You asked if any law requires comic books to be rated for content or subjects them to other parental controls.

To date, laws and local ordinances regulating the contents of comic books have been ruled as violating the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution’s Freedom of Speech Clause (see, for example, Annotation: First Amendment Protection Afforded to Comic Books, Comic Strips, and Cartoons, 118 ALR 5^th 213 (2004) (copy enclosed). In 2004, the Connecticut legislature repealed as obsolete two statutes that made it a misdemeanor to disseminate indecent comic books (PA 04-139). Although there are no reported cases construing those statutes, it seems likely that they, too, would have violated the First Amendment if the state had attempted to enforce them.

Most of the large distributors (such as Marvel Comics) have voluntarily adopted rating codes, similar to those used in the motion picture industry which are displayed on the comic book’s cover. Others submit their comic books to the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) to be rated in accordance with its code. Those that receive the ACMP’s approval bear a small stamp on their cover indicating this. But independent comic books are generally not rated.

We enclose copies of the Marvel and ACMP codes.

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