10 Comics That Broke All The Rules
2. EC Comics (1953)
In the history of comic book publishing in the United States, no publisher faced more scrutiny and censorship than EC Comics. EC specialized in horror, crime, satire, military, science-fiction, and dark fantasy, and they were popular from the 1940s through the mid-1950s.
Unfortunately, EC became defunct in 1956, and it was entirely due to the founding of the Comics Magazine Association of America, which enforced the CCA. EC was hit immediately for pretty much everything it published, which broke nearly all the rules the CCA was trying to impose, and it started on the cover of each comic.
The CCA wouldn't allow for the words "horror," "terror," or "weird" to be featured on the cover, which automatically killed off nearly all of EC's books. One of the most contentious comics EC wanted to print was Weird Fantasy #18 in 1953. The book contained a story called "Judgment Day," and it was opposed by the CCA because the main character was revealed to be black at the end.
Ultimately, all but Mad Magazine was pulled, and as a result, EC Comics became defunct. The company began licensing its stories decades later, and while they have been given new life for a new generation of readers, for a long time, they were considered too offensive to see the light of day.