Like most industries, the comic book industry has a form of voluntary censorship. Unlike organizations such as the MPAA film rating system or ESRB, the regulating body in comics does not rate content. The Comics Code Authority has guidelines about what is and is not appropriate, if something doesn’t meet those guidelines it can’t be published with the Comics Code Authority’s approval. For a period of almost thirty years the Comics Code Authority had carte blanche over what was and was not published in mainstream comics.
Dr. Fredric Wertham was a psychologist who specialized in the causes for violence.(seal of approval 88)/ He is best known for his book “Seduction of the Innocent” which triggered a series of events leading to the formation of the Comics Code Authority and beginning of the Silver Age of comics. In “Seduction of the Innocent” Wertham argued that comics were corrupting children, driving them to drugs, violence, homosexuality, and other “sexual pervasions”. He argued that the violence in crime comics and the neutral or positive depiction of criminals was leading to increased juvenile delinquency. The implied homosexual relationship between Batman and Robin was creating homosexual tendencies in what would otherwise be heterosexual children. Wonder Woman’s, intentional according to her creator, bondage subtext was creating a generation of “sexual deviants”. All the scientific research done on these topics has failed to show a link between comics and any of Wertham’s claims (Comic Books).
Despite being a pop science book, “Seduction of the Innocent” created uproar among concerned parents. The controversy quickly grew and gave way to calls for comics to be regulated in some way. In response, Congress formed The United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency which was technically formed to look into juvenile delinquency, however in reality it was disproportionately focused on comic books. The committee was chaired by a senator who was a seeking presidential nomination and hoped to use the uncontroversial committee to gain support. The hearings were purposely held in a manner that placed proponents of crime and horror comics at a disadvantage. Main witnesses in defense of the comic industry where often shuffled and questioned in a far more aggressive manner. (79) The evidence and witnesses themselves were carefully selected and edited to put comics in the worst light possible. In one case, a story about racial violence had the narrator’s captions removed so that it appeared to be condoning the violence instead of the original intent, condemning racism and violence.
The comics industry’s blunders resulted in a lot of bad publicity. The New York Times covered the hearings and even gave an article where in a publisher stated that a cover featuring a severed head was in good taste space on the front page. At the end of the hearing, the chairman said “[a] competent job of self-policing within the industry will achieve much”. The report published by the committee came to the same conclusion. It stated that it is the publisher’s responsibility to make sure what was being published was appropriate for its audiences. After all the poor publicity, the comics publishers knew they had to take some sort of action. So they took the advice of the committee and the majority of comic publishers began adhering to something known as the Comics Code. The Comics Code is a set of guidelines that has changed over the years as American values have shifted. Publishers can submit comics for approval to the Comics Code Authority. If the Comics Code Authority found anything that violated the Comics Code, they would mark what changes needed to be made to bring it into compliance. Among other things, the code banned any mention of words associated with horror stories to the extent that for a long time writer, Marv Wolfman, could not be credited. Not all publishers choose to submit their comics to the Comics Code Authority, however, most distributors wouldn’t sell comics that lacked the Comics Code Authority’s stamp of approval.
Prior to the Comics Code Authority, comic books had a wider variety of genres than are currently common in mainstream comics. After the formation of the Comics Code Authority, most horror or supernaturally themed books were cancelled as well as many crime, science fiction, and romance books. Several publishers went out of business because they choose not to comply with the Comics Code. More publishers were pushed out by decreased demand due to the negative connotations the senate hearings had tacked onto comics. The result was the beginning of what is known as the Silver Age of Comics.
Silver Age comics are known for their nonsensical plots, harmless villains, and the reemergence of the superhero genre, all of which developed because of Wertham’s accusations and the Comics Code Authority. Many artists disliked the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority and choose to write “underground comix” that had not be approved by the Comics Code Authority. Some comic book historians are of the opinion that underground comix are the only thing worth studying from the Silver Age. These comics were usually self published and only sold in specialty shops. As a result, the comics were almost exclusively aimed at adults.
