going away - Comic Discussion (Print & Web!)
Cussing in comics?
PokeMitch
at 2:53PM, March 10, 2007
Is it ok to use cuss words in the comics. And I mean words like f*** and sex and other words like that. An answer would be greatly appreciated.
last edited on July 14, 2011 2:46PM
silentkitty
at 3:16PM, March 10, 2007
I would say yes (I hope so, because my characters curse pretty often), just adjust your rating to suit however much profanity you use.
last edited on July 14, 2011 3:37PM
Darth Mongoose
at 3:24PM, March 10, 2007
Well, a lot of things in comics depend entirely on the audience. For example, on Drunk Duck there are 4 ratings:
Everybody = Suitable for everybody, so no cussing, no heavy violence, no nudity etc. Has to be child friendly.
Teen = Can have some violence and blood if it's not overly gorey, a bit of sexual reference and innuendo, maybe implied nudity, and can have light or infrequent cussing.
Mature = May have some mild nudity or sex scenes, frequent or strong cussing and fairly heavy or graphic violence.
Adult = May be pornographic, frequent or graphic scenes of nutidy, violence, sex, taboo subject matter and lots of heavy cussing.
So really, you have to decide what to put in your comic based on what you want to put in it and who you want to aim it at. I sometimes have to censor what I'd like to say in the comic a little to keep it Teen+ rated, but I want to keep it accessible to a wider audience, so I feel it's worth it. Sometimes the fact that I'm forced to follow these rules with the words leads to me writing more interesting dialogue than I would have if I was able to just write whatever I felt like.
Everybody = Suitable for everybody, so no cussing, no heavy violence, no nudity etc. Has to be child friendly.
Teen = Can have some violence and blood if it's not overly gorey, a bit of sexual reference and innuendo, maybe implied nudity, and can have light or infrequent cussing.
Mature = May have some mild nudity or sex scenes, frequent or strong cussing and fairly heavy or graphic violence.
Adult = May be pornographic, frequent or graphic scenes of nutidy, violence, sex, taboo subject matter and lots of heavy cussing.
So really, you have to decide what to put in your comic based on what you want to put in it and who you want to aim it at. I sometimes have to censor what I'd like to say in the comic a little to keep it Teen+ rated, but I want to keep it accessible to a wider audience, so I feel it's worth it. Sometimes the fact that I'm forced to follow these rules with the words leads to me writing more interesting dialogue than I would have if I was able to just write whatever I felt like.
last edited on July 14, 2011 12:08PM
PokeMitch
at 7:50PM, March 10, 2007
Ok so how do you change the rating of your comic cus I put it on Everyone without thinking about it so I need to change it too Teenagers.
last edited on July 14, 2011 2:46PM
Neilsama
at 9:00PM, March 10, 2007
Just go to My Account and select the comic for which you would like to change the rating. Then when the next page loads, just scroll down. You'll see "Ratings". Click one of the four icons.
I used to be really timid about swearing in my comic. A few years ago, I was really worried about offending people. Somewhere in that time period, my entire political and social outlook completely changed, and now I just don't care. I don't see censoring myself as a necessary component of my expressing.
I put cusses in my comic all the time, although I don't do it to be gratuitous. I think I keep my cussing well within context of the scene, although it does exist for comedy's sake, periodically. I dropped the C-bomb in one page, because it was obviously in retaliation over something totally beneign.
What I think is really funny is that my villains don't swear at all. Rather, they use the more typical comicbook cussing, such as "Blast!" and "Curses!", whereas everyone else will say shit and damn all the time.
I used to be really timid about swearing in my comic. A few years ago, I was really worried about offending people. Somewhere in that time period, my entire political and social outlook completely changed, and now I just don't care. I don't see censoring myself as a necessary component of my expressing.
I put cusses in my comic all the time, although I don't do it to be gratuitous. I think I keep my cussing well within context of the scene, although it does exist for comedy's sake, periodically. I dropped the C-bomb in one page, because it was obviously in retaliation over something totally beneign.
What I think is really funny is that my villains don't swear at all. Rather, they use the more typical comicbook cussing, such as "Blast!" and "Curses!", whereas everyone else will say shit and damn all the time.
last edited on July 14, 2011 2:10PM
PokeMitch
at 8:38PM, March 11, 2007
Ok thanks Neilsama. I have changed my rating now so be sure to read my comic if you can . . . along with everyone else. PS. The comic is Kingdom Hearts Stupid Files.
last edited on July 14, 2011 2:46PM
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