WI - No Comics Code Authority, Ever

Sort of a companion scenario to my recent Hayes Code WI:

Hey gang, I've a great idea - let's abort the Comics Code Authority!

“Comics Code Authority?” I hear you ask. “Why sweet Mistis Gwen, whatever is that??” :confused:

Glad you asked! :D From the venerable Wikipedia:

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. 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 and gore in crime and horror comics, as well as the sexual innuendo of what aficionados refer to as good girl art. 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. The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings in 1954, which focused specifically on comic books, had many publishers concerned about government regulation, prompting them to form a self-regulatory body instead.

Well balls to that, sez I! What say we have Mr. Wertham get his panties in a knot over something else instead ("Twinkies! I do say, there be Communism in the Twinkies!!") and leave the four-colours alone. Any further attempts at censorship are successfully fought off on 1st Amendment grounds – comic magazines are magazines, after all, it is argued, and if they can be leashed, well then who's next – Time? Life? The Saturday Evening Post?? Perish the thought!

The comics market was far more diverse pre-Code than it was afterwards. There was a huge number of genres aside from superheroes - horror, romance, sci-fi, westerns, Allah only knows what else! Back in the day the number of comics aimed solely at women was gigantic; the market for them equally so. Without the Comics Code forcing the medium to be entirely child-safe and eliminating all competing genres, how would the American comic book industry have evolved until this day? Also – Robert Crumb. Just imagine the mighty mighty R. Crumb with a nice long career in mainstream comics, working at AC, DC, EC, Marvel or wherever. Oh my. Oh my yes.
 
Let's not gratuitously bash Wertham ("Twinkies!"). I remember reading an article saying Wertham did good scientific work in other fields and it would make logical sense that he would NOT confuse correlation and causation in comics (juvenile deliquents read comics; therefore, comics cause juvenile deliquency).

Perhaps the POD is that he realizes how scientifically flawed The Seduction of the Innocent is and he decides to throw it in the trash?

Some knock-on effects that I can think of:

-Batman will continue to kill people. I've got a book on comic books depicting Batman deliberately breaking a guy's neck, which would indicate Batman's "No Kill" policy was a CCA creation. TVTropes justifies it by saying that Bruce recognizes he's got a lot of repressed anger and allowing himself to kill could lead to VERY bad things, but it was not part of the original Batman.

-The "Heath Ledger Joker" will remain the standard depiction of the Joker. In the original Joker stories, he was a violent, dangerous man and not a prankster like in the 1950s and 1960s. The "Romero Joker" is, I think, another symptom of the CCA.

-Horror comics don't disappear. IIRC they were popular pre-CCA.
 

Thande

Donor
As MP says, don't blame Wertham: all he wanted was a ratings system like that used in films, so comics could still be violent but those ones should be rated so they couldn't be sold to children. But of course it was all blown out of all proportion by others, and combined with the Comics Age Ghetto it resuled in the CCA.
 
Also – Robert Crumb. Just imagine the mighty mighty R. Crumb with a nice long career in mainstream comics, working at AC, DC, EC, Marvel or wherever. Oh my. Oh my yes.

Imagine what he'd do with Wonder Woman....

Seriously, I think the hysteria vs comics was an ugly side effect of McCarthyism. This hysteria hit every genre of cultural expression, from Boy Scouts on down to musical theater. To stop any kind of code, you'd need to somehow prevent McCarthyism or perhaps even the entire Cold War.

Perhaps a milder code would be more acceptable to Congress if Wertham did other research, or even if Bill Gaines had been less stoned on tranquilizers at the hearings and not made his crazy statements.
 
Less important...

I can't see the mentality of the era not putting in something like the comics code--but I can see it becoming something that some magazines adhere to, and others deliberately don't, publicly refusing to submit to censorship.--and getting a small but devoted readership--and lots of free publicity when there's protest against their "indecent" materials.

Or, perhaps they could invent the term "Graphic novel" earlier, and sell them as novels rather than comic books. Problem solved--until the moral Gestapo of the era find out, and push again.
 
Actually, this may lead to Superhero comics starting a decline in popularity and horror and crime becoming more prevalent, meaning perhaps that the early Marvel heroes may never get off the ground.
 
