Wikipedia

Comics Code Authority

TheComics Code Authority(CCA) was formed in 1954 by theComics Magazine Association of Americaas an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content ofcomic books in the United States.The code was voluntary, as there was no law requiring its use, although some advertisers and retailers looked to it for reassurance. Some publishers includingDell,Western,andClassics Illustrated,never used it. Its code, commonly called "the Comics Code", lasted until the early 21st century. The CC formation followed amoral paniccentered around a series of Senate hearings and the publication of psychiatristFredric Wertham's bookSeduction of the Innocent.

The Comics Code seal

Members submitted comics to the CCA, which screened them for adherence to its code, then authorized the use of their seal on the cover if the book was found to be in compliance. At the height of its influence, it was ade factocensorfor the entire U.S. comic book industry, with most comics requiring a seal to be published.[1][2]

By the early 2000s, publishers bypassed the CCA andMarvel Comicsabandoned it in 2001. By 2010, only three major publishers still adhered to it:DC Comics,Archie Comics,andBongo Comics.Bongo broke with the CCA in 2010. DC and Archie followed in January 2011, rendering the codedefunct.[3][4][5]

Beginning

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Los Angeles councilmanErnest Debsholding horror and crime comics purchased in his district (Los Angeles Daily News,1954)

TheComics Magazine Association of America(CMAA) was formed in September 1954 in response to a widespread public concern over graphic violence andhorror imageryin comic books.[6]It named New York magistrate Charles F. Murphy (1920–1992), a specialist injuvenile delinquency,to head the organization and devise a self-policing "code of ethics and standards" for the industry.[6]He established the Comics Code Authority (CCA), basing its code upon the largely unenforced code drafted by theAssociation of Comics Magazine Publishersin 1948, which in turn had been modeled loosely after the 1940 HollywoodProduction Code,also known as the "Hays Code".[7]

Before the CCA was adopted, some cities already had organized publicburningsand bans on comic books.[8]The city councils ofOklahoma City,Oklahoma,andHouston,Texas,passed ordinances banning crime and horror comics, although an attempt byLos Angeles County,California,was deemedunconstitutionalby the courts.[6]In his introduction toArchie Americana SeriesBest of the Fifties,editorVictor Gorelickreminisced about the code, writing, "My first assignment, as a new art assistant, was to remove cleavages and lift up low cut blouses onKaty Keene."[9]He also wrote of Archie artistHarry Luceythat, "His sometimes suggestive storytelling–and he was one of the best–almost cost him his job. When his pencilled stories came in, the characters were dressed on one page only. A woman who was an inker, a woman, Terry Szenics, later had to draw clothes on the characters on the remaining pages."[10]

Although the CCA had no official control over the comics publishers, most distributors refused to carry comics which did not carry the seal.[11]However, two major publishers of comics–Dell ComicsandGold Key Comics–did not display the seal, because their output was subject to a higher authority: their licensors which includedWalt Disneyand the producers of many TV shows aimed at children.[12]

Criticism and enforcement

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Some publishers thrived under these restrictions, while others adapted by cancelling titles and focusing on code-approved content; still others went out of business. In practice, the negative effect of not having CCA approval was lack of distribution by the comic book wholesalers, who, as one historian observed, "served as the enforcement arm of the Comics Code Authority by agreeing to handle only those comics with the seal."[13]

PublisherWilliam Gainesbelieved that clauses forbidding the words "crime", "horror", and "terror" in comic book titles had been deliberately aimed at his own best-selling titlesCrime SuspenStories,The Vault of Horror,andTales from the Crypt.[14][15]

Wertham dismissed the code as an inadequate half-measure.[16]Comics analystScott 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!"[17]

"Judgment Day"

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In one early confrontation between a comic-book publisher and the code authorities,EC Comics'William Gainesreprinted the story "Judgment Day",from the pre-codeWeird Fantasy#18 (April 1953), inIncredible Science Fiction#33 (February 1956).[18]The reprint was a replacement for the Code-rejected story "An Eye for an Eye", drawn byAngelo Torres,[19]though "Judgment Day" was itself also objected to because of the central character beingblack,despite there being nothing in the Code which prohibited a black protagonist.[18]The story, by writerAl Feldsteinand artistJoe Orlando,[19]was an allegory againstracial prejudice,a point which was necessarily nullified if the lead character was not black.[18]After an order by code administrator Judge Charles Murphy to change the final panel, which depicted a black astronaut, Gaines engaged in a heated dispute with Murphy.[20]He threatened to inform the press of Murphy's objection to the story if they did not give the issue the Code Seal, causing Murphy to reverse his initial decision and allow the story to run. Soon after, however, facing the severe restrictions placed upon his comics by the CCA, and with his "New Direction"titles floundering, Gaines quit publishing comic books to concentrate onMad.[18]

