The Spinner Rack

DC Comics has ceased using the Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval, which has identified its comics as appropriate for all ages for over 50 years, as of the beginning of 2011. Instead, it will use a rating system for its DC Universe and Johnny DC imprints similar to that used by other comics publishers and which it uses for its digital releases. That system has four ratings:

E – EVERYONE
Appropriate for readers of all ages. May contain cartoon violence and/or some comic mischief.

T – TEEN
Appropriate for readers age 12 and older. May contain mild violence, language and/or suggestive themes.

T+ - TEEN PLUS
Appropriate for readers age 16 and older. May contain moderate violence, mild profanity, graphic imagery and/or suggestive themes.

M – MATURE
Appropriate for readers age 18 and older. May contain intense violence, extensive profanity, nudity, sexual themes and other content suitable only for older readers.

Dc will continue to label all of its Vertigo releases as “For Mature Readers.”

The Comics Code Authority, part of the Comics Magazine Association of America, was formed as a self-policing organization in the 1950s in response to public, business, and political pressure on comics content. Marvel withdrew in 2001 and uses its own rating system.

Bongo dropped the code a year ago, leaving Archie as the only company still using the Comics Code Authority seal.

Archie Comics will also cease using the Comics Code Authority logo with its February shipping books, the company announced today. Archie is the final publisher to announce that it will no longer use the Code logo to identify kid-safe entertainment, ending an era that started in 1954 in the wake of the Congressional hearings on comics content and juvenile delinquency.
DC, the other remaining publisher using the Comics Code Authority, announced Thursday January 20th that it ceased using the Code this month.

“We have a great deal of respect for what the Comics Code Authority has stood for over the years, but at the end of the day, the final judge of our content is our readership,” Archie President Mike Pellerito said. “The CCA has never driven Archie’s editorial direction. As we have for 70 years, we will continue to produce family-friendly, entertaining and relevant stories.”