May 2016
2 / 48
May 2016
Oct 2016
kalematsuba
May '16

Hi guys.
So, I've got this idea for a comic right. Its been incubating in my head for quite a long time. Everything's almost ready to go; I've got the characters, the setting, the general story, but...

i can't think of a title. i'm afraid of titling my comic something that's going to IMMEDIATELY turn people away due to being some sort of tired or cliche. or accidentally calling it something misleading, etc.

So, my question is, for my own information, what are things that you think someone should absolutely avoid when titling their comics? Are there specific words that should just not be included for some reason?

On the flip side, what are some good naming conventions for comics?

I'm curious to hear your guys' thoughts. I'm extremely new to the world of actually making comics (despite having been drawing for like 21 years. yikes) so i'm doing a LOT of research before delving.

this is just the kind of person I am. i probably dont NEED to do such in depth research but i've always been this thorough all my life. lol.
(i couldnt find a topic that discusses this already. nontheless, i apologize if this is a repeat.)

  • created

    May '16

  • last reply

    Oct '16
  • 47

    replies

  • 4.1k

    views

  • 24

    users

  • 72

    likes

AnnaLandin
May '16

I personally tend to avoid comics with words like "Destiny" and "Fate" in the title, but that's an allergy I've developed from years and years and years of reading high fantasy novels, so that might not be an immediate turn-off for others.

I'd recommend you avoid using words that are really hard to remember the spelling of - if someone finds your comic once, but then loses the link or something, you want your comic's title to be possible to google.

phen
May '16

Agreed with @AnnaLandin, those terms are so huge and overused in our field of work (any kind of fiction media really!) that they end up just blending in with the noise. They've become bland!

That said, overly complicated words (such as my username, woo!) prove to be awkward and off-putting for large audiences. If it's not something they can quickly, easily pronounce to friends and family, it might be a good idea to find another more accessible title.

I guess it goes without saying that your targeted audience should certainly come into play when you're thinking of a title. Not necessarily the end-all-be-all of what you settle on but it's good to include them and their interests in your research.

Robosaur
May '16

Hey, Kalematsuba! C: I'll try my best and put my own personal(but I think they're pretty general) ideas on this~

Some things to avoid:
1) Unless it is of any significance to the story or concept of your comic, using only the protagonist's name is very plain and boring.Sometimes it works but, there are definitely better ways to catch readers attention.

2) try to avoid titles following the "The __ of __" pattern. This might seem random and very specific but here's what I mean: Titles like "THE hero OF light", "THE sages OF darkness" may have been original waaaay back but,over time this formula became associated with cliche stories.

Things to consider:
1) Something that catches me easily is when a title has some kind of contradiction or pun in it.
Ex: "princess charming" instead of "Prince charming"

It's not a must have but it's good to consider (/v)/

2) Coming up with a FITTING title is actually easier than one might think! Assuming you know where your story is going, just think/title about what concept you're trying to convey. You most likely will end up editing it a bit to be more eye-catching but, it's a good place to start!

Ahhh this post was hecka long but I hope it helped ; v ; good luck!♡

carloswebcomic
May '16

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use "The Chose...." or "Reckoning", otherwise I'll get my army of flying monkeys to hunt you down.

60SixAn Actual Shark
May '16

Laughs awkwardly hoping there are exceptions to this as I look at my comic, City of Blank.
Am I the only one who doesn't mind "of" titles as long as it's not pulling from really cliche elements such as "light," "dark," "destiny," and so on? Maybe I'm biased though... :'D

Robosaur
May '16
2

Ahhh I should've been more specific ahaha ; v ; it definitely leans more toward cliche FANTASY comics because they usually end up using some shiz like "of darkness" for no reason. Sorry if anything offends anyone >\< //crawls away

J.Lovelace
May '16

I think something like "The Tales of..." or just "Tales of..." is very overused in both comics and animation. Also something that has to do with Universe, Academy/School, Life
I'm not saying that's a bad title choice. But personally it just makes my eyes roll each time I see it ^^;

Also I get a little annoyed when a title has a common word and it makes it hard to find online. But I am guilty of that myself so I should get slapped for that haha SLAP
If I remember any more, I'll edit this post XD

Titles are hard to be honest. Can cause a headache indeed. I tend to make titles with just one word lol
I really like puns as title names. They pick my interest at least.

60SixAn Actual Shark
May '16
Robosaur

Nah, none taken! I saw a similar comment on another thread and I've been sorta nervous sweating since.
Funny thing is, I actually considered "Blank City" at one point too ages ago, but I actually chose otherwise because at the time I knew of tons of other things called names like "Nightmare City" or "Angel City" so I was actually avoiding that trope that was pretty popular at the time.

And I guess to actually contribute to this topic, and I fully admit I might be biased, but I think most title lines are okay as long as you're avoiding the...classic fantasy cliche words (darkness, light, destiny, chosen, angel/demons to an extent).
It's already been said, but please avoid impossible to pronounce names. Like man, I love Disgaea, but I still don't fully know 100% to this day how to pronounce it and had to double check the spelling just to make this post.

Also, alliteration is always appealing in titles. Not at all necessary, but it always makes for something that rolls off the tongue nicely.

trivialtales
May '16
J.Lovelace

Oh man... What if tales, is like, qualified by another word? Like, say trivial, for general reasons, not for any personal reasons involving my comic being called The Trivial Tales of Luna Lesser.

J.Lovelace
May '16

As long as it's not AMAZING TALES I guess it's fine :'D
As said, it's not bad title choice. I just see it sooooo much online it gets boring for me haha, don't worry about that

demthorshie
May '16

I try to avoid anything that even sounds remotely cliche and aim for a comic title that isn't seen as often as some of the terms listed above. I pretty much avoid giving my comics titles with the words 'fantasy' 'quest' or 'adventure'. Kind of a pet peeve of mine :s.

zetina
May '16

TITLES ARE HARD OMFG

Some things you can use for a title is if your story/universe has a hook or unique quality about it. For example the game Rune Factory is named for the fact that by working on your farm, you get runes, hence you're like a factory, haha~ And Kingdom Hearts is named for the goal/mcguffin that ties the whole series together. Of course, that requires naming said feature but eh <'D

Another is making it a sentence, or, like, phrase, ummm... "Did you water your garden?" They would be tough to google tho, probably >.>;;;

At the heart of it though, is the theme of the story. If you can put it into words - in a paragraph - maybe you can find a way to say it in two. I'm afraid I can't think of an example though...

allansardoma
May '16

Hmmm. For me You should consider the genre of your comic. Your title should fit with its genre or what it is all about. Also, you should think of unique titles or words that are not commonly used 'coz words that are used again and again are just ... you know.. So that's just my opinion so .. you should think of a title that's unique.. and also pick a title that's short. May 2 words or 3 so that Viewers can easily remember it and search for it if they want to.

AngieVX
May '16

It's your story and your title. Look at famous and iconic books, comics, movies! Some have very simple titles, some have weird and funny titles, some have philosophical and allegorical titles. It's not about AVOIDING and BUILDING WALLS restraining your creativity, it's about finding something that will make YOU passionate! The only thing I can advice is to try to invent a title that is easy to read and write!

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)