1954 Code criteria

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The following shows the complete Code as it stood in 1954:[21]

  • 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.
  • Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
  • Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
  • Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
  • All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.
  • No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.
  • 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.
  • In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
  • If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
  • 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.
  • Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
  • Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
  • 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.
  • Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.
  • Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes, as well as sexual abnormalities, are unacceptable.
  • Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.
  • Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.

1960s–1970s

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"Wolfman" and credits

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WriterMarv Wolfman's name was briefly a point of contention between DC Comics and the CCA. In the supernatural-mystery anthologyHouse 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 writerGerry Conwayexplained to the CCA that the story's author was in fact named Wolfman; he asked whether it would still be in violation if that were clearly expressed. The CCA agreed that it would not be, as long as Wolfman received a writer's credit on the first page of the story; that led to DC beginning to credit creators in its supernatural-mystery anthologies.[22]

Updating the Code

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The Code was revised a number of times during 1971, initially on January 28, 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" ) as well as permitting some criminal activities to kill law-enforcement officers and the "suggestion but not portrayal of seduction."[18]The clause "suggestive posture is unacceptable" was removed. Also newly allowed were "vampires, ghouls and werewolves... when handled in the classic tradition such asFrankenstein,Dracula,and other high calibre literary works written byEdgar Allan Poe,Saki,Conan Doyleand other respected authors whose works are read in schools around the world ". Zombies, lacking the requisite" literary "background, remained taboo. To get around this restriction, Marvel in the mid-1970s called the apparently deceased, mind-controlled followers of various Haitian supervillains"zuvembies".[23]This practice carried over to Marvel's superhero line: inThe Avengers,when the reanimated superheroWonder Manreturns from the dead, he is referred to as a "zuvembie".[24]DC comics published their own zombie story inSwamp Thing#16 (May 1975), where the deceased rise from their graves, while a soul-devouring demon appears inSwamp Thing#15 (April 1975).

Around this time, theUnited States Department of Health, Education and WelfareapproachedMarvel Comicseditor-in-chiefStan Leeto do a story about drug abuse.[18]Lee agreed and wrote a three-partSpider-Manstory, 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". The CCA had approved at least one previous story involving drugs, the premiere ofDeadmaninStrange Adventures#205 (Oct. 1967), which clearly depicted the title character fightingopiumsmugglers (as well as the name "Deadman" being classed as a violation that was eventually allowed).[25]However, Code administrator Leonard Darvin "was ill" at the time of the Spider-Man story,[18]and acting administratorJohn L. Goldwater(publisher ofArchie Comics) refused to grant Code approval because of the depiction of narcotics being used, regardless of the context,[18]whereas theDeadmanstory had depicted only a wholesale business transaction.[25]

Confident that the original government request would give him credibility, and with the approval of his publisherMartin Goodman,Lee ran the story inThe Amazing Spider-Man#96–98 (May–July 1971), without CCA approval.[26]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.[27]

Lee and Marvel drew criticism from DC headCarmine Infantino"for defying the code", stating that DC will not "do any drug stories unless the code is changed".[18]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 then broached the topic in the Code-approvedGreen Lantern/Green Arrow#85 (Sept. 1971), with writerDenny O'Neiland artistNeal Adamsbeginning a story arc involving Green Arrow's teen sidekickSpeedyas aheroinaddict. A cover line read, "DC attacks youth's greatest problem... Drugs!"[25]

1980s–1990s

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Through the 80s and 90s there was a break away from the Comics Code Authority. In 1984 the Comics Code Authority deniedSwamp Thingissue #29 the seal of approval, DC decided to continue publishing the title without it. Some subsequent DC series includingWatchmenandThe Dark Knight Returns,both of which premiered in 1986, would launch without ever having had the CCA Seal of approval, and theDC Vertigoimprint in 1993 covered areas including horror and did not launch with CCA approval.[28]

A late adopter of the code wasNow Comics,which began displaying the Code seal on titles released in early 1989.[29]

