Nightwing Fighting Police Is Breaking One of Comics' Oldest Rules
Warning: contains spoilers for Nightwing #93!
One of the oldest rules in comic books has just been broken by Nightwing, as Dick Grayson fights a group of police officers in the deeply corrupt city of Blüdhaven. Once an official part of comic censorship under the Comics Code Authority, even DC and Marvel's post-CCA era comics rarely show superheroes violently engaging law enforcement.
The Comics Code Authority was established in 1954, after the success of psychiatrist Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent led to concerns regarding the influence that comics were having on young people. The CCA was thus established, along with its set of rules on what could not be shown in comic books. Excessive violence was banned, along with the words «horror» or «crime» and the portrayal of all drugs. TheCode of the Comics Magazine Association of America also insisted that «policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.» The CCA was gradually discarded as public opinion shifted, but many of its edicts shape the medium to this day.
Related: How Spider-Man Cracked the Comic Book Code
The ongoing Nightwing series, written by Tom Taylor with art by Bruno Redondo and Adriano Lucas, definitely does not shy away from social issues. Dick Grayson has used the wealth he inherited from Alfred Pennyworth to build Haven, a shelter/community for people in need of help in the corrupt and crime-ridden city of Blüdhaven. In issue 93, the police force (on the payroll of crime lord Blockbuster) try to sabotage his project, vandalizing the area in disguise then cracking down on visitors in 'response.' When Nightwing goes to clean the
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