The Marvel Comics rating system is a
system for rating the content of
comic books, with regard to appropriateness for different age groups. In 2001,
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
withdrew from the
Comics Code Authority
The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...
and established its own rating system for its publications. This was precipitated by the CCA refusing approval of the seal due to the strong depiction of violence in ''X-Force'' #116, a comic written by
Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', '' Revo ...
and drawn by
Mike Allred
Michael Dalton Allred is an American comic book artist and writer most famous for his independent comics creations, ''Madman'' and ''iZombie''. His style is often compared to pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s ...
. As well, by withdrawing from the CCA, this is seen as a move by editor-in-chief
Joe Quesada
Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books ...
to lure more high-profile creators to Marvel Comics.
X-Force #116 To Be Non-Code
– ICv2 – 27 April 2001 Today's ratings are usually found on the comic's UPC box.
System
The Marvel Rating System assigns each comic book one of the following ratings:
*ALL AGES – Appropriate for all ages.
*T – Appropriate for most readers, but parents are advised that they might want to read before or with younger children.
*T+ TEENS AND UP – Appropriate for teens 13 and above.
*PARENTAL ADVISORY – Appropriate for 15 and up. Similar to T+, but featuring more mature themes and/or more graphic imagery. Recommended for teen and adult readers.
*EXPLICIT CONTENT – 18+ years old.
Most Mature Readers books will fall under the MAX imprint (created specifically for mature content titles). MAX and Mature-themed titles will continue to be designed to appear distinct from mainline Marvel titles, with the "MAX: Explicit Content" label very prominently displayed on the cover. MAX titles will ''not'' be sold on the newsstand, and they will ''not'' be sold to younger readers. It says anything from explicit to non-explicit.
History
The first Marvel rating system was implemented in 2001, following their publishing of an issue of X-Force without the approval of self-regulatory system the Comics Code Authority (CCA). The CCA deemed the issue too violent, and following this, Marvel removed its entire line from the scrutiny of the Comics Code. Their age rating system used the following categories:
*ALL AGES
*PG (Parental Guidance)
*PG+
*PARENTAL ADVISORY/EXPLICIT CONTENT
However, the Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
complained, as it holds a trademark on such classifications as PG and PG-13 (see MPAA film rating system
The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...
). Marvel thus switched to the following system (by changing the PG ratings):
*ALL AGES
*PSR (Parental Supervision Recommended)
*PSR+
*PARENTAL ADVISORY/EXPLICIT CONTENT
Beginning in June 2005, Marvel switched to yet another system:
*ALL AGES
*A Appropriate for age 9 and up.
*T+ SUGGESTED FOR TEEN AND UP
*PARENTAL ADVISORY
*MAX: EXPLICIT CONTENT
See also
* DC Comics rating system
References
Marvel Comics
Media content ratings systems
2001 introductions
{{Marvel Comics