Comics Code: Difference between revisions
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Back in [[The Fifties|the 1950s]], a moral panic about the corrupting influence of crime and horror comics swept North America, leading to calls for government regulation. To head it off, the comic book publishers formed the Comics Code Authority as a self-censoring body to prevent the government from stepping in and making a mess of things. Among other things, the CCA—and its governing rules, known as The Comics Code—prohibited characters from questioning public authority figures, the usage of revealing clothing, and ''any'' depiction of narcotics (even in a completely negative context, [[Foreshadowing|which ultimately led to the Code's undoing]]).
Once in place, The Code killed adult interest in comic books ''and'' stereotyped the medium as fit only for children. Numerous publishing houses folded after the formation of the CCA, and William Gaines' [[EC Comics]] essentially left the newsstand comics business to focus on ''[[Mad Magazine]]''.<ref>The company originally published ''Mad'' as a comic book, but later changed to magazine format. Many people think the company made the change to escape the Code -- which ''did'' happen -- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131030113256/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2006/04/06/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-45/ but in truth, it changed to keep editor Harvey Kurtzman on board].)</ref> Incidentally, Dr. Frederic Wertham, the psychologist who fueled much of the public backlash against the medium with his book, ''Seduction of the Innocent'', denounced the code as a whitewash that made comics worse by removing the consequences of violence.
Major publishing houses [[Archie Comics]] (protecting its image of "wholesome American youth") and [[DC Comics]] (which, at the time, made most of its money from kid-friendly romance and science fiction titles) more or less forced the Code onto the comics industry. DC also owned Independent News, then the largest distributor in the Code's governing body, the Comics Magazine Association. [[Dell Comics]] and Gilberton (publisher of ''Classics Illustrated'') stayed out of the CCA; Dell believed that their company brand and reputation was enough to reassure parents, and sold its comics with the slogan "Dell Comics are ''Good'' Comics." Neither publisher's lack of a CCA stamp harmed their profits, as both companies' comics sold well for most of the Comics Code's heyday.
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