I remember hearing about the "comic code" in a documentary. A bunch of pansies, those people!

I actually kinda miss the comics code.

In only miss it in the nostalgia sense. I guess it would be handy to have for G-rated comics only, so I could easily buy them for my wee ones. But as far as putting them on all comics...NO WAY. Those fascist days are over.

I dunno - most mainstream comics these days are trash - and whiny, emo trash, at that. Softcore porn , and hardcore gore. Cheap shock value, and little else. At least with the comics code in force, they had to actually put some effort into the creation of their product. They couldn't just scrape the bottom of the barrel, and call it a day.

If they put the kind of extreme violence that is commonplace in today's mainstream comics into a movie, that movie would be hard R, or possibly even NC-17.

A little self-policing from the industry would go a long way.

Gotta respectfully disagree. The Comics Code Authority comes straight out of the McCarthy era. It was a blunt tool used by narrow minded people to control content they felt was "questionable". The real authority wasn't in The Authority, but in the fact that so many newsstands and drug store racks would refuse to carry any books without the logo.

This is a way to kill free expression.

Now, personally, I'm all for self-regulating. I include a "rated R" logo at the top of my site because I do frequently show naked chicks. But when some outside authority tells me I have to do it then I have a serious problem.

McCarthy had nothing to do with the creation of the comics code. Two of the primary sources of the freakout that led to it's creation were the book Seduction of The Innocent, by Fredric Wertham:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seduct.....f_the_Innocent

..and United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United.....le_Delinquency

...and while I'm not really calling for the reinstatement of the code, I do think the industry as a whole needs to take a good hard look at themselves, and then dial it back - way back.

A lot of material being published today is far, far worse than the material that led to the original code being put into place. I've read the old EC horror comics, and they've got nothing on some of what's been printed recently by the big two.

I wouldn't be surprised if another backlash happens. "Think of the children" will always be a popular rallying cry among politicians who need a wedge issue to drive voters to the polls. I don't want to see the industry lobotomized, because it wasn't capable of knowing when to sit down and shut up, for it's own good.

And while a lot of questionable decison-making, if not outright censorship did happen under the code, it wasn't the dark, foreboding police state that some comics fans decry it as. There were a lot of decent books put out during those years. The Dick Sprang era of BATMAN, for example.

Hell, Look at BATMAN: the animated series. That was created under restrictions about as harsh as the comics code authority had, and it's damned near perfect. All the drama, all the pathos, and none of the barrel-scraping. Just one great piece of storytelling after another.

When I say I miss the code, I guess what I really mean, is I miss comics that weren't just pandering to the ID. I miss stories that were more than just a framework for this week's scene of extreme brutality. Comics that weren't trying so hard to be as edgy, and extreme as the "bad boy" in this week's flavor of pop band.

I miss comics that were fun.

I doubt anything like the Code will ever come up again. Comics have moved well past being for kids only. The generation that made them for adults too are now the old guard.

By McCarthy era, I didn't imply it was McCarthy that brought about the code, merely that it is coming out of that same line of thinking.

I do agree with you that a lot of comics are crap, though. But I don't buy mainstream anymore. I haven't darkened the door of a comic shop in years. I either read webcomics or I order online.

I think self-rating is good, though. But I would NEVER want to see another Code. By making it an institution it has the potential to force publishers to conform or face diminished markets.

Batman was awesome, BTW!

I think you're painting with a pretty broad brush there, m'man. I'm still as in love with comics and with the super-hero genre in particular as I ever was. Things go in constant cycles, but there's always SOMEthing worthwhile out there. And there are always writers, artists and editors who are making genuine effort to excel. Time and tastes change, and how we cope with that is a very subjective thing.

I'm not saying that there aren't worthwhile things being printed.

I still get a number of different comics - IDW's Doctor Who, and whenever they have a new GHOSTBUSTERS, I get those. Knights Of The Dinner Table, PS238, and those new Muppet Show comics are pretty decent, too.

But mainstream superhero comics, DC's especially, have really gone downhill. Countdown was a horror show. 52 was more of the same. This whole Blackest Night/Brightest day mega-crossover event is just DC's hamhanded attempt to cash in on the zombie craze, with as much gore as they can get away with.

I mean - when you have images like this:
http://www.majorspoilers.com/wp-con.....Warriors-2.jpg

and this:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c.....n/GLEW_Cv5.jpg

...being put on the COVERS of books, then it's seriously time to think about dialing it back.

Man, I love these. I'm hitting 40 this year. I remember buying comics off the rotating, squeaking rack at local convenience stores for $.35, then $.60...

It looks cool to me! Of course, I love some of those 70's comics!

The scary thing is that it really DOES look like a comic that could have come out in the 70's. Down to the UPC code and the way you framed the price, issue #, title , etc. GOOD WORK! :D

Hey, the UPC box and some of the trade dress was lifted right from the actual cover. I do strive for authenticity in these things...

me next? :) I even have an idea or three for comic covers. ;)

I would love to read that comic book.

You get any better at these and you'll have people shouting "Make Mine Mongo!"

'Nuff said. ^_^

Btecher life on it, True Believer!

I would wager anything there's a Hostess® ad under that cover. ^_^

Okay, I might actually have to do something with that idea..!

Technically, it has already been shown that Hostess was the nexus of all comic-bokk universes. Mervel, DC, Gold Key/Disney/WB, Harvey, Archie, everyone who was a four-color anyone ate Hostess. ^_^

...and on the back cover "Sell GRIT!"

I like this! Got a whole Iron Fist feel to it.

Iron Fist and Shang-Chi both came from that same post-Lee & Kirby era when Marvel was throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck. Made for some interesting comics, lemme tellya. Iron Fist has worn a little better over the years because he was more "super-heroey" than Shang. That original MoKF series was very much a product of it's time, not to mention the unique talents of Messers Moench, Gulacy and Gene Day.

I have read OF MoKF, though, and read that it had a funky supporting cast including a guy who might be related to Sherlock Holmes AND James Bond, and Brynocki. Oh sweet H'ronmeer in Martian Heaven Above, Brynocki. :)

Epic!

Most awesome, Slick, and darn it, I wish I'd read MOKF back in the day when it was new. I was more a fan of Thor, at the time, as I seem to recall. :P

For a brief moment I was reminded of Hong Kong Phooey.

Nailed it.

This probably would have been a more successful comic than Marvel's Rocket Raccoon, if only it were real.

Still delightfully on-model.
The challenge would seem to me, not to imitate the art style so much, but rather all that unique typography.