Abandonment and legacy

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The CCA rejected an issue of the Marvel Comics seriesX-Force,requiring changes to be made in 2001. Instead, Marvel stopped submitting its comics to the CCA.[30]

Bongo Comicsdiscontinued using the Code without any announcements regarding its abandonment in 2010.[31]

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 their comics without submitting them to the CMAA. Archie Comics President Mike Pellerito said that the code did not affect his company the way that it did others as "we aren't about to start stuffingbodies into refrigerators."[32]DC Comics announced on January 20, 2011, that it would discontinue participation adopting a rating system similar to Marvel's.[33]The company noted that it submitted comics for approval through December 2010, but would not say to whom they were submitted.[32]A day later,Archie Comics,the only other publisher still participating in the Code, announced it also was discontinuing it,[34]rendering the Code defunct.[35][36]

The vast majority of advertisers had ceased making decisions on the basis of the CCA stamp over the past few years, according to a January 24, 2011Newsaramareport. Most new publishers to emerge during this time did not join the CCA, regardless of whether their content conformed to its standards.[32]TheComic Book Legal Defense Fundannounced that it would acquire theintellectual property rightsto the Comics Code seal from the defunct CMAA on September 29, 2011.[37]

The Comics Code seal can be seen among theproduction logosin the opening shots of the 2018 superhero filmSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,[38][39]and its 2023 sequel,Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.[40]Binge Books announced that it had used the seal on the one-shot comicHeroes Union,produced byRoger Stern,Ron Frenz,andSal Buscemain May 2021.[41]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Nyberg, Amy Kite (n.d.)."Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval".Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.RetrievedFebruary 13,2024.The Seal of Approval, once prominently displayed on comic book covers, quietly disappeared in 2011. For nearly 60 years, however, censors funded by the comic book industry enforced rules about acceptable content. Only comics that passed a pre-publication review carried the seal.
  2. ^Weldon, Glen (January 27, 2011)."Censors and Sensibility: RIP, Comics Code Authority Seal Of Approval, 1954 - 2011".National Public Radio.RetrievedFebruary 13,2024.So much for The Comics Magazine Association of America, which for over 50 years served as the comics industry's self-regulating (read: self-censoring) arm.
  3. ^MacDonald, Heidi (January 21, 2011)."Archie drops the Comics Code…Wertham dead forever".The Beat.RetrievedFebruary 13,2024.
  4. ^Wolk, Douglas (January 24, 2011)."R.I.P.: The Comics Code Authority".Time.RetrievedFebruary 13,2024.
  5. ^Weldon, Glen (January 27, 2011)."Censors and Sensibility: RIP, Comics Code Authority Seal Of Approval, 1954 - 2011".National Public Radio.RetrievedFebruary 13,2024.
  6. ^abc"The Press: Horror on the Newsstands",Time,September 27, 1954.WebCitation archive.
  7. ^Hajdu, David (2008).The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp.128–130.ISBN9780374187675.
  8. ^Costello, Matthew J.Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America(Continuum, 2009),ISBN978-0-8264-2998-8,p. 32
  9. ^Gorelick, Victor (1992). "Introduction".Archie Americana Series Best of the Fifties Volume 2.Archie Comic Publications. p. 4.
  10. ^Gorelick, page?
  11. ^Silberkeilt, Michael, cited in Costello, page?
  12. ^Arndt, Richard J (October 23, 2016)."From Dell to Gold Key to King - with the New York Times in Between".Alter Ego #141.TwoMorrows.RetrievedDecember 21,2016.
  13. ^Nyberg, Dr. Amy Kiste (n.d.)."Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval".Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.Archived fromthe originalon October 1, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 17,2013.
  14. ^Jacobs, F: "The Mad World of William M. Gaines", pages 112–114, Lyle Stuart, Inc, 1972
  15. ^"An Interview With William M. Gaines", Comics Journal #83 pages 76–78, Fantagraphics, Inc, 1983
  16. ^Harrison, Emma (February 5, 1955). "Whip, Knife, Shown as 'Comics' Lures".The New York Times.p. 17.
  17. ^McCloud, Scott(2000).Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form.New York: Perennial.ISBN0-06-095350-0.OCLC44654496.
  18. ^abcdefghiThompson, Don & Maggie,"Crack in the Code",Newfangles#44, February 1971
  19. ^ab"GCD:: Issue:: Incredible Science Fiction #33".comics.org.
  20. ^Diehl, Digby (1996).Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives,St. Martin's Press (New York) p.85
