Was there any real chance of avoiding the censorship regime of the Comics Code Authority, or did Wertham's book merely catalyze widespread anti-comic sentiment whose boiling over was inevitable? How much longer would EC Comics' horror titles have gone on for? BONUS: Would Wertham dying early have any adverse affects on the civil rights movement? (His psychiatric research was used as evidence in cases like Brown V. BoE)
Some form of industry censorship probably comes eventually.
The comics code was a method of keeping heavy handed government regulation (such as MPAA or ESRB) off the back of publishers and resellers by doing it on the industry side. Some other writer/publisher is liable to push the envelope past the point of public acceptance sooner or later.
The belief that 'comics are for kids' was the driving force behind the code, and adult-oriented comics didn't return to the mainstream until the 80s. Even the major publishers continued to adhere to the core ethos of the code in most respects after it was discarded in the 90s. Unsurprisingly, the fact that the code could be discarded without much controversy was mostly due to the moral outrage moving on to other media.