I'm starting a new webcomic project and I began to notice that I mentally edited out all onomatopoeia even though I traditionally throw in little sound blurbs whenever possible. I figured without the sound, it would feel more silent and lonely, but onomatopoeia is a big comic book tradition and there aren't many comics without it (Moore's work is the only thing that comes to mind).

What's your take on sound effects? Like 'em? Hate 'em? Do you use them a lot or do you downplay them and sprinkle them around sparingly even for large sound effects like explosions?

I like onomatopoeia, and surely don't mind when I see it used in a comic. Er, within reason. But, as you said, not using sounds gives the comic a different feeling, helps set a certain mood, and I'm all for that!

I find that personally, I use sound FX ("WHIZZ! BANG! SKUZZ! ")) fairly regularly, but only for sounds I really want to emphasize. Not every punch or hit receives "BIFF POW!" sound label, but explosions do, and creaking doors.

It never bothers me when I'm reading someone elses work, but whenever I try to put them in they always seem out of place and remind me that it's a comic not anything real and it throws me off. I only use them on the rare occasion that someone else tells me, that it desperately needs it.

at first i'd do a small one....but recently i've been lazy, and it's been taking up entire panels....

i dont mind it in comics, as long as it fits....

I only use it very, very reluctantly. I tend to not read it at all when I'm reading a comic. My eyes just skip over it. So, I only use it when absolutely necessary. For pacing or informational reasons, usually.

I'm the same as others who've posted. I don't mind reading them (sometimes, they are fun, especially if lettered to "look" like the sound too) but I hesitate including any unless specifically needed for clarity. I just never know the right ones to use. :-/

Yeah I tend to be like Brock and ignore the sound affects I know I'm so sorry to the letterers, but still. Sometimes they help create mood. I'm with seventy2 I'm too lazy to do sound effects. Then again in the comic I've been doing there really is no need for sound effects since it's mostly dialog, but in the Superhero story I've been doing I've realized the only real sound effects I do are screams amd omphs.

Although I'm a big fan of Alan Moore's work, I think his argument about SFX being unrealistic is one of his more absurd pronouncements. Sure, explosions in real life don't have a "Ka-Boom!" written across them, but then conversations in real life don't follow you around in little bubbles either.

Strangely, although people have been questioning the use of lettering to indicate sounds since the 80s, the more recent trend seems to be reversing that. Comics are increasingly using SFX-type words to indicate not just sounds but also actions. I assume it's a Manga convention that is only now starting to creep into Western comics but there's an increasing use of words like "snuggle", "kick", "creep", "blush" etc. These are all actions which really need no accompaniment at all since there's no sound involved and it's clear (or should be clear!) from the artwork what's happening.

It just goes to show that using or not using SFX is not a matter of right or wrong but just what happens to be fashionable at any particular time. So, unless you actually care what other people think is right, I'd say use them when it feels right to you, and don't when it doesn't.

I usually go with sounds based on my own way of making them with my mouth. I try not to do standard onomatopoeias, like bang, whiz, and ka-blam. If I needed something that sounded like wet crunching, I would go with something like *SKLRCHKT!*

My personal favorite is the one I've come up with for someone giving the raspberries. It's usually something like, *PTHBPLK!!!*.

There is a method to this madness. My rule of thumb is that P's pop, K's crackle, B's bounce, S's hiss, and so on. And I almost never use vowels, because I think all striking sounds should be consonants. Vowels are for the wind and streams of the cartoon universe.

@ Neilsama:

But then what do you do for the deep resonating "oooooo" of explosions like KABOOM?

I like those random little sounds. I think they make the "world" seem a little more real.

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Just as long as the sounds actually sound like what they should (ex: what Mister Kent said... no every punch sounds like "biff pow").

I think the problem with sound effects is they're a very fine line to walk for comics that are meant to be serious in tone - they can very quickly become comical and ruin the feel of a scene. But as the saying goes, nothing worth doing is easy.

Personally, I find the hardest thing about composing comic pages is that I almost always find myself having to communicate a ton of information in very little space, with a very limited number of tools, and to just deny myself one of these tools on general principle seems like a pretty bad idea to me. The trick is to make the sound effects an actual part of your layout, so that they don't seem slapped on top of everything else after the fact. Which is hard for me because I'm not a particularly great letterer, but having to do page layouts without sound effects would drive me nuts. I need them to get the point across.

The real danger of onomatopoeic sound effects is in letting them become cliches. Not all explosions are going to sound like Ka-boom. The trick to using them effectively without them appearing overly cartoonish is to try to individualize them.

And of course to use them only when truly necessary. The ultimate goal of a comic panel or panels is to create an image that will subtly plant motion, sounds, and other sensations into the readers' mind. Their imagination should do most of the work, you're merely coaxing it along.

Although it'd be interesting if someone attempted to realistically cram all the real life sounds one would hear into a comic- like all the background noises people usually tune out- electric hums, birds, wind, i could go on. You'd probably have very little space left for the action.

mlai
But then what do you do for the deep resonating "oooooo" of explosions like KABOOM?

ha ha.... I said almost never.

I tend towards downplay sound effects. If there's a loud, obvious sound effects like a gunshot or a door slamming I'll put it in. Also if there's a sound that characters are supposed to react to I'll put it in. I also like sound effects that describe what their action is, like, "Shut!" "Tug!" and so on... even if they are a sort of cop-out