The Comics Code Authority, whose seal would grace most comics covers for decades, was founded in 1954, and unabashedly made explicit the mores it advanced.

• Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
• No comics shall explicitly present the unique details and methods of a crime.
• Policemen, judges, Government officials and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
• If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
• Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
• In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.

Then again, I think it’s a bad thing that so many comics creators take it as an obligation to flout some of them.

• Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
• Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.

It’s been on the decline for a long time, the last nail in the coffin being when even Archie gave up on it. What I only just learned is that the fighters-of-the-good-fight Comic Book Legal Defense Fund bought up the rights to the Comics Code Seal of Approval and now the only place it appears is on t-shirts benefitting the CBLDF.

Truly, the greatest joy in life is to conquer your enemies, to drive them before you, to take from them all the things that they possess, and to wear those things on your t-shirt.