The Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) was an American
industry trade group
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partici ...
formed in the late 1940s to regulate the content of
comic books in the face of public criticism during that time. It was a precursor to the
Comics Magazine Association of America
The Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) was an American industry trade group formed in the late 1940s to regulate the content of comic books in the face of public criticism during that time. It was a precursor to the Comics Magazine As ...
, and the ACMP Publishers Code served as the template for a more detailed set of rules enforced by the CMAA's
Comics Code Authority
The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...
.
History
The ACMP was formed in May 1947
[Vassallo, Michael J., "The History of Atlas Horror/Fantasy: The Comics Code 1955" (introduction), ‘’Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Journey into Mystery Vol. 3 ‘’ (Marvel Worldwide, 2010), p. vi (unnumbered)] and publicly announced on July 1, 1948.
[ Hajdu, David. ''The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America'' (]Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...
, 2008), p. 128. , Founding members included:
* Phil Keenan, publisher of
Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals, Inc., was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher. It is best known for its true confession and true crime magazines; for the long-runni ...
* Leverett Gleason, publisher of
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and '' Boy Comics''.
Backg ...
*
Bill Gaines
William Maxwell Gaines (; March 1, 1922 – June 3, 1992), was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically import ...
, publisher of
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950 ...
* Harold Moore, publisher of ''
Famous Funnies
''Famous Funnies'' is an American comic strip anthology series published from 1934 to 1955. Published by Eastern Color Printing, ''Famous Funnies'' is considered by popular culture historians as the first true American comic book, following semin ...
''
*
Rae Herman
Ray Herman (b. Ruth Rae Hermann, June 9, 1920December 26, 1996),Saunders, DavidField Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists. Accessed Sept. 23, 2017. also known as Rae Herman or Ray Mann, was a publisher, editor, writer, penciller, and inker whose car ...
, publisher of
Orbit Publications
Orbit Publications, also known as Orbit-Wanted, was an American comic book publishing house operated by the female publisher, editor, and cartoonist Ray Herman during the Golden Age of Comic Books.
* Frank Armer, distributor
* Irving Manheimer, distributor
George T. Delacorte, Jr., founder of
Dell Publishing, which included
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...
, served as president,
and
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
attorney Henry E. Schultz, president of the board of
Queens College and a member of the
New York City Board of Higher Education
, mottoeng = The education of free people is the hope of Mankind
, budget = $3.6 billion
, established =
, type = Public university system
, chancellor = Fél ...
, as executive director.
[Hajdu, p. 129.]
The ACMP was formed after "accusations from several fronts charged comic books with contributing to the rising rates of
juvenile delinquency",
and city and county ordinances had banned some publications though these were effectively overturned with a March 29, 1948,
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
ruling that a 64-year-old
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
law outlawing publications with "pictures and stories of deeds of bloodshed, lust or crime" was unconstitutional. Regardless, the uproar increased upon the publication of two articles:
* "Horror in the Nursery", by
Judith Crist
Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic.
She appeared regularly on the ''Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...
, in the March 25, 1948, issue of ''
Collier's Weekly
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...
'',
based upon the symposium "Psychopathology of Comic Books" held a week earlier
by
psychiatrist Fredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham (; born Friedrich Ignatz Wertheimer, March 20, 1895 – November 18, 1981) was a German-American psychiatrist and author. Wertham had an early reputation as a progressive psychiatrist who treated poor black patients at his Lafarg ...
* "The Comics ... Very Funny!", by Frederic Wertham, in the May 29, 1948, issue of ''
The Saturday Review of Literature
''Saturday Review'', previously ''The Saturday Review of Literature'', was an American weekly magazine established in 1924. Norman Cousins was the editor from 1940 to 1971. Under Norman Cousins, it was described as "a compendium of reportage, es ...
''
Spencer, West Virginia
Spencer is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, West Virginia, United States. Originally known as "California," Spencer was chartered in 1858, and named after Spencer Roane (1762–1822), a distinguished jurist from Virginia, who serve ...
held a
comic-book burning on October 26, 1948. After the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
reported on it, copycat comic-book burnings followed around the country, particularity in
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
parishes.
[. Note: article erroneously refers to Wertham as a "psychologist."]
Publishers Code
In 1948, the association released their "Publishers Code," drawing on the Hollywood
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
(better known as the "
Hays Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
"), which had also been drafted to stave off external regulation. Like the Production Code, it forbid portrayals of crime that might "throw sympathy against the law" or "weaken respect for established authority," and prohibited "ridicule or attack on any religious or racial group." "Sexy, wanton comics" were not to be published, and
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
was not to be "treated humorously or represented as glamorous or alluring." Comics that complied with the code were offered a "Seal of Approval."
ACMP Publishers Code of 1948
#Sexy, wanton comics should not be published. No drawing should show a female indecently or unduly exposed, and in no event more nude than in a bathing suit commonly worn in the United States of America.
#Crime should not be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy against the law and justice or to inspire others with the desire for imitation. No comics shall show the details and methods of a crime committed by a youth. Policemen, judges, Government officials, and respected institutions should not be portrayed as stupid, ineffective, or represented in such a way to weaken respect for established authority.
#No scenes of sadistic torture should be shown.
#Vulgar and obscene language should never be used. Slang should be kept to a minimum and used only when essential to the story.
#Divorce should not be treated humorously or represented as glamorous or alluring.
#Ridicule or attack on any religious or
racial
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
group is never permissible.
[Hajdu, p. 128.]
Dissolution of the ACMP
The code, however, was not a success, ignored by both large and small publishers. Some publishers, such as
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...
, refused to join the organization. Others, such as founding member EC Comics, terminated their participation. Those who continued as members made use of the ACMP seal of approval without any formal process of review. Describing the situation in 1954 at a comic book hearing conducted by the
Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
The United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was established by the United States Senate in 1953 to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency.
Background
The subcommittee was a unit of the United States Senate Judiciary Co ...
, Director Schultz said: "The association, I would say, is out of business and so is the code."
[
]
Successor organization
In 1954, a mounting tide of criticism, including a new book by Wertham — ''
Seduction of the Innocent
''Seduction of the Innocent'' is a book by German-born American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, published in 1954, that warned that comic books were a negative form of popular literature and a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. The book was tak ...
'' — and congressional hearings, spurred the formation of the ACMP's successor, the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA). The ACMP Publishers Code served as the template for a more detailed set of rules enforced by the CMAA's
Comics Code Authority
The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...
.
EC comics and Mad magazine publisher,
William M. Gaines, in a 1983 interview with ''
The Comics Journal
''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...
'' revealed:
References
{{Reflist, 2
Publishing organizations
Comics-related organizations
Comics censorship
Censorship in the United States
Organizations established in 1948
1950 disestablishments in the United States