Comic Book Censorship: History of the Comics Code Authority (CCA) || Comic Misconceptions

"passion for what the code stood for" I think you mean, passion for reading all those free comics. That lady had a pretty sweet deal there.

So basically comicbooks were video games of their day?

oh the 50s.. when people freaked out if a comic book had the word "Crime".
Today 8 year olds are watching the "Deadpool" movie lol

Should Comic books be Censored?
No. Not ever. Not one word. Not one image. Not one idea.
Should Comic books have ratings guides like TV shows, Movies and Video games?
Yes. Like any media, the content is for various age groups ranging from young children to adults and parents should have a ratings system built up on a commonly accepted set of guidelines they can understand and use in their own judgement as to determine if they wish their child to read the material at their current age.
But I also think regular books should get the same ratings system the very same day the Comic books do.
Just like I want to have nutritional and ingredient labels on food before I purchase it to feed my kid, I would like to know what is in a Comic book or book before buying it for my child.

10 out of 10 criminals eat food ban food

I think an age rating system similar to movies and video games would be appropriate :)

a rating system is better than complete censorship 10 times out of 10

I was taking a psychology class in college and "Seduction of the Innocent" was brought up. The professor was clearly on Wertham's side (No kidding, a liberal professor pawning off people doing bad things to anything other than their parents or their own choices, imagine that.) Well, I raised my hand and said "If we are to use the fact that kids read comics and then misbehaved or had trouble learning which makes it the comics fault, what about this? Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, "Son of Sam" David Berkowitz. They all drank water, does that mean drinking water will turn you into a serial killer?"
The professor then tried to explain why that was a fallacy when I interrupted him and said that the kids reading comics was just as much a fallacy as my water example. Finally he gave in when I mentioned that there has never been a real study to examine the effects of comic books on a child's psyche since "Seduction" came out and furthermore, there was no peer reviewed data to suggest Wertham was right to begin with.
It sounds like it was a combative argument but no, it was actually really fun and the professor did give me credit for my passion on the subject, especially when he found out I did a paper on the same thing in 3rd grade. He found that out because a girl I had gone to school with my entire life had the same class and told him once we were finished.

Comics, rock and roll, Dungeons and Dragons, metal music, video games, rap... There is always something some one has a beef with. People always go overboard and I'm not even sure if most of them really care. I think a lot of politicians just look for easy targets to drum up publicity for their campaign and we get to suffer for it.
To answer your question, I think artists need to learn a bit of self censorship. Going to the grotesque and foul just to get attention makes for boring art in the long run. An musician that constantly drops the F bomb just because it's shocking can become unrelatable. If there was a story or a message there it is overwhelmed by unnecessary vulgarity. It does not hurt the audience at all. In the long run it hurts the artist who's work is widely forgotten and those that do remember think of them as a hack. We don't need censors overseeing peoples work. People do their own censorship without even knowing it.

The amount of people advocating for censorship is disturbing.

Comics and Retailers do need to institute a code. I've noticed that comics with cursing and nudity in them look just like comics without cursing and nudity. Kids in comic shops (although it's rare to see ANYBODY in a comic shop nowadays) should have clear labeling that says 'E' for everyone or 'M' for mature so they can make better decisions and Shop owners should enforce those rules. I wouldn't want my 10 year old kid reading "Sleeper".

Goofy comics aren't why I read comics. I don't want to see Superman crying into Jimmy's turkey baster. I read comics because I want a world like mine, but with heroes who can ACTUALLY DO something to affect the world. I want to see amazing things I wish were true. I want to see horrific things that make my fears look tame. Having someone who is NOT a fan of comics tell a comic book writer and artist what they are allowed to put into their comic is like ME being able to tell you what to put in your youtube video.

Yes. I can offer suggestions. I can tell you how I feel and what I think... but the choice must be your own because it is YOUR passion, your art, your expression. If we limit free expression, then we limit everything. We limit what we can become. We limit imagination. No more cell phones. No more exploration. We just decide to be content with what we have. To me, that is worse than death.

Sometimes those stories need to be told. A suicidal kid on drugs is out there, reading comics and thinking of dying.... or killing... and then Batman faces the Scarecrow, who dopes him up on Fear Toxin and makes him face terrors that kid has seen... that kid identifies with Batman and sees something that inspires him. He wants to BE Batman... he wants to fight it. Who knows... maybe bad things have happened because of the wrong kind of inspiration. Maybe. But good things certainly have. You can take both... but you can never take away just one because inspiration is personal.

It's always the "but think about the children" or "think about the women" people who want to censor art.

Wouldn't it be hilarious if someone created a comic that broke every single rule in the old Comic Code?  Even extending to the rules they have for advertising?  It would be completely obscene and ridiculous but it could be an entertaining creative experiment.

3:00
It's like what some people says about video games these days.
I guess some things never change.

Fredric Wertham believed that human violence can be eliminated.....oh man i needed a good laugh, what a naive soul

The rating system we have in TV shows, Movies, and Video Games seems to work pretty well to an extent. We just need more parents to know what the symbols mean, so they don't buy their 10 year olds Call of Duty. I think the same thing can be done with comic books. Let's just use the game rating system as an example. Give Spider-Man an E for Everybody while restricting Deadpool to M for Mature. Both can be sold it's just if a kid wants to get his/her hand on Merc with a mouth his/her parent would have to buy it for them. I think if rating systems go unnoticed they aren't doing their job. That's why when I worked at wal-mart I always told parent who were buy CoD what the rating system meant, and so then decided to buy their child something else. If we just ignore rating systems people will come against them, and say that they don't matter. Thus they will try and get all of them censored. I don't want my Mortal Kombat censored because you didn't want to take the time to know what a few symbols meant. That being said I probably wont keep my kid from playing graphic games. It just depends on the game itself.

I don't think the Comics Code should be around but they should have ratings, like little kids should read Batman Endgame or Death of the Family

***** Once again a perfect example for what kind of videos we need more of. It surpasses fandom and enters actual comic studies, and informs comic readers in a much broader way. I honestly consider using some of your videos for my master thesis, especially your video about "The REAL Origin of Superman Explained!". More comic history and behind the scene stuff please :)

tbh your videos are the best. So glad you aren't lazy and actually breakdown reasons that answer questions thousands of people have. Really Appreciate it!