Comics Code Authority
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The Comics Code Authority (CCA) is part of the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA), and was created to regulate the content of comic books in the United States. Member publishers submit comic books to the CCA, which screens them for conformance to its Comics Code, and authorizes the use of their seal on the cover if the books comply. At the height of its influence, it was a de facto censor for the U.S. comic book industry.
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[edit] Founding
The CCA was created in 1954 as part of the CMAA, in response to public concern about what was deemed inappropriate material in many comic books. This included graphic depictions of violence or gore in crime and horror comics, as well as the sexual innuendo of what aficionados refer to as good girl art. Dr. Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent 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. Senate subcommittee hearings led by Estes Kefauver had many publishers concerned about government regulation, prompting them to form a self-regulatory body instead.
[edit] The Code
The CCA code was based upon the largely unenforced code drafted by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers in 1948, which in turn was modeled loosely after the 1930 Hollywood Production Code. The CCA, however, imposed many more restrictions than its predecessor.
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."
Advertisements of liquor, tobacco, knives, fireworks, nude pin-ups, postcards, and "toiletry products of questionable nature" were all prohibited.
[edit] Criticism and enforcement
The CCA had no legal authority over other publishers, but magazine distributors often refused to carry comics without the CCA's seal of approval. 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[1][2] 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 The Crypt of Terror. Such restrictions, in addition to content those banning vampires, werewolves and zombies, helped make EC Comics unprofitable; all of its titles except MAD were cancelled in the year following the CCA's introduction.
Psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham dismissed the Code as an inadequate half-measure.[3]
[edit] Updating the Code
In the late 1960s, the underground comics scene arose, with artists creating comics that delved into subject matter explicitly banned by the Code. However, these comics were distributed largely through unconventional channels, such as head shops, making CCA approval unnecessary for their success.
In 1971, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee was approached by the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare to do a comic book tale of drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. The CCA refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics, deeming the context of the story irrelevant. With the approval of his publisher, Martin Goodman, Lee published 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".[4]
The Code subsequently was revised in 1971 to permit the depiction of "narcotics or drug addiction" if presented "as a vicious habit". Also newly allowed were vampires, ghouls and werewolves, when handled in the classic tradition of Frankenstein, Dracula and other high caliber literary works by [respected authors like] Edgar Allan Poe, Saki, Conan Doyle...whose works are read in schools around the world." Zombies, lacking the requisite "literary" background, remained taboo. However, Marvel skirted the zombie restriction in the mid-1970s by calling the apparently deceased, mind-controlled followers of various Haitian super-villains "zuvembies". This carried over to Marvel's super-hero line as well. In the Avengers comic, when the reanimated super-hero Wonder Man returned from the dead, he was also referred to as a "zuvembie".
[edit] Code in the 2000s
Despite periodic revisions 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 nonstereotypical depictions of gays and lesbians), its influence on the medium continued to wane, and publishers gradually reduced the prominence of the seal on their covers. The development of new distribution channels, especially "direct market" comics specialty shops, provided additional means for non-Code books to reach a large audience, while newsstand distribution — a shrinking component of industry sales — became less important.
A new generation of publishers emerged in the 1980s and '90s, distributing solely to specialty shops and not wanting CCA membership or approval. DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and other CCA sponsors began to publish comics for adult audiences, without the CCA seal. For example, in the 1990s Milestone Media's Milestone imprint (published through DC Comics) submitted its books to the CCA, but published them regardless of the CCA's ruling, placing the seal only on issues that passed. In 2001, Marvel Comics withdrew from the CCA in favor of its own ratings system. As of 2007, DC Comics and Archie Comics are the only major publishers still submitting their books for CCA approval, and in the case of DC, only books from its Johnny DC and DC Universe superhero lines, with DC universe titles sometimes published without Code approval.
[edit] 1954 Code highlights
- 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. Violent love 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.
[edit] Trivia
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- Writer-editor Marv Wolfman, on the panel "Marvel Comics: The Method and the Madness" at the 1974 New York Comic Art Convention, told the audience that when he first began working for DC, he was forbidden to use the name "Wolfman" in print due to the company's interpretation of the Comics Code Authority's ban on the mention of werewolves or wolfmen. [5]
- In the Marvel Comics universe, a fictional Marvel publishes comic books based on the "real-life" exploits of superheroes. She-Hulk (2004 series) 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. The fictional law firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway in She-Hulk has an extensive library of CCA-approved Marvel comics for reference purposes.
- In the 1990s Marvel Comics series The Sensational She-Hulk, the title character is asked how, despite the fact her clothes are frequently being torn up, she always remains "decent". She-Hulk responds by showing the label in her clothing: the Comics Code seal.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Jacobs, F: "The Mad World of William M. Gaines", pages 112-114, Lyle Stuart, Inc, 1972
- ^ "An Interview With William M. Gaines", Comics Journal #83 pages 76-78, Fantagraphics, Inc, 1983
- ^ WHIP, KNIFE SHOWN AS 'COMICS' LURES By EMMA HARRISON New York Times (1857-Current file); Feb 5, 1955; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2004)pg. 17
- ^ "Stan the Man & Roy the Boy: A Conversation Between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas", Comic Book Artist #2 (Summer 1998)
- ^ Lovece, Frank. "Cons: New York 1974!", The Journal Summer Special, 1974 (fanzine published by Paul Kowtiuk, Maple Leaf Publications; editorial office then at Box 1286, Essex, Ontario, Canada N0R 1E0).
[edit] References
- Dean, M. (2001) Marvel drops Comics Code, changes book distributor. The Comics Journal #234, p. 19.
- Nyberg, Amy Kiste. Seal of Approval: History of the Comics Code. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.
