10 / 26
Feb 2023

Reading most of this made me think my comic was too wordy, except that last post made me feel better.

Agreed.

Also, I know people have posted shots from old comics as examples, but I actually disagree with most of them. Old comic formats are just not what your average reader wants or expects. I'd personally drop a comic in a heartbeat if it had that much text. It feels muddy.

It should feel like a single moment, not a whole ass conversation. A breath, as BoomerZ has said.

This is an old thread (back from 2017) and like 30+ replies long BUT it's got some strong tips about speech bubbles

I think with regards to balancing text, art and especially creating good spacing for all of it is to count for text from the moment you thumbnail. Finding ways to cut the fluff for lines that feel too wordy or seeing what can become an action performed by a character or just a general show not tell will help build much stronger balance between things

I know I'm constantly bringing up Sonic but the IDW comics I feel have done a really good job with the way they handle text on a page and even part with a lot of talking or lots of characters talking are well balanced

for example an interrupted monologue from issue seven

or a sort of team huddle from issue 25

course it helps to have some variation in bubble shapes to aid with tone and impact of something a character is saying and how they're saying it

also managed to find this thread on twitter with some quick digging for speech bubble tips as well (among what looks like a handful of other things that go with it but all relevant nonetheless)

https://twitter.com/h0lysarthole/status/1117494276135489536

but i feel like planning for character dialogue or other things from the earliest drawing stages possible is the best way to go and then double checking flow and readability coz if things feel crammed on the page or its looking more book than comic then it's probably gonna need some trimming down or rearranging

What kind of comic are you trying to make? I think that will determine what is too much or not.

Comics like Pyongyang, Persepolis, Maus, Fun Home, Epileptic are very dialog heavy. They are also biographical and talk about serious topics.

I think the reason why some webcomics have minimal text is because some people just want popcorn lit. Some people just want something simple and easy to read. This isn't a bad thing, if it fits with your genre than that's fine.

I am mostly annoyed by too much text when it seems unnecessary and there is no art to go along with it. I think text should take up about 1/3 of the panel, 1/2 at max (used sparingly). And putting a drawing of anything is better then just leaving the panel empty. Empty panels can be useful for scene transitions, but it can be annoying if you only use them for exposition dumping.

I'm not sure how much speech bubble is too much in one panel. But I tend to write less than 3 sentences in one speech bubble (mostly 2 at max even).
People are most likely to read a bunch of bubbles rather than one long butt bubble! :smile:

I think more than 3 sentences in one speech bubble is too much text. Unless you're trying to do a jokey "character talks too much" thing, or you find a unique way to make the art so insane that the reader somehow simultaneously reads a whole paragraph long speech bubble while staying focused.


Good example of that is Watchmen by Alan Moore. Lots of text in bubbles, but the writing's engaging and it still takes up so little of the panel that it remains enjoyable. The content within the text can make long length feel more palpable .. I hate reading characters narrate over exciting action that's happening right in front of me like I don't have eyes, but I like reading neat monologues. My main advice is to think back to or find examples that you personally would find a slog to read through or look at, no matter how good the actual story is, and ask yourself "why does this feel like too much?" Usually the answer is that the author isn't breaking the dialogue into neat little chunks, which can make it much easier to read over.

That´s not the average hunter x hunter page though, people wouldn´t read hunter x hunter when every
page would look like this (imo).

Does sound like a good time to reread Watchmen since I have a physical copy of that. I always really liked this comic because it was so dialogue heavy, but the dialogue was always very engaging and dynamic. That's always been a strong illustrated theme in my comics.

I think that Hunter X Hunter is a good example of a poorly done page and I know why:
There is rare circumstance a full panel should be used as text. There ARE times when it works for the impact, but this page has SEVEN PANELS. And TWO of these panels have ANY semblance of illustration in them. This is a page with 5 panels of nothing but text.

Even IF the text takes up too much of the screen, I think the readers appreciate just ANY amount of illustrative work that goes into a panel to direct what's happening in the story.

Lots of people have given really good advice already, but here's my two cents... xD

If it looks good, it doesn't matter. I know that sounds very blasé and unhelpful, but truly art is meant to break standards if it is saying something and has a theme to get across. Sometimes, a conversation in a comic calls for big ass dialogue bubbles. So long as it has a composition and clarity, the reader will have no problem with it.

And you calling that dream reader a troll is exactly who that person would be irl--a troll.
If your comic IS mostly text and relies less on visuals, that's something being said there for sure, y'know? It would make me take time to read it, look at the carefully chosen images that go along with the text, and try to understand the intention behind it being made that way.

Checked out your comic btw, and I think it's fine how you have it! It's very by-the-panel, is a square comp in each one, and therefore relies on a bigger dialogue bubble to convey the conversation. I think you're good. :}

That HxH page is so famously not normal that people often use it as a reference for what is a bad page, lol. I've seen it so many times in discussions like this.

Well, I wholly believe you can learn more from a bad example than from a good example. And I definitely believe there is a LOT to learn from that HxH page.