If a publisher drops the Comics Code and doesn't send a press realease out, does it still make a sound?

Yesterday, it was announced that DC Comics had pulled out of the Comics Code (something previous President and Publisher, Paul Levitz, had held very dear to his heart) in favour of a new rating system.

But was it that new? Comparisons were made to the ESRB game ratings, but in truth the ratngs are pretty much the exact ones used by DC for their now-abandoned mangaline CMX.

The Comics Code was less about protecting children, and more about protecting advertisers, and DC does seem to have shown better ad sales results than MArvel of late, who dropped the code for their own rating system ten years ago.

A number of news reporters and bloggers have stated that this only leaves Bongo and Archie as companies using (and paying for) the Comics Code.

Except that's just not true. Bongo dumped the code a year ago. From April 2010, it was replaced with a simple All Ages label. It's just that no one seems to have noticed, and Bongo didn't make a song and dance about it. I understand that neither their sales, or more importantly, their ad sales, suffered as a result….

Here is the cover of the last Simpsons book to carry the code, and the first one not to, from last year.