DC Comics announced today it was abandoning the Comics Code, which makes it seem as if the organization that has cast a pall over the industry since 1954 is on its way out.

So it’s the perfect time to dig into my vault and pull out a 1976 letter written by Gerry Conway (during his brief reign as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics) to Len Darvin (then the head of the Comics Code Authority). Gerry was asking for a requested edit to The Inhumans to be reconsidered, and while the particulars aren’t as controversial as the Blue Valentine brouhaha, it does make for an interesting peek behind the curtain at a custom that has long outlived its usefulness.

Archie and Bongo are apparently the last Comics Code holdouts.

With any luck, soon there’ll be none.