As I said a few days ago, I’ve been making my way through the “Showcase presents: House of Mystery” book. A few of the stories lose something when rendered in black and white, such as those dependent upon color to make their point. But that’s a nitpick.
One thing that struck me as odd was the stories that ended with a narrow little panel of narration by Cain in which he would follow up a story where a guy got away with murder with some comment like, “Too bad the judge didn’t see it that way,” or “He next tried his magic spell on a woman who turned out to be a witch. Too bad for him!” I suddenly realized that these were just tacked on to meet the standard of the day, the Comics Code Authority, which decreed that a person could not get away with a crime unpunished.
The Code’s rules certainly were strict and sometimes didn’t make sense, like not being able to show any blood or a dead body in a war comic. At the same time, when I consider how raunchy and grotesque comics have gotten since DC and Marvel decided to end compliance with the CCA, I do believe that ultimately I miss it.
What about you folks? What are your thoughts on the Comics Code Authority?