May 2016
21 / 48
May 2016
Oct 2016
Killercroc
May '16

Wow, people seem to have a lot of fixed ideas about this.

When picking titles the only thing I try to avoid is coming up with something that sounds too ambiguous. That might be why fantasy-titles get the boot a lot of the time. I like names that describe something specific, something that's integral to the story, theme and atmosphere of your work.For instance, when coming up with the title for my comic Silver Vein I was thinking about a specific phenomena that occurs in the story but I also wanted the name to speak about the theme of the story: hate and cold blooded thinking.

This is actually one of the few things that decides for me if it's a good title or not. Does it describe your work well or not? If it comes out a little cliched yet still describes everything about your work perfectly then I say go for it.

Vikiro_Hop
May '16

Titles and naming stuff in general is very weird. Aside from cliches, there are a bunch of rules and exceptions to those rules and none of it makes very much sense. Long titles can be needlessly complicated, but it might stick out and fans would find a way to shorten it anyway. Cliched words might turn people away, but an author might use that to make it humorous etc.

Here is what has served me well so far.

-No racial slurs
-No Steven Segal references.
-Don't mention pirates. (unless it involves pirates.)

VermillionWorks
May '16

I'll say do not use a misspelled word as your title to make the word more edgy or because it's the special name of something in the story, all it does it makes it look like you can't spell...and it's not worth the headache of people pestering you about it anyway. XP

I've also said this before but I find it a tad easier to decide on a title once I've got the bulk of the story worked out; try to see what the main themes of your story are. A character? A special object? An emotion?

Kura
May '16

This is something I picked up when manga magazine/ inkblazers was around, but I have a habit of instinctively avoiding webcomics that have a Japanese word in the title or have a completely Japanese title. A LOT of the comics there were manga inspired in the absolute worst ways, with either story lines near exact to popular shonen series (just some names and titles changed) left to right panelling but NOT left to right word bubbles, which made reading REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY HARD. Or it was full of romaji every other word (and almost always used badly, awkwardly or incorrectly)

It drove me crazy.

I also find I'll overlook series that have titles that are too long. Unless the whole reason for having a long ass title is for the titles to be taken as a joke. (You can tell the difference)

In general, you want something that can easily be associated with your comic. Fits your series, it simple or unique enough to remember, has a nice ring to it, doesn't sound too much like other series (You want your comic to stand out, not meld in and disappear among similar or other generic titles/themes)

Ringarune
May '16

I'm not the best at coming up with titles myself, but I guess I have 2 things to try and avoid. 1) Well, this one isn't technically avoiding anything, but I would recommend choosing a title with good searchability, meaning not much else in a search engine pops up when you type in your title 2) make sure your title isn't the same as anyone else's work

indagold
May '16

well first and foremost make sure the title isn't used for something else. Second of all I don't know how much you can fail with a title, just create something that isn't mundane. Also make sure it isn't too long or if it's short make sure it isn't bland.

sorrelma
May '16

my tip as someone who never follows their own advice is don't use super long titles
my recent comics have been montage at the end of the world(never fits anywhere, even the abbreviation is long, isn't very original or descriptive anyway, but i still like it fml) hello, reykjavik and rapture(shortened to reykjavik recently but now it will never show up in a search engine lol) and a book for monsters(talk abt cliche buzzwords omg) they're all pretty formulaic
long titles can be cool if you can effectively shorten them or like.. if the acronym spells something ?
but mostly they just don't fit on the pages and can get tough to remember

Michelle
May '16

I don't like titles with creative spelling or weird punctuation, because that generally ensures I will never be able to look your comic up. So please, no weird titles like "Re:Member the Darknyss" :u also anything that sounds like a crazy JRPG title with 10 words thrown together randomly. I will definitely not remember that stuff.

Admittedly my titles are pretty much to-the-point. My comic Centralia 2050 takes place in a city called Centralia in the year 2050 . But I like the way it sounds XD people usually just call it "Centralia" which is fine too.

Strontium
May '16
60Six

It's in my comic too...Heroes OF Thantopolis. But I did name the comic after the original Thantopolis story called "Journey to Thantopolis"

defineprog
May '16

To me the easiest and often most effective titles for a comic is just....the name of the main protagonist (assuming you have a central hero), or something that sums up the theme of your comic rather than who or what's in it. Or you can go the path of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure or Scott Pilgrim vs The World, and do both of those things.

ikushina
May '16

I tend to avoid comics like "my boring life", "fuck my life", "random derp comic x33"..
Some people might wanna rip my head off for this, but i'm also getting tired of seeing titles like "my trans/nonbinary/intersex lyfe". it's cool that you are whatever the hell you are but if your comic doesn't even focus on that and if it's just filled with boring 2011 9gag humor then just no.

5 months later
Fox_Den7
Oct '16

Cliches! Don't start it with the word "The" or "Fate" or "Darkness" or "Amazing"

lunaartemisasama
Oct '16

Actually, I never cared about titles. I mean, I also read manga and I don't have the minor idea what some titles mean, I just read it if some drawing catch my attention or the summary, or the tags.

Sometimes I don't even remember the name of the comics I am reading but I see the thumbnail and I remember.

Just try to avoid something that might be misleading I suppose.

AnnaLandin
Oct '16

You are of course free to call your story whatever you want, but both those titles basically amount to "The sequence of events that has been predicted's sequence of events that has been predicted".

AnnaLandin
Oct '16

Well, there IS a bestelling book called "John Dies At The End", so.

mayday
Oct '16
2

I'm not a fan of long titles (basically anything over like four words) or titles that include character names (odd, considering one of my favorite book series is titled with protagonist names).

My comic has a one word title. I suppose "CRUSADE" is super vague and kinda cliche, but I really like how it fits my comic. The word is directly defined as "a journey or effort to stop injustice" and that's what my story is about. I personally love one word titles, they really draw me in and I love to figure out what a story is about instead of having it given to me, but maybe I'm alone in that.

I recently heard there's actually another comic called Crusade floating around the world but I am very tired, man.