The Comic Book Code Authority
The comic book code authority was formed in 1954 because people believed that the comic book industry was becoming too graphic and violent. The content was deemed inappropriate for the populace. Some of the restrictions included the misrepresentation of the police, judges and governmental representatives. In addition, the drawings of vampires and werewolves were prohibited. Titles could not use terminology like "horror" or "terror".
While the comic book authority had no legal jurisdiction over the comic book publishers, they yielded a large influence. Some comic book companies went out of business while others prospered. The restrictions placed were meant to help society deal with the comic book industry. Society began to loosen some of the taboos of that time, and the furor over the language suggested that the loosened traits needed to be reined in. In such times, it becomes necessary to look at why the comic book code authority was set up. In 1954, McCarthyism was at its peak. Censorship abounded and the who, what, why, where and when all dealt with Communism. A natural branch with that scenario was the printed material. While there are no direct links to such a statement, one must consider what was transpiring during the period. Celebrities were blacklisted if deemed
outside of conventional standards. Comic books could have linked the publisher with Communist propaganda if the material was considered subversive in nature. Again, this is conjecture on my part. Any words or statements can be intentionally misconstrued and false analogies can be applied.
Another prominent explanation is a book written by Dr. Frederic Wertham entitled 'The seduction of the innocent'. In the book, Dr. Wertham espoused that the super hero genre had helped incite the rise of young people's misbehavior. The public chorus of disapproval was pivotal in the implementation of the comic book code authority. Both issues helped sustain the need for something to be done.
The mentality was in place until the 1960's with the advent of the flower child era. Without the suppression, underground comics took on a life of their own. They developed comic books that were distributed through unconventional means. That process enabled the fledging comic book industry not to adhere to the restrictions the comic book code suggested. In 1971 Stan Lee, the editor- in -chief did a three part mini series of Spiderman that depicted banned drug use. The code stated that the topic of drug use was prohibited, so Stan Lee took the seal off for the three issues and then put it back on. That took a lot of courage to defy the code. Considering the wide spread use of illicit drug use, that was an important step. If a topic that is controversial is banned in comic books, then how do you draw attention to its negative side affects? That was the quandary the comic book code authority faced. It did not want to become irrelevant.
In the 2000's the influence of the comic book code started to diminish. More and more publishers wanted to branch out and create comic books that illustrated topics that were more controversial.
The comic book code authority of today is not what it used to be. Marvel comics no longer align themselves. Instead, they created their own code. Some of DC comics still submit to the comic book authority, but will publish it despite their ruling. Archie comics regularly send their comic books to the comic book authority for approval.
What was once a powerful and prominent organization has been reduced to a minor player in the comic book world.
|
|
|
|
Why Comic Books Are Important Comic books are important because they represent a segment of the population that like to ...
read more
Comic Book Awards When you think of comic books, one of the last things you think about is if any ...
read more
Comic Book Collections One of my favorite hobbies is the collection of used and new comic books. I possess over ...
read more
Comic Book Companies The genre of the comic book culture has many ardent fans. The readership proves that true. In ...
read more
Comic Book Merchandising When a comic book hero becomes famous, the natural inclination is to profit from it. The merchandising ...
read more
Comic Books and Graphic Novels Comic books and graphic novels today represent a significant shift in how society is feeling. ...
read more
Comic Books And The Movies The movie industry is abuzz with comic books being adapted to the full screen. Not ...
read more
Comic Books From Around the World There are a vast number of comic books to choose since their inception. When ...
read more
Comic Books In The 21st Century Comic books have been around for over seventy years. Comic books in the twenty-first ...
read more
Concerns With Comic Books One of the areas of concern with comic books is the violence. The violence contained in ...
read more
Conflict And Its Resolution In Comic Books The conflict and its resolution in comic books is an interesting aspect to ...
read more
Creating Your Own Comic Book Hero Making your own comic book hero is not as easy as it sounds. Many ...
read more
Crossovers In Comic Books One of the most popular and noteworthy of the comic book business is the crossover between ...
read more
Heroes And Villains In Comic Books Heroes and villains in comic books have made their mark in society. Not just ...
read more
Learning New Words From Comic Books When someone thinks of comic books, they probably don't take into account the cache ...
read more
Message Boards For Comic Books Check out the search engine Google and see how many message boards, discussion groups and ...
read more
Rare and First Printing Comic Books Rare and first printing comic books are an industry that comprises serious minded individual's ...
read more
Social issues in comic books One of the primer changes in comic books today is that they address social issues. ...
read more
The Bronze Age of Comic Books The bronze age of comic books is generally considered from the early 1970's to ...
read more
The Comic Book Code Authority The comic book code authority was formed in 1954 because people believed that the comic ...
read more
The Ever-Changing Powers of Comic Book Heroes From time to time a change, in one or more comic book hero's ...
read more
The Golden Age of Comic Books By and large, the accepted time frame for the golden age of comic books ...
read more
The Modern Age of Comic Books The Modern Age of American comic books of is thought to be between the ...
read more
The Science Fiction of Comic Books The science fiction of comic books always fascinated the public. Where else could you ...
read more
The Silver Age of Comic Books The silver age of comic books lasted approximately from the late 1950's to the ...
read more
|
|
Disclaimer
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site is a common sense guide to The Comic Book Code Authority. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
|
|
Why Comic Books Are Important
Comic Book Awards
Comic Book Collections
Comic Book Companies
Comic Book Merchandising
Comic Books and Graphic Novels
Comic Books And The Movies
Comic Books From Around the World
Comic Books In The 21st Century
Concerns With Comic Books
Conflict And Its Resolution In Comic Books
Creating Your Own Comic Book Hero
Crossovers In Comic Books
Heroes And Villains In Comic Books
Learning New Words From Comic Books
Message Boards For Comic Books
Rare and First Printing Comic Books
Social issues in comic books
The Bronze Age of Comic Books
The Comic Book Code Authority
The Ever-Changing Powers of Comic Book Heroes
The Golden Age of Comic Books
The Modern Age of Comic Books
The Science Fiction of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books
| 