>>150230563
The code was absolutely enforced in the 90s. Here's one example. Originally, Wolverine was supposed to carve an X into Magneto's chest. The code said no, so instead he just ripped his shirt open.
With Batman, X-Men, and Spider-Man cartoons on the air, a lot of kids were getting into comics and I was one of them, picking them up on the spinner racks in grocery stores, drug stores, convenience markets. These particular comics were written with kids in mind even if they also had plenty of comics sold only through comic stores that weren't for kids. They kept up appearances for a few years after everyone with Direct Market, then in the early 00s decided to just give up on it entirely and brought on the edgefest, people getting torn in two, limbs and eyes getting gouged out on panel.