Dave's Fanboy Sermon

Marvel's in the news again. Fresh on the cusp of rumors that they were once again on the verge of bankruptcy, Marvel dropped a sudden bomb of their own. After 45 years, they were abandoning membership in the Comics Magazine Association of America. Marvel's comics would no longer carry the Comics Code Seal of Approval. For many comic fans, the Code has been meaningless at best. Even more might wonder why dropping the outdated code even makes news at all.

For many the Comics Code represented everything that went wrong with the comics industry. It was implemented in 1954 in response to growing concerns over the content in many comics. Most comic fans know of Dr. Fredric Wertham, but attacks on the content in comic book began almost as soon as they began being published. Initially comic books were not meant to be exclusively children's fare, but publishers quickly learned that the quickest sale was to a young audience hungry for some form of entertainment. In the post war years the comic publishers saw their sales fall drastically as the Golden Age superhero boom ended. Looking for a new audience they targeted an older crowd with crime and horror comics that featured more violent and lurid tales. William Gaines was creating some of the best comics of the era with his EC line of books that sported titles such as Tales From The Crypt, Vault Of Horror and Weird Fantasy. Although the EC books featured work by Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman and other legend of the industry, dozens of lesser publishers cranked out similar books with all the sensationalism and none of the talent.

When Dr. Wertham published Seduction Of The Innocent in 1954, it led to a frenzy of media attention on the ill effects of comics on America's youth. Wertham had made some very poorly constructed arguments that reading comics led to juvenile delinquency, violent crime and a general drop in the morals of American Youth. In the spring of 1954 the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency conducted its investigation of the comics industry. The highlight of the hearings was the testimony of Bill Gaines, the head of EC comics and later the founder of Mad Magazine. In an exchange that would make the evening news and front page of most every newspaper in the country, Gaines was forced to defend a cover of Crime Suspense Stories which depicted a man with a bloody axe holding the severed head of a woman as being "in good taste". Public sentiment turned against the comics industry and some sort of regulation seemed inevetible.

Several of the larger publishers got together and proposed their own form of self regulation, The Comics Code Authority. This code not only satisfied the critics who called for some form of regulation, but also conveniently drove EC and other small publishers from the newsstands. The code prohibited "salacious illustration or suggestive posture", stories that dealt with evil could not be presented in a way that "injure the sensibilities of the reader," and insisted that "love-romance stories shall emphasize the value of home and sanctity of marriage." If there had been any doubt that comics were strictly "kids stuff", the Comics Code Seal of Approval put them to rest.
(If you're curious, click here to read the entire code)

If the intent was to totally neuter comic books, the Code succeeded. For a book to bear the Code seal, it had to be completely innocuous. Surprisingly, Dell Comics and Classics Illustrated refused to join the CMA. Dell, which accounted for one third of comic sales at the time, instead bore its' own "Pledge To Parents" which read: "The Dell trademark is, and has always been, a positive guarantee that the comic magazine bearing it contains only clean and wholesome juvenile entertainment."

What is surprising is not that the code was created in the first place, but rather that it has survived so long with only minor changes. It was a product of the conservative 1950's and a time when most every child read comic books. In the 70's, comic books began to reflect more contemporary issues, which put them at odds with the code. In 1971, Marvel Comics editor in chief Stan Lee was asked by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to do a Spider-Man story about the dangers of drug use. Because the code prohibited mention of drug use in any way the story did not get code approval. In a bold move, Lee decided to publish the stories anyway. The books went on sale and the stranglehold that the code had on the comics industry was broken. The code was revised for the first time in 1971 and Marvel promised that after the publication of the Spider-Man stories it would not publish any magazines without the seal of approval. Although the code was revised again in 1989, 1971 marked the end of its reign as the sole arbiter of what could and could not be published in a comic book.

So now you have to ask, why bother? What purpose can the code possibly serve and why is it news that Marvel is dropping it after 45 years? At this point the code simply serves as a "G" rating. Books that bear the Code Seal of Approval can be sold to any age group. As comics are still considered by many to be exclusive fodder for children (and morons), they can sometimes be shocked by the content in a comic book. As comics have aimed at a more mature audience, the content has grown more mature and this can unfortunately alienate potential new readers when mom and dad look for a good clean book for their 6 year old. In most every other entertainment medium, a work is labeled if it is not acceptable for all audiences. Comics, as usual, are backwards. The inference being that if a book does not meet Comics Code approval, it is automatically "mature" and not fit for the basic target audience of a comic. Marvel intends to have a three tiered system, one for younger readers which will bear no label, one with a parental advisory and one labeled for older readers at a level that Marvel President Bill Jemas compared to motion pictures "R" rating. While this is most likely a better system than the one that exist under the code, the fact remains that Marvel will now "rate" their own books. Imagine the confusion if each movie studio rated its' movies. Should other companies follow suit, each will undoubtedly have its' own standards by which it will apply ratings. Perhaps we will see some sort of standardization down the road, but not until after we endure a period of confusion.

Why is Marvel doing this now? Marvel is once again in the financial news as its' primary creditor has recended its line of credit until Marvel pays off $17 million in back debt that it currently owes. They could very well be faced with a loss of operation capital, a potentially deadly situation for the publisher. If the move away from the Comics Code Authority was intended to shift peoples attention away from its newest financial troubles, it has at least partially succeeded. If it has a genuine concern over advancing the subject matter that it can present in its comics, then it is approaching the matter in its' usual bumbling manner. DC has had no problem publishing a variety of mature books under various imprints such as its' Vertigo line. Veretigo books do not bear the comics code seal and instead bear the tag, "Suggested for Mature Readers." Marvel has had little success in marketing books for mature readers in the past, but plans to launch a mature line in September that includes a return of Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu.

The Comics Code is outdated and while it serves a purpose, many can imagine a better system for today's comic market. Although it is intended to be a flag for parents, most people do not even know to look for it or even that it exist. Where the Seal was once proudly displayed on a comic cover in as large a format as possible, now it is displayed in the most minuscule dimensions that is still legible. Marvel may have done the right thing at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. Let's hope that their handling of its ratings shows more care than its handling of its' finances or for that matter, its' public relations.

Illustration by Gerald Kelley