Pre-Code vs. Post-Code: Delineating DATES 1 1

[MusterMark]

Hi,

I tried to use search prior posts to find answers to my questions, but had very little success …

 

I am curious as to which Month+Year is considered the cut-off date between Pre-Code and Post-Code. Another wrinkle added to this is the difference between the Cover Date and the Month of Arrival in a store (I think most comics arrived in stores maybe two months before the actual cover date?). So let’s stick first with just the Cover Date.

 

1. The Comics Code Authority was established in September 1954, I believe. How long did it take them to create the Code (was the Code itself made/finalized in Sep 1954, or a month or two later)?

 

2. And how soon after that did the Code start being applied to comics?

 

3. Was the Code very initially applied to comics that don’t actually bear the CCA stamp on the cover?? That is, are there comics in the first few months of the Code being applied that don’t bear the CCA stamp? Or is it always the case that if the Code was applied, the CCA Stamp must be present on the cover?

 

4. Thus, what is the Cover Date of the very first Post-Code comic books?

 

5. Also, what is the probable Store Arrival Date of the first Post-Code comic books?

 

6. And are any of the above answers different for different publishers??

 

Thank you in advance for shedding any light on this for me.

Sincerely,

MusterMark

 

 

 

[Scrooge]

Hard to say and pinpoint exact answers.

 

I collect all Atlas books published in 1954. That's the final full year pre-code.

 

The first Atlas books with the code stamp are typically dated March 1955.

 

Yet, you can notice a marked shift even for those books dated anywhere from Dec. 1954 to Feb. 1955.

 

The hardest part is to figure out if this was due to the general atmosphere of the time that led to the taming down of covers or a true anticipation and partial adjustment to the upcoming Code rules.

 

As for exact dates, I just received a Feb. 1955 cover dated Marvel Tales (no CCA stamp) with a penciled arrival date of 12/8. Though it's hard to say if this was in the early or late arrivals of the Feb. cover books, I'd say that puts the first Post-Code books on the stand circa Christmas 1954 / New Year's 1955.

[adamstrange]

You can purchase "Seal of Appproval: History of the Comics Code" by Amy Nyberg.

http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/647

 

It is being serialized in Alter Ego, starting with May 2014 issue.

[Jayman]

Black Cat Mystery 51 (August '54) is considered a post code book and does not yet sport the CCA logo.

 

 

Interestingly enough this book contains a story "Punch and Rudy" which was self censored by the publisher. The last panel of the story was to show a severed head but was replaced with just a blank white panel. So you can tell there was a change in the air as some of these publishers were scrambling to save themselves.

[Scrooge]

It is being serialized in Alter Ego, starting with May 2014 issue.

 

+1. I have the book but I am enjoying re-reading it in the serialized version in Alter Ego. I just finished reading that May 2014 issue. So far, the serialization has only addressed the early criticism of comics in the '40's so no talk of the delineation mark yet.

[Monkeyman]

This site will provide you with the On Sale date for comics.

 

http://www.dcindexes.com/features/timemachine.php?site=

 

The last On Sale month for Atlas comics without the CCA stamp was November 1954 and the comics were all cover dated February 1955.

 

DC didn't start until the next month - first CCA stamp On Sale month January 1955 for comics with cover date March 1955.

 

Mike

Edited May 23, 2014 by Monkeyman

[Johnny545]

Black Cat Mystery 51 (August '54) is considered a post code book and does not yet sport the CCA logo.

 

 

Interestingly enough this book contains a story "Punch and Rudy" which was self censored by the publisher. The last panel of the story was to show a severed head but was replaced with just a blank white panel. So you can tell there was a change in the air as some of these publishers were scrambling to save themselves.

 

Very interesting Jay thanks.

 

Great book too!

[Sqeggs]

Black Cat Mystery 51 (August '54) is considered a post code book and does not yet sport the CCA logo.

 

 

Interestingly enough this book contains a story "Punch and Rudy" which was self censored by the publisher. The last panel of the story was to show a severed head but was replaced with just a blank white panel. So you can tell there was a change in the air as some of these publishers were scrambling to save themselves.

 

That cover would probably not have been approved by the Code had it been up and running at that point. You note the self-censorship of one interior story. I guess there are a group of tweener books published after publishers realized they needed to tone things down, but before the Code actually began operating.

 

Tweeners could be a new collecting category! Or are they already?

 

[MusterMark]

So far what every one has said makes all this even more interesting than I anticipated!!

Thank you very much to all of you.

[Jayman]

Black Cat Mystery 51 (August '54) is considered a post code book and does not yet sport the CCA logo.

 

 

Interestingly enough this book contains a story "Punch and Rudy" which was self censored by the publisher. The last panel of the story was to show a severed head but was replaced with just a blank white panel. So you can tell there was a change in the air as some of these publishers were scrambling to save themselves.

 

Very interesting Jay thanks.

 

Great book too!

 

Here is the original thread for more info... Black Cat Mysteries #51

[rjpb]

Black Cat Mystery 51 (August '54) is considered a post code book and does not yet sport the CCA logo.

 

 

 

Aug '54 books predate the CCA by several months.

[Jayman]

Aug '54 books predate the CCA by several months.

