The Comic Code Authority

So Comic Code Authority good, bad wanna know more? well here you go

A History of Comic Heroes: The Code Authority

Good. I wish it was still in use.

A comics code will be used on my comics someday.

It was tripe and rubbish then, and it would be tripe and rubbish now.

Unnecessary, and that's why it's gone.

... why?

It was crap

It ruined american comics and animation, without this comics/toons can be an integral part of american culture like anime/manga to japan

With the code, comics could be sold in more places. When the codeless comics came out stores dropped them.

I want a wider audience.

While I am a not a fan of the comics code authority I do think that it had an overall positive effect. It allowed comics to self police so that the government didn't get involved and it kinda sorta saved the superhero genre. I think if the government had enforced it's own code we'd still be dealing with it, so if it weren't for the CCA we wouldn't really have many of the great mature comics we have today.

... yeah, in the 60s. But comics can be sold anywhere now if the dealer wishes to buy them. They're in book stores, super markets, comic book stores... comic books are more popular now than when the code was in place.

In this sense, yes, I agree that the code served a purpose.

@jedixman: Yeah, I'm not saying it was really a "good" thing, but it was the best option at the time it was created.

Agreed. The code was established when the only option was a best case scenario, and this was the better alternative to government regulations.

If you take a look at some of the comics from the 30's and 40's, there is no doubt that at least some of the covers went too far. While I do not like censorship, the CCA did serve a useful purpose.

@catfightfan: True, a lot of comics really weren't for kids despite being marketed to them.
Guess the industry needed to learn to mature, which is has to a certain extent.

@cezar_thescribe: Retailers havent cared about the comic code in like 20 years...

Try selling "mature comics" in a grocery or retail store.

More like 11 to 12 years.

... and the comics code would help to sell mature comics? The same code that stressed, all of these criteria for a comic to be sold? That would prohibit mainstream comics from being sold. We're not even talking about actual mature material. Those mature comics were banned during the code.

I suggest reading those the comics code rules. That's why many comics during the 70s had to be printed without the code. It's why nobody uses the code anymore.

No, the code wouldn't allow them. You could sell them at a comics shop, but not many other places.

All-ages comics, not like the Marvel Adventures, just regular comics.

If they're all age comics, then they aren't going against the code. All-age comics can be found in supermarkets and magazine racks.

Still don't see the point...

@cezar_thescribe: Show me evidence that comic books were more widely available during the era of the CCA than after it.

Wait, there isn't a concept page for this on the site yet?

Comics Code Authority.

There is.

They were sold in stores, gas stations, everywhere.

Not so much now.

The thing neutered the industry so...

BB

The reason this changed has absolutley nothing to do with the code and they disappeared from these places doing the 80's when the code was still in effect. The reason this changes was do to the comic shops. The shops bought all comics without the option to return them (unlike the newsstands and so on) how returned them after a month. Also the newsstands would get discount if the comics was damage so there was a lot newsstands that damage their comics because they would get money out of it. People stopped buying comics at newsstands because the market was shifted to comics shops the code was then removed. Since Marvel and DC don't earn money and resold old issues the began tpb (which has been much bigger within the last 15 years and now they are sold at bookshops.

@cezar_thescribe: tupiaz already made my point, but the reason comics arent available at those places has nothing to do with the comic code.

Yes and they also harshly restricted what the writers and artists could and couldn't do, even anti-drug use comics were refused approval because they didn't meet the idiotic standards of the CCA, also its fairly clear it was only really formed to destroy EC comics which was dominating the industry at the time since their first established rules pretty much forced them to stop producing all their highest selling books or else be black listed from comic stores all together since the stores of the time refused to sell comics without the seal, then DC acquired the rights to all the EC properties after they were forced out of the business right before the CCA started loosening up a bit.

Oh wah.

^This

How can any logical thinker think it's good? I mean it literally nearly destroyed the industry... The only people who would want this are people dumb enough to actually think TV and Video Games are turning kids into criminals. Learn personal responsibility and quit pushing your stupidity on other people sheesh.

