# DC Comics leaves the CCA **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2011, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436 "2011-01-21T11:31:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/1 "2011-01-21T11:31:14Z")
DC Comics has [announced](http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/01/20/from-the-co-publishers/) it is leaving the Comics Code Authority and establishing its own rating system . So what do think will happen with Superman, Batman and the rest. Maybe a Batman who does use a gun, lethally? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/2 "2011-01-21T12:28:58Z")
It’s not unheard-of. Spiderman had a three-issue non-CCA run back in the 1970s in order to run an anti-drug story. Dell comics back in the 1950s had a “Dell Pledge to Parents” in lieu of a CCA stamp (although they got them later). Just because they’re leaving the CCA – an antiquated system put in after Fredric Wertham’s _Seduction of the Innocent_ and the Senate hearings on “inappropriate” comics back in the early fifties – doesn’t mean that they’re about to descend into depravity. Besidews, they already have outlets for that. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/3 "2011-01-21T14:39:42Z")
Yes, it’s always nice to have outlets when you want to descend into depravity. Batteries just won’t cut it. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/4 "2011-01-21T15:02:11Z")
I remember the Spidey issues were a big deal back in the day, but has the CCA had _any_ relevance in the past twenty-five years? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/5 "2011-01-21T15:15:49Z")
I had no idea the CCA still existed. Was that one (Marvel?) issue with the dude literally ripping someone else to shreds on-panel a CCA comic? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/6 "2011-01-21T16:00:29Z")
Marvel left the Code some time ago, so this isn’t quite the amazing thing some people are taking it as. And DC hasn’t had the code stamp on most of their books for a long while, either. The two main Superman books, the two main Batman books, and JLA I think are the last ones, outside of their kids line. Even the rest of their respective families (Supergirl, Batgirl, Superboy, Batman, Inc, etc) haven’t gone through the code for some time. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/7 "2011-01-21T16:02:51Z")
So is that the end of the CCA, or is Archie or something like that still in it? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/8 "2011-01-21T16:07:02Z")
Archie’s still there. Just Archie. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/9 "2011-01-21T16:14:24Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > The two main Superman books, the two main Batman books, and JLA I think are the last ones, outside of their kids line. Even the rest of their respective families (Supergirl, Batgirl, Superboy, Batman, Inc, etc) haven’t gone through the code for some time. I have to correct myself, slightly - Supergirl does. The rest of the ones I listed, however don’t. Teen Titans was another long-lasting Code book - they only dropped it last year with issue 77. And they’re a good example of how toothless the Code was, and thus how pointless - Teen Titans was worse than, say, Wonder Woman, which hasn’t had the code stamp at least since it restarted, for potentially inappropriate material. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/10 "2011-01-21T19:16:38Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Archie’s still there. Just Archie. Ah, good old Archie, soldiering on unchanged. I imagine those Riverdale kids have cell phones now. And maybe negroes. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/11 "2011-01-21T19:21:09Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Ah, good old Archie, soldiering on unchanged. I imagine those Riverdale kids have cell phones now. And maybe negroes. Well, they do have teh gays now. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130380177](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130380177) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/12 "2011-01-21T19:32:30Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Marvel left the Code some time ago, so this isn’t quite the amazing thing some people are taking it as. . . That shows how behind the times I am. I remember when The She Hulk showed that the tags on her shirt were CCA tags, back when a bystander asked how her clothes could rip to shreds and they’d still always cover the important bits. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/13 "2011-01-21T20:29:28Z")
[QUOTE=Wikipedia - Comics Code Authority] The CCA code was based upon the largely unenforced code drafted by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers in 1948, which in turn was modeled loosely after the 1930 Hollywood Production Code. The CCA, however, imposed many more restrictions than its predecessor. Like the previous code, the CCA prohibited the presentation of “policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions … in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.” But it added the requirements that “in every instance good shall triumph over evil” and discouraged “instances of law enforcement officers dying as a result of a criminal’s activities.” Specific restrictions were placed on the portrayal of kidnapping and concealed weapons. Depictions of “excessive violence” were forbidden, as were “lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations.” Vampires, werewolves, ghouls and zombies could not be portrayed. In addition, comics could not use the words “horror” or “terror” in their titles. The use of the word “crime” was subject to numerous restrictions. Where the previous code had condemned the publication of “sexy, wanton comics,” the CCA was much more precise: depictions of “sex perversion”, “sexual abnormalities”, and “illicit sex relations” as well as seduction, rape, sadism, and masochism were specifically forbidden. In words echoing the Hollywood Production Code, love stories were enjoined to emphasize the “sanctity of marriage” and those portraying scenes of passion were advised to avoid stimulating “lower and baser emotions.” Advertisements for liquor, tobacco, knives, fireworks, nude pin-ups, postcards, and “toiletry products of questionable nature” were all prohibited. [/QUOTE] What a joke. I’m amazed it lasted beyond 1960. Today, parental advisory labels are practically REQUIRED for say, a rap album or certain genres of video game to sell. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/14 "2011-01-21T21:07:51Z")
I just went ahead and looked up the dates. Marvel dropped the Code (and went with their rather more logical ratings system\*) in 2001. Good Lord, I hadn’t realized it was that long! Also, an interesting thought just occurred to me Bob Harras, the new EIC at DC, was EIC at Marvel until 2000, just before they pulled out of the CCA. I wonder if there’s a connection, there. - The CCA’s ‘all or nothing’ aspect is pretty much what killed it, IMO. If it had adopted a ratings approach, it may have been able to maintain its usefulness. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/15 "2011-01-21T21:16:36Z")
The Code was effectively weakened about 1970. You’ll notice that in the Wikipedia cite that **antonio** quotes, it forbids “…Vampires, werewolves, ghouls and zombies …” But after 1970 you had Marvel running **Dracula** without any apology or wiggle room (like their Morbius the Living Vampire had), **Werewolf by Night** , and **Frankenstein**. At about the same time, DC ran its Green Lantern/Green Arrow series against drugs, without losing the CCA seal. (Dell had run an adaptation of **Dracula** back about 1960, but, as I noted, they didn’t adhere to the CCA – they had the Dell Pledge to Parents. ) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-comics-leaves-the-cca/568436/16 "2011-01-22T00:29:29Z")
I hope DC’s rating system is as confusing and constantly changing as Marvel’s has been. At one point a bunch of Marvel comics I was buying were “rated A”. Now what in the fuck does that mean to a random parent looking at the ratings? If anything they’d mistakenly think it meant “Adults Only” (like the elusive AO rating for computer games) but judging by the titles it was on, it was just the default rating for anything without controversial or offensive content.