http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_Code_Authority
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CCA.gif
When I think about it, the art of comics have been changed. When receiving those Spiderman comics in the New York Post newspaper a while back, I’ve noticed that back then, the front cover of comics had attractive and revealing women on the front. Now, they don’t. Why is that? Doing some research online, I figured out that it is due to the Comics Code Authority (CCA) which is related to the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA).
The Comics Code Authority was created in 1954 on behalf of the public concern about inappropriate comics. The purpose of the CCA is to regulate and moniter the contents of comics distributed. When accepted as not a violation of the CCA rules, the comic gets the CCA seal on it.

“The CCA code was based upon the largely unenforced code drafted by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers in 1948, which in turn was modeled loosely after the 1930 Hollywood Production Code. The CCA, however, imposed many more restrictions than its predecessor.”
Due to the CCA code, there came an enormous increase underground comics. Specifically, the underground comics dealt with the issues that the CCA code prohibited.
Even though the CCA code was effective at that time, some other slipped by without even needing the CCA seal upon the cover.
“In 1971, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee was approached by the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare to do a comic book tale of drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. The CCA refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics, deeming the context of the story irrelevant. With the approval of his publisher, Martin Goodman, Lee published the story in The Amazing Spider-Man #96-98 (May-July 1971), without CCA approval. The storyline was well-received and the CCA's argument for denying approval was deemed counterproductive.”
Now, in the 2000s, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, without the CCA seal, began to approve adult comics of their own accord. By 2005, major comics such as DC Comics and Archie Comics still submit their products to the CCA for approval.


