I find it deeply ironic that the Crime SuspenStories series helped to turn the Congress against horror comics. The series holds a strong sense of right and wrong at its core. A reader might suggest that certain key rules were followed in every case.
The first rule, which sets the tone for all of the following, states that criminals shouldn't be sympathetic. The code pushes this negative portrayal of crime in rule four, in which crimes shall be depicted as sordid and unpleasant. Again, rule six continues the trend of making sure that readers know that crime is bad stating "in every instance good shall triumph over evil". Rule 4 of Part B restates that "evil shall be used only where intent is to illustrate a moral issue". These rules communicate to the reader that crime is and always will be bad. In every story, the criminal dies or is punished in a manner worse than death. Crime never pays, on this important note, Crime Suspenstories and the Comics Code Authority agree.
That main note was pretty easy to follow. However, some of the more preachy rules are also followed. Rule one of the Marriage and Sex Section of General Standards Part C states that "Divorce shall not be treated humorously nor represented as desirable. A MAIN plot point of most of these stories involve a spouse that dislikes their significant other so much so, that they want to kill the other in order to escape marriage. They don't even consider divorce. Consequently, the authors of SuspenStories portray divorce as an unthinkable action, one literally worse than murder.
Another point which I thought was rather preachy in the code can be found in Marriage in Sex rule three. "Respect for parents ... shall be fostered" comes into play in the very first story. The comic literally portrays a man who works hard to give back to his hardworking father. He respects his father so much that he kills a man who he believes has roughed up his father.
In the end, I feel that Crime SuspenStories follows the main moral (and even some of the non-moral) spirit in the comics code authority. The comic itself would never be banned in today's world. In actuality, it might not do so well because of how preachy and judgmental of its characters it is.
While I definitely agree that Crime SuspenStories present a clear values of right and wrong, appropriately reprimand the evildoers, and overall discourage negative behavior, I'm not so sure that young readers see as far deep into those values as you and I do. In the eyes of the 1950's Congress, all the children readers see are violent crimes, murders, etc., who don't focus on the end result. Similar to the way a toddler might say repeatedly say curse word and not know what it means, Congress' fear might have been that young readers will simply "see and do."
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