▁other ▁gen res ▁pro l ifer ated , ▁such ▁as ▁rom ance , ▁western s , ▁crime , ▁horror , ▁and ▁hum our . ▁ ▁Following ▁a ▁sales ▁peak ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 5 0 s , ▁the ▁content ▁of ▁com ic ▁books ▁( part icular ly ▁crime ▁and ▁horror ) ▁was ▁subject ed ▁to ▁scr ut iny ▁from ▁parent ▁groups ▁and ▁government ▁ag encies , ▁which ▁cul min ated ▁in ▁Senate ▁hear ings ▁that ▁led ▁to ▁the ▁establishment ▁of ▁the ▁Comics ▁Code ▁Author ity ▁self - c ensor ing ▁body . ▁ ▁The ▁Code ▁has ▁been ▁bl amed ▁for ▁st un ting ▁the ▁growth ▁of ▁American ▁com ics ▁and ▁maintain ing ▁its ▁low ▁status ▁in ▁American ▁society ▁for ▁much ▁of ▁the ▁remainder ▁of ▁the ▁century . ▁ ▁Super h ero es ▁re - est ab lished ▁themselves ▁as ▁the ▁most ▁prominent ▁com ic ▁book ▁genre ▁by ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 6 0 s . ▁ ▁Under ground ▁com ix ▁challeng ed ▁the ▁Code ▁and ▁readers ▁with ▁adult , ▁counter c ult ural ▁content ▁in ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁and ▁early ▁ 1 9 7 0 s . ▁ ▁The ▁under ground ▁gave ▁birth ▁to ▁the ▁alternative ▁com ics ▁movement ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 s ▁and ▁its ▁m ature , ▁often ▁experimental ▁content ▁in ▁non - super h ero ▁gen res . ▁ ▁Comics ▁in ▁the ▁US ▁has ▁had ▁a ▁low brow ▁reputation ▁stem ming ▁from ▁its ▁roots ▁in ▁mass ▁culture ; ▁cultural