SOunds like they have been ignoring it for a while now anyway.
I was aware of the CCA and that it was created back in the 50s in response to the Congressional activities of the time but I never really knew any details about it. Based on what's been listed here I kind of didn't even realize (like Cass_ implied) it was something ANY comic book company still ascribed to. The idea that DC just now officially announced dropping out of it almost seems weird to me. I especially like the last point about how females should be "drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities" given the standard jokes about how this has pretty much NOT been the case for decades now. 
The timing of this seems interesting given that DCUO just went live a week or so ago.
Makes me wonder if there was any connection between these things...
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The requirements that the CCA imposed in the 1950s are not the same requirements that they imposed in the 1970s, which is when Marvel was finally able to publish TOMB OF DRACULA (prior to that, they had to use a 'living vampire', aka Morbius) and WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (instead of that scienfifically created lycanthrope "Man-Wolf"). So yes, the CCA tried to keep up with the times, in the same sense that Minimum Wage has kept up with Inflation.
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The Wikipedia entry also has links to the updated requirments, but they also had their share of conflicts. For instance, when the White House under Nixon asked Marvel to do an anti-drug message, the CCA rejected it because it featured drugs.
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Originally Posted by Crazy1van
The requirements that the CCA imposed in the 1950s are not the same requirements that they imposed in the 1970s, which is when Marvel was finally able to publish TOMB OF DRACULA (prior to that, they had to use a 'living vampire', aka Morbius) and WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (instead of that scienfifically created lycanthrope "Man-Wolf"). So yes, the CCA tried to keep up with the times, in the same sense that Minimum Wage has kept up with Inflation.
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Its about friggin time! The CCA is an antiquated "thing" that is best put on the scrapheap of history and forgotten.
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Like I said I never really knew the details about the CCA but I guess it makes sense that they were updated over the years. So I guess these big comic companies more or less police themselves now? Are there any other CCA equivalent organizations they still collectively pay attention to?
In this day and age it would be amazing to ever see any media regulations as restrictive as the original CCA apparently was. Still I'm sure there are those who would like to see that kind of thing return. That in and of itself is just as amazing. 
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I remember watching an interview with Stan Lee talking about one comic issue, maybe Spiderman (?) in the mid-60's or so, that had an issue dealing with something the CCA wouldn't let them run.
They ran the comic without the CCA logo imprinted on it, which means the CCA couldn't review and object to it, and it still sold, and no one complained about it missing the logo.
Oh the humanity! Who will prevent the seduction of our innocents now?!?!
I expect an announcement of a flood of 6-part mini-series' brimming with scenes of Bruce Wayne sitting on the edge of Dick Graysons bed in a dressing gown now that the last bastion against such things has fallen...
It's pretty moot since kids can't afford comics anymore, nor are they really aimed at kids much (except very limited select lines).
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Weird, I didn't even know it was still on the cover. Looking at Superman 703, there it is. Quite tiny, but still. Apparently I just overlook things like that.
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What is DC thinking?!?! I can already feel my morals sliding down that slippery slope. I feel the start of an overwhelming urge to become a super villain and take over the world with some ridiculously convoluted plot. OMG, here it comes....
Oh wait. Nevermind. It was just a bit of indigestion. Carry on. Nothing to see here.
*looks at the last rule for the CCA*
Yeah I think Power Girl broke that one, and maybe Wonder Woman too but not as bad.
Cancel the kitchen scraps for widows and lepers, no more merciful beheadings and call off christmas!
I still wonder if this had anything to do with DCUO. I mean if we accept the idea that DC's relationship to the CCA has been relatively meaningless for years why did they finally pick now to make their break from the CCA official? Just seems more than merely coincidental somehow.
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That was the one - Amazing Spider-Man #96-98, in May-July 1971, dealt with drugs.
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Originally Posted by GibsonMcCoy
I remember watching an interview with Stan Lee talking about one comic issue, maybe Spiderman (?) in the mid-60's or so, that had an issue dealing with something the CCA wouldn't let them run.
They ran the comic without the CCA logo imprinted on it, which means the CCA couldn't review and object to it, and it still sold, and no one complained about it missing the logo. |
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Power Girl's bustline was initially considered "average", which was back when she had just a scoop-front top instead of the current "cleavage window". Wally Wood (no, seriously, that's his name), the artist for All-Star Comics, reportedly increased her chest size gradually wanting to see how long before someone would notice. Nobody did.|
Originally Posted by 2short2care
*looks at the last rule for the CCA*
Yeah I think Power Girl broke that one, and maybe Wonder Woman too but not as bad. |
To borrow from the late George Carlin... "CCA didn't see it, I didn't do it, case closed."
