I was reading True Brides’ Experiences #15 (as one does) when I noticed a massive amount of empty space in a word balloon, and assumed this was due the story being a pre-Code reprint, so I tracked down the original publication in First Romance Magazine #18 three years earlier.

Not only did the Code remove any dialogue which hinted at sex, but the nightgown worn by one of the women was made more modest, and her curves were mostly removed.

Plus the story’s title had been changed from 1952’s “Caught in the Night!” to 1955’s “Student Nurse.”

In addition to that, check out the way all the stories were retitled when published under the auspices of the Comics Code Authority. Three years later, and words such as “Temptation,” “Passion,” and “Wicked” were no longer acceptable.

Good thing no child ever read those words!

Here’s another 1950s horror story which raised concerns with the Comics Code Authority when Marvel chose to reprint it during the 1970s, as revealed by documents I found among my sister-in-law Ellen Vartanoff’s papers. The original appeared in Uncanny Tales #3 (October 1952).

When it came time for the three-page “Crazy” — scripted by Stan Lee and drawn by Jerry Robinson — to be republished in Where Monsters Dwell #34 (March 1975), the CCA had a question about the tale of a hit-and-run driver. (Note: neither time was the story considered cover worthy.)

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Ready for another mid-’70s Marvel Comics mystery?

Back then, Marvel reprinted many 1950s horror stories which had first been published before the existence of the Comics Code Authority. Such was the case with “He Lurks in the Shadows,” originally seen in Uncanny Tales #6 (March 1953).

Twenty-two years later, when that story was slated to appear in Crypt of Shadows #16 (March 1975), there were two differences — its premise was no longer considered cover worthy — plus this time around, the Comics Code needed to approve each page before it was published.

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I was horrified to hear that David Anthony Kraft — whom I first met 40+ years ago when my comics career began and last saw at the 2019 Marvel Celebrates Stan Lee afterparty — died on May 19, 2021 of pneumonia induced by COVID-19.

Here he is with Jo Duffy and me at that latter event.

Saying I was shocked and stunned is too tame. Though I can’t be sure, I likely met Dave at Marvel the same day I met my wife. My first day on staff there was June 24, 1974. I was 19. Irene’s first day was April 15, 1974. And Dave began in the Bullpen slightly earlier than either of us, on March 25, 1974.

An additional reason David Anthony Kraft’s death felt and still feels unbelievable — aside from the fact the death of any contemporary seems shocking — is only 24 hours prior to learning of his death, I discovered the apoplectic paperwork sent by the Comics Code Authority censoring one of his stories, and was going to call him.

As those who’ve been following me know, I’ve been sorting through my late sister-in-law Ellen Vartanoff’s collection. She taught comics and art, and over the decades was donated artifacts which showed how the sausage was made. This particular find relates to Giant-Sized Dracula #4 (March 1975). (more…)

Yesterday, while searching for something completely differently, I came across correspondence I’d received from the Comics Code Authority in 1976 which ordered Marvel Comics to change a panel in an issue of Omega the Unknown I’d written.

I’d referenced this incident about Omega the Unknown #7 (March 1976) when artist Jim Mooney passed, but back then I didn’t have my hands on the CCA note. Now I do!

And you can read it below …

But before you do, look more closely at the villain in that panel as he runs off. Notice anything odd and clumsy about his gait? Or about the position of his right hand?

Well, that’s because something was once in that blank space to his right—a policeman swatted aside by Blockbuster.

A policeman the Comics Code requested we remove.

Why?

Well … (more…)

While we’re all celebrating the fact that the Comics Code is dead, here’s a document that takes me back to when it was very much alive. Let’s see how different things used to be, shall we?

Among the many facts we’re told by a July 20, 1976 newsletter put out by the Comics Magazine Association of America is that “there are now only about 400 wholesalers (against more than 700 not that long ago).” Horrors!

What else was new? “Veteran artist Joe Kubert has opened a school of Cartoon and Graphic Art, to train artists for comics, featuring a two-year course.” Wonder how that worked out?

Plus, “Publishers Weekly reports that sales of books in the first quarter of 1976 were better than in the first quarter of 1975.” (What? No info on how ebooks did during those years?)

Check out the whole thing below.

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.