Back in the early '50s, the Senate held hearings on "juvenile delinquency" during a period of national hysteria and decided that odd behavior among the young could be attributed largely to comic books. The result was the Comics Code Authority, which dictated that "females shall be drawn without any exaggeration of physical attributes" and that good would always triumph over evil. In September, Marvel, which publishes more comics than anybody, dumped the Authority and introduced adult-oriented titles like "Fury," "Alias" and "U.S. War Machine." "The average comic book reader today is 25, rather than school age, and many books are sold at comic book stores rather than newsstands," said Chris Bleistein, director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, to the New York Post. Comic books sold at newsstands are still required to adhere to the code. The rise of non-newsstand stores specializing only in comic books has allowed for greater freedom. The first issue of "Alias" appears to show Captain America in a sexual encounter. "It is not the intent of 'Alias' to demean the icons," said the comic's writer, Brian Michael Bendis. "The idea is to show a view of Marvel not from up high in the sky-you're down in the streets. If rock 'n' roll stars have groupies, superheroes would have groupies."