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Slightly incorrect about Morbius, though your larger point about the CCA requirements changing over time is correct. In the Morbius situation, the Marvel people knew that the rules prohibiting vampires in comics were about to change soon, and they began creating Morbius. Apparently, the idea was to create a character who might have the potential to become a more heroic type after being a villain for a while, so they went with the "living" vampire notion rather than your typical undead blood-sucker. (Keep in mind that this was long before the pretty-boy vampires of the early 2000's or even the sympathetic vampires of the '80's and '90's; they may have thought that a character who was an actual dead guy could never be made sympathetic to the public.)|
Originally Posted by Crazy1van
The requirements that the CCA imposed in the 1950s are not the same requirements that they imposed in the 1970s, which is when Marvel was finally able to publish TOMB OF DRACULA (prior to that, they had to use a 'living vampire', aka Morbius) and WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (instead of that scienfifically created lycanthrope "Man-Wolf"). So yes, the CCA tried to keep up with the times, in the same sense that Minimum Wage has kept up with Inflation.
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I'm not sure about Man-Wolf, though you are definitely right that Werewolf by Night, Tomb of Dracula, and other horror comics were barred by the code until the '70's or so.
The really interesting thing about the rule requiring "no walking dead, no vampires," etc. and the rule prohibiting comics with the words "terror" and "horror" in the titles is that they were specifically targeted at EC Comics, publishers of more or less adult horror titles, including Tales from the Crypt, which was ultimately adapted into the '90's HBO series.
For those interested in reading more about all this, I recommend my source for the above, Was Superman a Spy by Brian Cronin, which deals with various "urban legends" and historical quirks in comic publishing.
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Good eye there. It's possible that's the idea. New game out, let's make some headlines and draw attention to our products.|
Originally Posted by Lothic
I still wonder if this had anything to do with DCUO. I mean if we accept the idea that DC's relationship to the CCA has been relatively meaningless for years why did they finally pick now to make their break from the CCA official? Just seems more than merely coincidental somehow.
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Originally Posted by Battlerock_X
That was the one - Amazing Spider-Man #96-98, in May-July 1971, dealt with drugs.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Battlerock_X
Power Girl's bustline was initially considered "average", which was back when she had just a scoop-front top instead of the current "cleavage window". Wally Wood (no, seriously, that's his name), the artist for All-Star Comics, reportedly increased her chest size gradually wanting to see how long before someone would notice. Nobody did.
To borrow from the late George Carlin... "CCA didn't see it, I didn't do it, case closed." |
I feel this is the last straw that will drive me to juvenile delinquency. Bad move, DC. Bad move.
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Originally Posted by Crazy1van
The requirements that the CCA imposed in the 1950s are not the same requirements that they imposed in the 1970s, which is when Marvel was finally able to publish TOMB OF DRACULA (prior to that, they had to use a 'living vampire', aka Morbius) and WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (instead of that scienfifically created lycanthrope "Man-Wolf"). So yes, the CCA tried to keep up with the times, in the same sense that Minimum Wage has kept up with Inflation.
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What's the CCA doing about comics violating their arcane rules? Blackest Night was ALL about the walking dead and it didn't seem to stop DC in the slightest....
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Originally Posted by Battlerock_X
[*]Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
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"Where does he get those wonderful toys?" - The Joker
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I haven't bought any comics in years. Did the Blackest Night stuff get published without the CCA seal? If so that would help explain DC's decision to drop it from the rest of their books.
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Originally Posted by Ice_Wall
What's the CCA doing about comics violating their arcane rules? Blackest Night was ALL about the walking dead and it didn't seem to stop DC in the slightest....
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Do they have any self regulated rating system for comics?
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That's an urban myth - he either just said that as a joke, or couldn't genuinely remember.
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Originally Posted by Battlerock_X
Power Girl's bustline was initially considered "average", which was back when she had just a scoop-front top instead of the current "cleavage window". Wally Wood (no, seriously, that's his name), the artist for All-Star Comics, reportedly increased her chest size gradually wanting to see how long before someone would notice. Nobody did.
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@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
DC Comics announced yesterday that they have dropped out of the Comics Code Authority.
Announcement: http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/01...co-publishers/
The CCA was created in the 1950's in response to the Congressional witch-hunt of the comic book industry. Many distributors of the time refused to sell books that did not have the CCA seal. Among the CCA's demands in 1954 were that:
- Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
- If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
- Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
- In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
- Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
- No comic magazine shall use the word horror or terror in its title.
- All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.
- Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.
- Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
- Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
For more about the CCA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_Code_AuthorityMarvel Comics abandoned the CCA in 2001. Other publishers, such as Image Comics, refused to apply for the CCA seal. With the departure of DC, only Archie Comics and Bongo Comics are the only major publishers that still submit material for code-approval.
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