Cussing in comic?

[Chocolate]

Hey guys! :3 What do think of using profanity for a webcomics title? I'm on the fence about this... See here, I really want to use a cuss word for a comic idea but not sure what would everybody think. Does it turn you away? Does Tapastic even allow such a thing? Thank you in advance!

[UzukiCheverie]

Depends on whether or not it makes sense. If you're just throwing profanity in there for the sake of profanity, people will be able to tell right away. Pick a title that makes sense and works for your series. If that title apparently requires a swear word, then it's your comic, go ahead.

Of course, I don't know how much of that Tapastic will actually allow. I know there are comics like "Busy Bitches" but bitches is kind of a more tame swear word because it has an actual meaning (bitches isn't even normally censored on TV anymore). You can mark an entire series NSFW if need be but unless you intentionally censor whatever word it is you're thinking of using, it might not be allowed because there's no way to filter that out. You might not see your comic get on the front page because of that :U (with the whole thing of trying to keep it user-friendly). But again, it depends on the word.

[WintreKitty]

Another option is doing your classic "bleep" in the title. Like a "?#@*%!" kind of thing... or you can straight up write "bleep" if you want to play it safe and not actually cuss. I think @UzukiCheverie made some great points as well!

You could always sensor it on Tapastic, but then on your main site (if you have one) you could do as you please.

[Bluejay]

I'm curious about this too. How much is 'too much' cussing in Tapastic? I'm pretty much a foul-mouthed person (without heat behind it, guys pls, no dont judge me) and naturally there's cussing in my comic too. BuTTt, I always censor the words with a censor bar. Some people put NSFW just because the chapter has some f*** and s*** here and there and some don't.

There are some cuss words that seems pretty vanilla for most people. If you had the word 'shit' in your title, it's pretty tame compared to 'f**k*. I wouldn't mind clicking on the title either, because it'll definitely stand out more than the others. But yeah, listen to @UzukiCheverie. Might have a point with the 'user-friendly' going on, tho.

[zetina]

Yeah, same, I'm kind of curious on how people feel about foul language. I don't see it that much around here, probably because everyone is so civil... Normally, I'd be dropping f-bombs and "shit"s to emphasize the strength of my feelings/opinions. To be honest, I don't feel like it would be natural to have most of my characters say them but I don't know whether it's due to me not feeling comfortable with it on this site or with those characters.

But that's neither here nor there!
If we knew the title, we could probably give more concrete suggestions. Personally, I don't give a f--- Um, I mean, I don't care. And I figure most brats have already heard the worst there is anyway >.>;; But that's a lazy, irresponsible outlook, I guess. I kind of want to really push for this site to stop using just "NSFW" as a catch-all content warning when it'S NOT AT ALL. Can we get proper ratings like PG-13 and R and so on? I don't wanna have to put up "NSFW" on pages just 'cause someone who isn't my target audience wanders upon the comic, basically.

I'm sorry I keep going on personal tangents. But the majority are at least well into their teens and even if it's kind of offensive to some then all it means the comic was probably not for them in the first place?

[zoonland]

Well, I wanted to use some cussing on my comic book, and sometimes I used it. In the first episode I used it more (even if not that much), but in the second I think I used only once or twice, where cussing "helped" for a joke or looked great in a specific siutuation.
I don't mind foul language (you should hear me talking when I'm angry ) but I prefer to read/hear it when it's ... ahem "needed" and not always. Nobody died for a "shit" read in a comic book or in a book.

[Kura]

I have no issues with it, as long as it's not awkward, swearing because of a situation and or conversation is fine, as well as if it's an element of certain character's mannerisms in speaking. Throwing a swear where it feels like it doesn't fit the sentence or the manner of speak of the character that's dropping it, is a little bit awkward (and that's still not an issue with me not liking swears, it's more an issue of poor writing)

One thing I notice though, and I do this both when writing a script, typing in chat or posting responses. Is if it's light hearted, joking, or casual swearing I usually type it down as ****, while if it's a serious conversation, point or situation, I'll type it out as fuck (or whatever the word I meant to say was) I usually have to go back and fix these for my comics for consistency sake (I try to keep it one or the other, but sometimes I miss 'em) though I'm not sure if I'll continue doing it the further into the chapters we go as things progressively get more serious, as sometimes really serious dialog looking really weird with ****'s place in it.

[demthorshie]

I guess for most people, it depends on the context in which the cuss word is being used in. I personally don't have a problem with a swear word here in there in a comic. Cussing really only becomes a problem for me if it looks like the writer is just purposely placing cuss words all over the place for no real reason but for shock value. I have seen this sort of thing done before and it instantly makes me want to stop reading the comic completely when it does happen. I really can't stand shock material, in fact I hate it with a burning passion

[Cade]

I think Comics should be made for all ages to enjoy and things like profanity prevent that from being a reality.

[FixerTheWise]

I have no issue with it. I don't think it should be NSFW either. Unless it's a lot of cussing then i'm like, have some tact buddy.

