulk established that the fictional Marvel submitted its publications to the Comics Code Authority for approval, until breaking with the CCA in 2001 as the real Marvel did. This fictional CCA is vaguely identified as a federal agency, and CCA comics based on "true" events are considered to be legal documents usable as evidence in a court of law in that fictional world. The fictional law firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway in She-Hulk has an extensive library of CCA-approved Marvel comics for reference purposes.

See also

	United States portal
	Comics portal

• Hays Code
• Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths
• LGBT themes in comics

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "The Press: Horror on the Newsstands", Time, September 27, 1954. WebCitation archive.
2. ^ Costello, Matthew J. Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America (Continuum, 2009), ISBN 978-0-8264-2998-8, p. 32
3. ^ Silberkeilt, Michael, cited in Costello, page #?
4. ^ Jacobs, F: "The Mad World of William M. Gaines", pages 112-114, Lyle Stuart, Inc, 1972
5. ^ "An Interview With William M. Gaines", Comics Journal #83 pages 76-78, Fantagraphics, Inc, 1983
6. ^ Harrison, Emma (February 5, 1955). "Whip, Knife, Shown as 'Comics' Lures". The New York Times: p. 17. 
7. ^ McCloud, Scott (2000). Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form. New York: Perennial. ISBN 0060953500. OCLC 44654496. 
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Thompson, Don & Maggie, "Crack in the Code", Newfangles #44, February 1971
9. ^ ^{a b} Incredible Science Fiction #33 at the Grand Comics Database
10. ^ Diehl, Digby. Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives (St. Martin's Press, New York, NY 1996) p. 85
11. ^ Comic Book Resources (Sept. 6, 2007): Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed (column) #119, by Brian Cronin
12. ^ Conway, Gerry (writer). "At Last: The Decision!” Avengers #151 (September 1976).
13. ^ ^{a b c d} Cronin, Brian. "Comic Legend: Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 was the first Comics Code approved story involving drugs", Comic Book Resources, "Comic Book Legends Revealed" #226 (column), September 24, 2009
14. ^ "Stan the Man & Roy the Boy: A Conversation Between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas". Comic Book Artist (2). Summer 1998. Archived from the original on November 14, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5lHwfKOI2. 
15. ^ ^{a b c d} Rogers, Vaneta. "The Comics Code Authority - Defunct Since 2009?", Newsarama, January 24, 2011. WebCitation archive.
16. ^ Johnston, Rich. "Bongo Dropped Comics Code A Year Ago – And No One Noticed", BleedingCool.com, January 21, 2011. WebCitation archive.
17. ^ Lee, Jim. "From the Co-Publishers", "The Source" (column), DC Comics, January 20, 2011. WebCitation archive.
18. ^ Rogers, Vaneta. "Archie Dropping Comics Code Authority Seal in February", Newsarama, January 21, 2011. WebCitation archive.
19. ^ Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Press Release: "CBLDF Receives Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval", September 29, 2011.

Bibliography

• Dean, M. (2001) Marvel drops Comics Code, changes book distributor. The Comics Journal #234, p. 19.
• Hajdu, David. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.
• Nyberg, Amy Kiste. Seal of Approval: History of the Comics Code. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.
• Original Comics Code
• 1971 Revision
• 1989 Revision

External links

• Leopold, Todd. "The Pictures that Horrified America", May 8, 2008
• Vassallo, Dr. Michael J. "A Look at the Atlas Pre-Code Crime and Horror Work of Stan Lee". The Buyer's Guide #1258 (December 26, 1997), via Live ForEverett. WebCite archive.