Maybe I’m old, or maybe I just look at comic books differently than when I was a kid.

A few years ago, I got back into comic book collecting. I started with the GIT-Corp digital collections (now out of print, sadly) and moved on to Marvel Unlimited. Both are great ways to get entire digital collections of comics for a very low price.

The Comics Code Authority was abandoned years ago, but as I look at newer comics, I wonder if the loss of the CCA was the end of an era in many ways for the writing in comics today.

CCA had specific criteria for what could be included in comics and what could not. There were limitations on things like profanity, nudity and even subject matter that had to be followed in order to receive the coveted CCA stamp.

Today, it seems like all things some deem inappropriate are blatant. Characters can and do say whatever they want to say – regardless of the “language.” Nudity and sexuality are far more explicit. So my question is: Does the lack of the comics code impact the quality of storytelling?

When the CCA was in full-swing, comic book writers had to find ways “around” the limitations of the authority and be creative. It forced writers – and artists – to create compelling storylines and implied the inappropriate or horrific in a tense, dramatic and often disturbing way. Now, writers can just “say it” or “draw it.” This to me impacts the quality of writing.

So am I the only one who wished the CCA was still used?  – Wally (AKA Paint Monk)