Monsters Unleashed
comments: 0
Monsters Unleashed
or: Code Breakers
It's back to the Long Box of Mystery which reveals Amazing Spider-Man #102. As if or hero hasn't enough to deal with now that he's sprouted four extra arms (eek) he has to face off against old foe the Lizard, but newcomer Morbius the living vampire as well.
Morbius was part of the monster explosion in the 70s that followed the weakening of the Comics Code. For twenty years, in a 50's precursor to the satanic panic that gripped America in the 80s, supernatural, unholy, monsters were banned in comics under the Comics Code. Without the Code stamp, your book doesn't get sold.
Just a few months before this issue, Stan flaunted another Code restriction against mentioning drugs. Even though the story was staunchly anti-drug, drugs were drugs and drugs were verboten. Did the Code make a tactical error in rejecting an anti-drug story or did Stan just not bother submitting the story knowing it would be rejected? Either way, the story gets printed without the Code stamp. It not only gets sold, the Code takes a hit for failure to approve! (HA!)
After that, the code reset and the world was once again safe for ghouls, zombies and things that suck blood in the night. Yea!
Happy Trails
Smitty