Editing Comics Code Authority (section)

{{short description|Voluntary code to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2022}}
[[File:Approved by the Comics Code Authority.gif|thumb|The Comics Code seal]]
The '''Comics Code Authority''' ('''CCA''') was formed in 1954 by the [[Comics Magazine Association of America]] as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of [[American comic book|comic books in the United States]]. The code was voluntary, as there was no law requiring its use, although some advertisers and retailers looked to it for reassurance. Some publishers including [[Dell Comics|Dell]], [[Western Publishing|Western]], and [[Gilberton (publisher)|Gilberton]] ([[Classics Illustrated]]), never used it.<ref name="TMB2">(Golden, Christopher; Stephen Bissette, Thomas E. Sniegoski (2000) ''The Monster Book'' Simon & Schuster)</ref> Its code, commonly called "the Comics Code", lasted until the early 21st century. The CC formation followed a [[moral panic]]<ref>Public concern over the effect of comic books on children had become so intense that it was discussed at length in the 1954 edition of the [[Childcraft]] series, which did not typically cover topical subjects.</ref> centered around a series of Senate hearings and the publication of psychiatrist [[Fredric Wertham]]'s book ''[[Seduction of the Innocent]]''.

Members submitted comics to the CCA, which screened them for adherence to its code, then authorized the use of their seal on the cover if the book was found to be in compliance. At the height of its influence, it was a ''[[de facto]]'' [[censorship|censor]] for the entire U.S. comic book industry, with most comics requiring a seal to be published.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cbldf.org/comics-code-history-the-seal-of-approval/ |title=Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval  |last=Nyberg |first=Amy Kite |date=n.d. |website=[[Comic Book Legal Defense Fund]] |access-date=February 13, 2024 |quote=The Seal of Approval, once prominently displayed on comic book covers, quietly disappeared in 2011. For nearly 60 years, however, censors funded by the comic book industry enforced rules about acceptable content. Only comics that passed a pre-publication review carried the seal.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/01/27/133253953/censors-and-sensibility-rip-comics-code-authority-seal-of-approval-1954-2011 |title=Censors and Sensibility: RIP, Comics Code Authority Seal Of Approval, 1954 - 2011|last=Weldon |first=Glen |date=January 27, 2011 |website=[[National Public Radio]] |access-date=February 13, 2024 |quote=So much for The Comics Magazine Association of America, which for over 50 years served as the comics industry's self-regulating (read: self-censoring) arm.}}</ref>

By the early 2000s, publishers bypassed the CC. [[Marvel Comics]] abandoned it in 2001. By 2010, only three major publishers still adhered to it: [[DC Comics]], [[Archie Comics]], and [[Bongo Comics]]. Bongo broke with the CCA in 2010. DC and Archie followed in January 2011, rendering the code [[wikt:defunct|defunct]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.comicsbeat.com/archie-drops-the-code-wertham-dead-forever/ |title=Archie drops the Comics Code…Wertham dead forever|last=MacDonald |first=Heidi |date=January 21, 2011 |website=[[Heidi MacDonald|The Beat]] |access-date=February 13, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://techland.time.com/2011/01/24/r-i-p-the-comics-code-authority/|title=R.I.P.: The Comics Code Authority|last=Wolk |first=Douglas |date=January 24, 2011 |magazine=Time|access-date=February 13, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/01/27/133253953/censors-and-sensibility-rip-comics-code-authority-seal-of-approval-1954-2011 |title=Censors and Sensibility: RIP, Comics Code Authority Seal Of Approval, 1954 - 2011 |last=Weldon |first=Glen |date= January 27, 2011 |website=[[National Public Radio]]|access-date=February 13, 2024}}</ref>