The Association of Comics Magazine Publishers was an Americanindustry 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 Association of America, and the ACMP Publishers Code served as the template for a more detailed set of rules enforced by the CMAA's Comics Code Authority.
History
The ACMP was formed in May 1947 and publicly announced on July 1, 1948. Founding members included:
George T. Delacorte, Jr., founder of Dell Publishing, which included Dell Comics, served as president, and Manhattan attorney Henry E. Schultz, president of the board of Queens College and a member of the New York City Board of Higher Education, as executive director. 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 ruling that a 64-year-old New York State 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, in the March 25, 1948, issue of Collier's Weekly, based upon the symposium "Psychopathology of Comic Books" held a week earlier by psychiatristFredric Wertham
In 1948, the association released their "Publishers Code," drawing on the Hollywood Production Code, 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 "Sexy, wanton comics" were not to be published, and divorce was not to be "treated humorously or represented as glamorous or alluring."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Sexy, wanton comics should not be published.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 group is never permissible.
Dissolution of the ACMP
The code, however, was not a success, ignored by both large and small publishers. Some publishers, such as Dell Comics, 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 the Senate comic book hearings, 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 — and congressional hearings, spurred the formation of the ACMP's successor, the Comics Magazine Association of America. The ACMP Publishers Code served as the template for a more detailed set of rules enforced by the CMAA's Comics Code Authority. EC comics and Mad magazine publisher, William M. Gaines, in a 1983 interview with The Comics Journal revealed:
