So, is there a line comics should'nt be crossing with regard to visual content?
I mean, do we have a responsibility to our readers whatever age?
I was wondering how far is too far, or should there even be a limit...

It occured to me recently that I have some pretty extreme images in my head for my horror comic 'Guts', and my latest page could have been both toned down or made harsher.
This is the page...


I have the comic at a 13 rating i think but i feel this image could be suitable for any age, i mean it is kinda cartoony..

different people have different sensibilities i guess....hmmmm i dunno

dark10
So, is there a line comics should'nt be crossing with regard to visual content?
I mean, do we have a responsibility to our readers whatever age?
I was wondering how far is too far, or should there even be a limit...

Yes...you do. That's why the content ratings exist in the first place. That way if any kids read your stuff anyway, it's not your fault.

And that image is definitely too graphic for 13-year olds. The point is not that it's cartoony, but that it is extremely representational of something very graphic.

My advice would be to bump up your comic to M if you are going to have scenes like that.

I'm afraid that's an M :)

T+
Content is suitable for teens or older. Mild violence, slightly mature themes. No obscenities, graphic violence, sex, or nudity.

M
Content contains mature themes that might not be suitable for children. May contain occasional obscenities, limited graphic violence, implied sex, mild nudity. No sexually explicit material, no graphic sexual acts, no Hentai, no unrelenting violence, or non-stop obscenities.

That said the only 'responsibility' a creator has to his or her readers is to tell the best story he can. I think it's silly to limit a comic visually because of some invisible perception of 'what people might think'. One of the great things about the modern comic landscape is that there is a much greater level of acceptance for non-mainstream stuff. If something fits the tone of your comic and you want to do it, there are very few people who will complain. (Now, if you normally drew happy fuzzy bunnies and suddenly one of them exploded like that, it'd be something different. You would have set up a different expectation.)

I like that drawing quite a bit, actually. I personally think it could use a bit more blood, since the dude is clearly being ripped apart (although I'm not entirely sure how). Although I agree that it's probably worth an M rating.

Thats an "M" rating to me if it is gonna be all too commonplce. But 1 or 2 scenes like this is just fine I think for a T rating.

yeh, these kinda pages are few and far between, the comic needed an image to catch the readers attention but i'm fully aware how easilly it could become overkill.Violence for violence sake as it were.

I think modern horror movies suffer by throwing too much gore in 90 mins movie. When something happens occasionally it adds to the impact.

I mean, did you see the halloween remake? Jeeez, Compare that to the original and you'll see what I mean.

stupid remakes....

Considering you have a 'horror' comic, and here you have an exploding man... just do yourself a favor and give yourself 'M'. You'll probably get more readers, LOL.

Someone
http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs24/f/2008/007/7/f/gutspage_by_Darkneal.jpg

I would rate this an F (for "Fucking Awesome" ) .

EDIT: I really like how DD's smiley conversion makes no sense at all. How, honestly, do you get a wink from a quotation, ), and a period.

I want to rate that A, but I guess if DD says otherwise...

But really, many M and T+ rated comic on DD have explicit sex scenes and don't have the 'A' rating. I guess they think 3 pages of sex in a 50 page comic means they don't have too. Kaaaaay.
(I take comic ratings pretty seriously)


BTW Dark, your comic would 'pop' more if you thickened the panel lines. ;)

I usually think of the DD ratings as roughly analogous to MPAA ratings (T=PG-13, M=R, etc.) But even those are based on a certain "mainstream American" view of what is disturbing and taboo. So for the most part, ratings are rather vague. There's the overall approach ( "one boob in 50 pages = E or T) or rating the comic by it's most extreme point (one boob in 50 pages = M or A) still there's the more problematic issue of trying to rate according to subject matter, which is a hornet's nest. Even saying, "hey, this is what this online community feels is the overall rating, and what the administrator says was within the lines..." can still result in a few dissatisfied customers.

I'd say if you're really concerned, probably the best course of action would be to go for complete truth in advertising. Place a large comic title image (like in many A comics) that lists some of the sensitive subject matter (gore, horror, nudity, etc.). If one has to scroll down from that, there's really no excuse to be shocked ;D

leatherwoman
I'd say if you're really concerned, probably the best course of action would be to go for complete truth in advertising. Place a large comic title image (like in many A comics) that lists some of the sensitive subject matter (gore, horror, nudity, etc.). If one has to scroll down from that, there's really no excuse to be shocked ;D

I agree with that. I also do that myself, though there are people out there who will still ignore it and scroll down then scream at you for putting out the image...

hmm, so the general opinion is that I should make it at least an M.

so I have...

Thanks for the feedback. I honestly expected people not to care but its good to see some healthy debate here. I think America has a slightly different tolerance factor to England and particulary Europe with regard to ratings though...

It all has to be taken into consideration, I wonder what the average age is of DD readers...

First, I have to say that page is effing awesome!

I'd say that's more stylized violence than cartoony.

I believe that you should never censor yourself based on what you think others will think about you, but at the same time you have to be honest and upfront to your audience about what they're going to be reading. If something has an M rating, I'm expecting to see some boobies or heads rolling, but a Teen rating suggests that it will still be "soft core" violence. You run the risk of unintentionally inviting a younger audience to view something that they weren't expecting to see.

cool page.

the way I see it...
if a mutilated and burning anakin skywalker gets a pg13 and melting gremlins are pg

then a little bit of explosive innards should be fine for a teen rateing.