The Bazooka Joe comic strip operated on a rigid, repetitive syntax that mirrored coding loops.
Even worse, the "Decoder Rings" you mailed away for (25 cents and a proof of purchase) rarely worked on the comics they came in. They worked on future issues, forcing you into a lifetime subscription of bubble gum addiction.
The Bazooka Joe Code wasn't a cipher designed by the NSA. It was a simple substitution cipher—specifically, a or "Optical" cipher. Instead of replacing letters with numbers or other letters, it replaced them with tiny, goofy-looking icons.
To the average 8-year-old at the dentist’s office, it looked like hieroglyphics. But to a kid with a decoder ring (or a sharp eye), it was the most exclusive club in the world.