  21. ^Code for Editorial Matter: General standards – Part A, Code of the Comics Magazine Association of America, Inc. "
  22. ^Cronin, Brian (September 6, 2007)."Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed".Comic Book Resources.Archived fromthe originalon July 19, 2011.
  23. ^Aushenker, Michael (April 2014). "Disposable Heroes".Back Issue!.No. 71. Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing.p. 36.
  24. ^Conway, Gerry (writer). "At Last: The Decision!”Avengers#151 (September 1976).
  25. ^abcCronin, Brian."Comic Legend:Green Lantern/Green Arrow#85 was the first Comics Code approved story involving drugs "Archived2010-08-18 at theWayback Machine,Comic Book Resources,"Comic Book Legends Revealed" #226 (column), September 24, 2009
  26. ^Sacks, Jason; Dallas, Keith (2014).American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s.TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 45–47.ISBN978-1605490564.
  27. ^"Stan the Man & Roy the Boy: A Conversation Between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas".Comic Book Artist.No. 2.TwoMorrows Publishing.Summer 1998.Archivedfrom the original on February 18, 2009.
  28. ^"Sandman and the world of classic Vertigo comics".Christchurch City Council Libraries.August 17, 2022.RetrievedFebruary 13,2024.One of the key new elements for Vertigo was DC's willingness to ditch the Comics Code Authority (CCA) for the new imprint, freeing its writers and artists from the voluntary 1950s-era moral restrictions on content. In the 2000s the CCA was effectively abandoned by all comic book publishers, but in the early 90s this put Vertigo ahead of the pack.
  29. ^For example, Now'sSpeed Buggytitle began displaying the seal as of its 20th issue, cover-dated May 1989:Grand Comics Database entry,accessed Nov. 27, 2011.
  30. ^Capitanio, Adam (13 August 2014)."Race and Violence from the" Clear Line School ": Bodies and the Celebrity Satire ofX-Statix".In Darowski, Joseph J. (ed.).The Ages of the X-Men: Essays on the Children of the Atom in Changing Times.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 158.ISBN9780786472192.
  31. ^Johnston, Rich."Bongo Dropped Comics Code A Year Ago – And No One Noticed".Bleeding Cool.January 21, 2011.
  32. ^abcRogers, Vaneta (January 24, 2011)."The Comics Code Authority – Defunct Since 2009?".Newsarama.Archived fromthe originalon January 27, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 25,2011.
  33. ^Lee, Jim."From the Co-Publishers"Archived2011-01-22 at theWayback Machine,"The Source" (column),DC Comics,January 20, 2011.
  34. ^Rogers, Vaneta (January 21, 2011)."Archie Dropping Comics Code Authority Seal in February".Newsarama.com.Archived fromthe originalon January 25, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 21,2011.
  35. ^Harvey, R.C.(February 23, 2011)."Comics Code Goes Defunct".Rants & Raves.Archivedfrom the original on September 29, 2015.RetrievedAugust 29,2022– via GoComics.
  36. ^Wolk, Douglas (January 24, 2011)."R.I.P.: The Comics Code Authority".Time.Archivedfrom the original on March 18, 2022.RetrievedAugust 29,2022.
  37. ^"CBLDF Receives Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval".Comic Book Legal Defense Fundpress release.September 29, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on November 15, 2011.
  38. ^Gvozden, Dan (December 14, 2018)."A Definitive List of 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Easter Eggs".The Hollywood Reporter.Archivedfrom the original on August 7, 2019.RetrievedMarch 27,2019.
  39. ^"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse".Deva Studios. 20 December 2018.Retrieved2019-10-15.
  40. ^"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed".Collider.June 1, 2023.Archivedfrom the original on June 1, 2023.RetrievedJune 4,2023.
  41. ^Terror, Jude (2021-05-18)."Comics Code Authority Returns for New Comic by Stern, Frenz, Buscema".Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.Retrieved2021-05-18.

Bibliography

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  • Dean, M. (2001) Marvel drops Comics Code, changes book distributor.The Comics Journal#234, p. 19.
  • Gilbert, James.A Cycle of Outrage: America’s Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s.New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
  • Hajdu, David.The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America.New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.
  • Lent, John, ed.Pulp Demons: International Dimensions of the Postwar Anti-Comics Campaign.Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson Press, 1999.
  • Nyberg, Amy Kiste.Seal of Approval: History of the Comics Code.Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.
  • Original Comics Code
  • 1971 Revision
  • 1989 Revision


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