Publishing | Thursday's news that DC Comics will replace the nearly 60-year-old Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval with its own rating system was followed on Friday by an announcement by Archie Comics that it, too, will drop the Code. The two were the last publishers to abandon the CCA -- Marvel withdrew in 2001, Bongo just last year -- which means that as of next month, the once-influential self-regulatory body created by the comics industry in the wake of the 1954 Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency will cease to exist.  Before a series of revisions in 1971, the Code prohibited even the depictions of political corruption, or vampires and werewolves, and the use of the words "horror" or "terror" in titles.

Christopher Butcher wonders whether DC's decision to drop the Code was made with an eye toward the bottom line, while Johanna Draper Carlson offers an overview of the CCA's history. Elsewhere, Mike Sterling asks whether any retailers ever "experienced any kind of real-world impact of the Comics Code Authority?" And Tom Mason makes some tongue-in-cheek recommendations for DC's new rating system, including "G - GREYING MAN-BOYS" and "R - REFRIGERATOR." [Newsarama]

Publishing | Calvin Reid spotlights Tor Books' graphic-novel joint venture with manga publisher Seven Seas Entertainment. [Publishers Weekly]



Publishing | Dark Horse has promoted Sierra Hahn and Dave Marshall to full-time editors. [press release]

Retailing | Murfreesboro, Tenn., comics store Outer Limits lost all of its contents Saturday morning in a fire. Owner Chuck Cagle, who had insurance, said he plans to reopen in another location. [The Daily News Journal]

Creators | Collaborators Phil Hotsenpiller and Rob Liefeld discuss their apocalyptic graphic novel Armageddon Now: World War 3. [CNN Belief Blog]

Best of the year | Shawn Huston wraps up his two-part look at the best comics of 2010. [PopMatters]