The mature comics wouldn't even be released with the code (or they would be released without it. The comics that are sold today for teens and in book stores are more violent than the comics sold when the code was being used. Also DV didn't break until last january. That people think the code did anything good is beyond me. You could buy the comics in newsstands before this without the code. The newsstands didn't sell the comic without the code (unlike before). That anybody wants the code back is people that either don't like freedom of speech or understand its concept and/or history.

Everything about the way the code worked was broken. What comic books actually need is their own version of the ESRB. It's fine to label and rate their content, but not okay to sensor it all down to one level.

They already have that or each company has this More or less this:

E: Everybody

T: Teen (over 13)

T+: Teen plus (over 16)

M: Mature (over 18).

If you look how MPAA have given problems for movies and ESRB for games it is better to have the company give their own ratings. The parents can check the stuff if the want to. My mom took my spawn magazines from me when I was 13 ( i have had several issues since I was 11) when she found out of the violence. (Never they less I found them and seek read them when she wasn't around a took the comics back a few years later without her protesting). Any parents should check what their kids are reading, playing and doing and make the own judgement instead of relying own the government. Side note the comics was bought in Sweden without any restriction by some of my moms friends ironic it was the same friends that told my mom about the comics.

So your basically calling anyone who liked the code...

Hell...anyone who AGREES with the IDEA/CONCEPT of the code (not necessarily the execution) or thinks that it should be brought back in some way, just executed differently with less restrictions (like I do) is "un-American" and "hates freedoms" and "want to line up people and their families against the wall to be shot in the back of the head and buried in a landfill."

Oh how I oh so love first world problems...

Hell, I just want to line up SOME people and their families against the wall to be shot in the back of the head and buried in a landfill, not ALL of them! Certainly not you or EVERYONE on comicvine. :P

Also, I do love the fact that, even though I supposedly have the freedom of speech and very much want to call you several bad words that would question what quality of person, your intellect, and your preference for where you like to take it, that if I used those words, thusly executing my right to free speech, that the Moderator would come along and exercise his, her, or other's right to bring down the ban hammer again.

Ehhh...considering that some Marvel comics (Ultimatum) have shit in them that would be considered M or R rated stuff by any sane person...I'd actually prefer a combination of the system you brought up (except with the M or the M equivalent being 17 because I hate the European way they rate games...as well as North and Western Europe in general...).

That is, have SOME of the looser restriction that comic companies would have if they held themselves in check...but let an outside party like the MPAA or ESRB be the ones to rate them.

That is absolutely hilarious. You do realize you're signing away your rights when you check off "I Agree" on every site you sign up on right?..... Actually I guess it's pretty clear you don't...

I do. I just find it funny that your talking about freedom of speech in a place where we don't really have that much true freedom of speech.

I'm of course, talking about America.

EY-OH!

There is a huge different when the government in force (if not directly then indirectly) a code that comics most have to be like and what you can say on a website. Here it is the website that choose not to have it not a code. Marvel can also choose not to publish stuff that are obscene or grotesque. In this case Marvel is the same as CV. It would be like if every website needed code before you could see the website.

Also I haven't called you un-American or anything like that. That is your thing not something I will get involved in since I'm an European. It is not my job to label what is american and what is not. However I can say if I agree with your values or not. I can also objectively say that the code gave limited freedom of speech for comics. Also freedom of speech is a problem in many "third" world countries (I don't like giving countries definitions like first, second and third) have problem with freedom of speech it is pretty much a global problem.

If you do want to make personal attacks about my person because I made a statement, I feel that says more about you than me. Just because you have freedom of speech doesn't mean you have to use it.

I didn't even mention freedom of speech actually, and I'm pretty sure you think I'm someone else. That aside it's a non point.

My stance on the point is I actually do think people that support these sorts of things are stupid, because history has taught us the same lesson time and time again even very recently, yet some people refused to learn and see that these things always lead to the same results. That or they aren't smart enough to take personal responsibility and actually take ten seconds to see what They're buying for their kids.

And how, pray tell, would the code help to sell mature comics?