I know some people like to make fun of the Comics Code Authority, but given that comic books have always been intended primarily as entertainment for children I'm not sure what the big deal is. It was voluntary, and the restrictions required in order to get approved don't seem entirely unreasonable for children's entertainment.
FTA: Comics analyst Scott McCloud, on the other hand, later commented that it was as if, in drawing up the code, "the list of requirements a film needs to receive a G rating was doubled, and there were no other acceptable ratings!"
Also, no child would be able to afford collecting comics from that era... Instead, those comics are most certainly
"targeted" at adults now.
Certainly, if you believe that comics should merely be mindless escapist pablum for babies, then there's no reason to believe that the comics code authority limited comic books in any way.
Consider how many famous literary works run afoul of the restrictions in the CCA: The Lord of the Rings, Oliver Twist, The Count of Monte Cristo, Homer's Odyssey, the Harry Potter series, Coraline, Lord of the Flies, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird. Many of these books are considered literary classics that young adults are widely encouraged to read.
It's good that the CCA is finally gone, without it comics and graphic novels can finally step up to their rightful place as a full-fledged member of the many varied literary media.