 

Just going by my response from Jeff from the old thread I referenced a few posts back.

 

I contacted Jeff Vaughn, of Gemstone Publishing about listing a notation regarding the BCM #51 in the OPG. We'll see what happens, here's his reply:

 

Jay –

Here’s a note back from Bob. Thanks for the tip!

JCV

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: Possible notation addition to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide

 

Hello Jeff,

This does qualify for listing, I think and it seems to be post code, not precode. It would date in late 1954 after the code was established. since it is a good example of censorship where the (severed head) half of a long rectangular panel was covered up with a blank panel to hide the gruesome, blood dripping art, leaving the reader to wonder what was in the "blank" panel. The original art shows a gruesome severed head scene that was censored before publication with a blank panel pasted over it to hide the art.

 

Bob

[adamstrange]

I think Bob may have gotten his dates mixed up. There's a very clear start to the "Code" and that book precedes it so I think using the term "post-code" is a confusing one. Self-censored pre-code might be a more accurate description.

[Jayman]

Interesting. I was initially surprised at his reply as I though the appearance of the CCA stamp was the definitive proof of a post code book. His reply made me wonder if the code was in fact in place but it took a while longer to have the stamp appear on the covers. Meaning that the BC 51 might have slipped by without a stamp. Thanks for clarifying! (thumbs u

[rjpb]

The Code was adopted on Oct. 26 1954. even if it had been put into effect immediately, the earliest comics that could have possibly been released under it's authority would have had Jan. 55 cover date. Given that content and covers would be largely completed for books on the stands in Nov./Dec. of 1954, and time would be needed to submit to the CCA and revise, it would seem that compliance and the stamp indicating as such wasn't fully expected for books distributed prior to Jan. 1955.

 

Still, the formation of the CCA would have been in negotiations for months prior to the adoption, and the heat was already on, so no doubt most publishers were already toning down their covers and content for several months prior to the code.

 

We can see this with Story Publication's Fight Against Crime, which keeps up its violent ways through issue 21 (September 1954), with a probable distribution date of June or July 1954, and with the next issue there is a one month delay from the bi-monthly schedule and title a change, losing all references to Crime, Horror and Terror. I'm guessing the interior content was toned down a bit from the earlier issues as well. Fight Against the Guilty #22 has a Dec. 1954 cove date, and would have probably been on the stands in Sept/Oct 1954, just prior to the formal adoption of the CCA, and would have likely been finalized for the printer before the end of Sept. at least, but everyone knew what was coming, even if the particulars weren't completely hammered out, so in terms of content, I would gather that most of the more notorious titles with Nov./Dec. 1954 cover dates would have a post-code feel, even if they lack the stamp.

[Jayman]

Great info!

That's what I love about this place, over 10 years here and I still learn more about our hobby! (thumbs u

[MusterMark]

Great info!

That's what I love about this place, over 10 years here and I still learn more about our hobby! (thumbs u

 

Totally agree! Thank you (and to all).

[Electricmastro]

Among the earliest comic books to have the seal on the front cover that I could find were these ones from February, 1955 (some listed under February-March, 1955, but just show March on the cover), so maybe sometime around then?

Edited May 21, 2020 by Electricmastro

[fifties]

Interesting thread, thx for re-opening it!  There was real hysteria about "those awful comic books" in the early '50's, so no surprise about the government investigation and threat to the publishers to self censor or else. 

The last of the real horror covers were sold over the summer of '54.  By October cover dates, almost everything was toned down, cover wise.  This was very apparent in the slew of Atlas horror titles.  Many titles from different publishers simply ceased to exist.

The book displayed above, Uncanny Tales 29, was their first with the CCA stamp, and the last to have the title in squiggly lines with red (depicting blood?).  The next issue going forward had the title in straight -script.  The stories in that issue, BTW, were sort of in-between the pre-code fare and upcoming pablum cleansed for 10 year old's to read.

One outlier of course was EC, who continued with a Werewolf on the cover of the last TFTC, dated February-March, 1955.  I believe that Weird Science Fantasy #29, cover dated June, 1955 was the last comic book W/O the code seal.

[Electricmastro]

2 hours ago, fifties said:

Interesting thread, thx for re-opening it!  There was real hysteria about "those awful comic books" in the early '50's, so no surprise about the government investigation and threat to the publishers to self censor or else. 

You’re welcome, and Charles Murphy’s lunatic response to Judgement Day notwithstanding, I think there definitely was quite a bit to be reasonably concerned about, and perhaps complain against, not just sexualized good girl art, but gory comics getting into the hands of kids who perhaps couldn’t handle it. At that point though, I think that would better justify a rating system rather than outright censorship, because I could totally understand why someone wouldn’t want kids reading this kind of stuff:

Crime Does Not Pay #57 (November 1947, Lev Gleason Publications):

Exposed #2 (May 1948, DS Publishing):

Underworld #3 (June 1948, DS Publishing):

Chamber of Chills Magazine #8 (May 1952, Harvey Comics):

Chamber of Chills Magazine #14 (November 1952, Harvey Comics):

Dark Mysteries #13 (August 1953, Master Comics):

Mysterious Adventures #20 (June 1954, Story Comics):