Not much changed legally or stylistically in the comic book industry after the Comics Code Authority was created until 1971. In 1971 Stan Lee, one of the most influential people in the comic book industry, was asked by the United States government to write a story about the horrors of drug use. Lee wrote a relatively mild story about how Spider-Man’s friend’s drug addiction. The drug use was portrayed as dehabilitating. However, the three issue arc was turned down by the Comics Code Authority because it featured drugs. Instead of altering the story, Lee took a risk and asked Marvel to publish it sans Comics Code Authority approval. Marvel published the Spider-Man story unchanged and it sold well despite not having the Comics Code Authority seal on its cover.
In response to all the public support for the Spider-Man, the Comics Code Authority loosened many of its rules to allow monsters in the “classic literary tradition” and the negative portrayal of drugs, more violent crime, and racism as well as hint at sexual acts. Despite this, the Spider-Man arc caused the publishers who were still in business to begin questioning their committal to the Comics Code Authority. In the late seventies and early eighties, the sale of comic books began shifting from drug stores and newsstands to comic book stores. This trend moved underground comix from head shops into comic book stores where they reached a larger, more interested audience. As a result, independent comics flourished at the expense of becoming more mainstream and sanitized. Unlike the underground comix of the 60’s and 70’s, the independent comics that began popping up at comic book stores competed for audiences with comic books from the mainstream publishers. Mainstream comics were facing dual pressures to become edgier like the independent comics while still adhering to the Comics Code Authority’s puritan regulations.
Under increasing pressure from changing social norms, the Comics Code Authority once again began revising its guidelines in 1989. The result was a radically different document than the two previous editions. The first two comic codes were lists of things that could not be depicted, the new code was actually a description of things that could not be shown or mentioned so that it would be adaptable to new social conventions that would undoubtedly develop. However, during the nineties some mainstream comics began publishing regardless of whether or not they gained approval from the Comics Code Authority. Many comic books were no longer aimed at children. Comics made for adults audiences had more adult elements by nature and sold well despite lacking the Comics Code Authority’s seal. In 2001, Marvel choose to stop submitting their comics to the Comics Code Authority all together, opting for an in-house rating system. DC, the other of the “Big Two” publishers, still submits comics to the Comics Code Authority. However, the seal is often displayed in a very subtle way and can easily be overlooked.
The efforts of one man in the right place at the right time completely changed an entire industry. If Wertham had not pushed for the creation of the Comics Code Authority the Silver Age of Comics would have been completely different. The superhero genre would not have dominated the medium, instead a wide variety of comics would probably still be in existence. MAD Magazine wouldn’t have been forced to become a magazine, it was driven out of its comic book format by the Comics Code Authority. We could have seen household names like Batman struggle with the themes found in the more radical underground comix. Even fewer creator-owned projects, like Kick-Ass or Spawn, would exist without the pressure exerted by the Comics Code Authority. Wertham placed fear into people’s hearts and that fear made the public demand some sort of regulation. It forced the comic industry to put together a regulatory system in less than a month and then live by that for several decades. Today most of the Comics Code Authority’s power is gone, but publishers still submit comics to be approved. As long as children exist there will be parents worried about what their child is being exposed to. And as long as worried parents exist, the comic industry will continue to censor itself regardless of the power of a little stamp.
Bibliography
Haugen, David M. Comic Books: Examining Pop Culture. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2005. Print.
Kahan, Jeffrey, and Stanley Stewart. "The Comic Book Code and American F-agg." Caped Crusaders 101: Composition through Comic Books. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland &, 2006. Print.
Nyberg, Amy Kiste. Seal of Approval: the History of the Comics Code. Jackson [Miss.: University of Mississippi, 1998. Print.
Jacobs, Will, and Gerard Jones. The Comic Book Heroes: from the Silver Age to the Present. New York: Crown, 1985. Print.
Wertham, Fredric. Seduction of the Innocent. New York: Rinehart, 1954. Print.
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