While on paper these rules seem to want to “protect the youth”, often they were used against creators by those in charge of keeping the code to squash displays of same-sex relationships (7 marriage & sex), independence of women (1 & 4 marriage & sex, 3 & 4 costume), and the appearance of racial minorities - now while that final point doesn’t appear anywhere in the rules, that didn’t stop the CCA from trying (and usually succeeding) to use its influence to ban the appearance of black superheroes and main characters. A prime example is “Judgement Day”, Entertainment Comics 1956, where Judge Charles Murphy of the CCA refused to approve the comic because an astronaut removed his helmet on the final panel to reveal that he was a black man.

This project, Comic Authority, is a spit in the face to everything the CCA stood for; it has two minorities as its main characters (Southeast Asian and African American) who are deemed villains by their society, are queer, and openly critque the corrupt nature of their world’s authorities. Even the “hero” of this story stands against the code, a woman with more traditionally masculine facial features, an exaggeratedly buff body, and no shame in showing some skin, who is presented as an antagonist despite being a deliverer of justice. There is no clear villain in this story and the ONLY way to consume this media is by understanding both sides- black and white views on morals oversimplify stories and experiences, and even if you are made to face something you disagree with, the freedom to do so is something that was banned under the CCA.

This project would never have been permitted to be published until the code was rendered defunct in 2011