That being said I cuss a lot in real life and I dont have preoblems if someone cusses around me XD

[Chocolate]

Thank you everybody for replying! I think I got the basic down: the majority don't mind it but use it with caution. I don't think I will include the cussing in my comic because I'm too lazy to censor them . :>

[FixerTheWise]

What about horror and adult comics like Monster and Attack in Titan.
I think they would be a lot worse if they had to be PG 13

[ToonDoctor]

The classic way of cussing in comics is to use signs and onomatopoeia as mentioned by @WintreKitty . In Tintin, Hergé also made up novel cusses from everyday language. Comics have their own ways of cussing that avoids controversy, promotes creativity, is fun, and native to our medium.

Reach out and rely on comics' long history and legacy!

[Kura]

I think Comics should be made for all ages to enjoy and things like profanity prevent that from being a reality.

Not to throw this off topic, but to say that comics should only be for all ages and must always be accessible / child friendly to kids or should always cater to kids is like saying all animation/anime has no place targeting any audience outside of children, it's a really odd North American way of thinking?? (though I'm sure there are other countries that do it as well). Comics being exclusively a kids thing is a stigma creators are actively working against. I'm also not saying content aimed at children is bad or not interesting, just that there's nothing wrong with comics for different maturity levels and age ranges.

[shazzbaa]

I'd.... be really curious to hear Tapastic's actual stance on profanity, honestly.

Re: swears in comics in general, I don't think this has an overall answer. I think it's specific to the comic. Swearing wouldn't add much to Oops, for example -- not just because "it's an all ages comic" but like, seriously, what would be gained? It wouldn't make any character sound more realistic -- in fact, it would make them sound weird and unnatural, because that character wouldn't fit in the world anymore. Whereas, in a comic like Homestuck, a story about internet relationships between teens told almost entirely through chatlogs, the casual profanity helps ground those characters in reality despite their goofy story, and helps them ring true as teens on the internet.
I think you gotta look at what you're gaining from it -- even if that's something as simple as mood -- and whether that's worth cutting out a potential reader that's uncomfortable with language. I was thinking about this pretty recently for my video game story -- which was more important to me for that story, the accessibility of the story, or making the characters sound like real gamers? The latter isn't important for that story, so I chose the former, but I think either could be a valid answer depending on your priorities. Meanwhile, for Runewriters, I actually have a list somewhere where I decided which swears felt right for the world and which swears felt too strong for the story and sounded out-of-place.

The one thing you CAN'T do effectively is try to please everyone, imo --- if your bad guy calls someone a cowardly @#$%!! that's non-offensive swearing because it's cartoony. If your bad guy calls someone a spineless coward, that's strong and not unnatural without being profane. If your bad guy calls someone a cowardly fuck, it's strong, realistic language, but definitely profanity. All of those options have pros and cons. But if your bad guy calls someone a cowardly f***, you've got the worst of both worlds. It's obvious what the word is, which will be a turn-off for those who don't like profanity, but it instantly makes the language unnatural by calling attention to it in that way. There's nothing gained.

[Tindabox]

I don't really mind profanities in comics, but that's because I'm an adult and I curse in my comics from time to time. I also feel like not a lot of kids are going on to be on Tapastic to begin with or not a lot of people are going to be super offended by profanities (unless they're a parent?).

[Doubtcent]

While I'm personally against cussing in a comic, that doesn't mean it should be removed altogether. Grawlix, the weird shapes and signs that take place of a swear is often used in comics so that anyone can read it without being offended, but also so that we can still understand the strength of the word or how a character was feeling if used as an exclamation.

As for more story based comics, I'm personally against seeing F-bombs or the C-word because those are the most strong swears, and they often break the immersion for me, even though those are very common.

I however love to make even the most insane moment less insane by replacing cussing with my own brand of cussing, like "holy poopstick" instead of the obvious. Simply because it can be put in there, doesn't mean it should. If you're going for gritty, then whatever. That's not my interest. If you're action, then maybe a couple will do, open language feels like a mockery to proper english, and as a writer first, it hurts me to put slurs or cussing in my work. But if it's for the character's personality, it may be permittable, but I know there are other ways to show these things without going too far with language. Just gotta be a bit creative with how you do it.

[apocryphagraphics]

People who write books or novels don't fret about using realistic language unless their target audience is young children. People who write comics should do the same. You're a writer. Write.

[eagle1]

The tagline for NO-Earth comics is "Comics for people who don't read comics". Part of that means that we attempt to put out stories that would be at home in other mediums, and that should resonate with people who are not familiar with the tropes, cliches, and conventions of comics. For that reason, characters in NO-Earth would would be expected to cuss in any other medium will be cussing in our comics. It has nothing to do with shock value, but with capturing the way that people speak in real life, and the expected way they speak in other mediums.

That being said, having a weak cussword in the title of a comic is not out of line. "Crap My Dad Says" wouldn't have had near the impact that the real title did. On the other hand, I am reading a personal philosophy book at the moment that has "F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way" as its title. Inside, the F-Word is used liberally, but on the cover, it's spelled exactly the way I just did.

So there are two answers.

Eagle
(Just label the comic correctly)

[scythe]

I couldn't give less of a fuck about it. Cuss on!