-Batman will continue to kill people. I've got a book on comic books depicting Batman deliberately breaking a guy's neck, which would indicate Batman's "No Kill" policy was a CCA creation. TVTropes justifies it by saying that Bruce recognizes he's got a lot of repressed anger and allowing himself to kill could lead to VERY bad things, but it was not part of the original Batman.

I have some doubts on that.
the Pulp influences on Batman started to wane in the 40s, and comic code came out in 1954.
he probably will still lose the 'Killing criminals' bit weither the code happens or not.

-The "Heath Ledger Joker" will remain the standard depiction of the Joker. In the original Joker stories, he was a violent, dangerous man and not a prankster like in the 1950s and 1960s. The "Romero Joker" is, I think, another symptom of the CCA.

That's true.

Actually, this may lead to Superhero comics starting a decline in popularity and horror and crime becoming more prevalent, meaning perhaps that the early Marvel heroes may never get off the ground.

some of the early heros might still get off the ground. Hulk for instance could easily become a Horror comic in My opinion. and some Marvel Heros like the Zombie or their monster comics might be fairly successful.

also, perhaps an earlier introduction to storys on the danger of drug usage and things like that.
 
As MP says, don't blame Wertham: all he wanted was a ratings system like that used in films, so comics could still be violent but those ones should be rated so they couldn't be sold to children. But of course it was all blown out of all proportion by others, and combined with the Comics Age Ghetto it resuled in the CCA.

Oh, I still intend to blame Wertham. :)

My point was that this was one lapse in an otherwise admirable career.

That doesn't mean it's not a very darn big lapse!!!!!!!!

EDIT: Never heard of the ratings system before. What did he want, specifically?
 
Let's not gratuitously bash Wertham ("Twinkies!"). I remember reading an article saying Wertham did good scientific work in other fields and it would make logical sense that he would NOT confuse correlation and causation in comics (juvenile deliquents read comics; therefore, comics cause juvenile deliquency).

Heh. I know, I was just being silly there.

Perhaps the POD is that he realizes how scientifically flawed The Seduction of the Innocent is and he decides to throw it in the trash?

Some knock-on effects that I can think of:

-Batman will continue to kill people. I've got a book on comic books depicting Batman deliberately breaking a guy's neck, which would indicate Batman's "No Kill" policy was a CCA creation. TVTropes justifies it by saying that Bruce recognizes he's got a lot of repressed anger and allowing himself to kill could lead to VERY bad things, but it was not part of the original Batman.

-The "Heath Ledger Joker" will remain the standard depiction of the Joker. In the original Joker stories, he was a violent, dangerous man and not a prankster like in the 1950s and 1960s. The "Romero Joker" is, I think, another symptom of the CCA.

Long ago – late 90s, early aughts - I saw a friend's collection of old school Batman reprints, covering the first 25 - 30 numbers or so. It is truly amazing how flat-out terrifying the Joker was in those things. Far scarier than even Jack Nicholson's manic turn in the '89 film, and not like the old TV series at all.

-Horror comics don't disappear. IIRC they were popular pre-CCA.

Good. The more available genres, the merrier. Not that I especially dislike superheroes or anything, they're fine; it's just that I'd like to see if it is possible to make the American comics market as huge and diverse as Japan's. It's not all just Magical Girls and Mecha over there, so what if it wasn't all Superheroes in the States? Deep-sixing the Code before it can get off of the ground seems like a good start.
 
As MP says, don't blame Wertham: all he wanted was a ratings system like that used in films, so comics could still be violent but those ones should be rated so they couldn't be sold to children. But of course it was all blown out of all proportion by others, and combined with the Comics Age Ghetto it resuled in the CCA.

Now there's an interesting idea! That could work as an alternate POD; instead of just straight censorship the industry goes for a ratings system instead. It becomes accepted afterward that while comic books are for children, adults read graphic novels.* :)

Imagine what he'd do with Wonder Woman....

I would love to see Crumb's version of Wonder Woman. Heads would asplode! :D


*Similar to how in OTL boys don't play with dolls, they play with action figures!
 
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