Thread "How should I warn readers the tone is going to get more extreme in future comics?" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 5:06AM, Jun. 5, 2021

My comic is not exactly for kids, I rated it A here but honestly I restrained myself because I thought of selling it in book stores, that is now feeling very restrictive and I feel like I can create a completely different book to fill that role.

So I decided to utterly cut loose, to go full author's appeal of kinks, horrors and other nasties.

Thing is I figure I should let the readers know that the comic is going to go Urotsukidoji in the future.

Should I have a special page between stories letting everyone know big nasty stuff is coming up, change the description to say "hey super adult porn here that will have this, this and that", or should I have a comment?

Posted at 5:06PM, Jun. 5, 2021

I'd say just let them know and make their own decisions about whether or not they want to continue reading. I feel it's likely that most will, especially since they've followed the series through its development.

I urge going to less trouble and being very matter-of-fact about it. The trend of people treating mature content like it's literally dangerous or utterly shocking is, in my opinion, a foolish mistake. If an audience is mature enough to read such a title, they should be mature enough to understand a disclaimer given by an adult, to other adults.

Posted at 11:06PM, Jun. 5, 2021

That's i question I used to struggle with for a bit a while ago regarding my comic Idfestaion. It's pretty much presented itself up front as unabashedly bizarre and raunchy. But there's going to be a character down the line in the comic who's characteristics I realize might perhaps be too extreme to some people. So I'm just gonna put up a disclaimer at the beginning, once I start posting for the comic again in July.

Posted at 3:06AM, Jun. 6, 2021

Good question. I know my comic is going to get more daring and I did put in some signs at the start. however, I like to mix and match so it appears quite ordinary at times. But now I wonder if I should have been more clear early on.

Anyway, I just place the odd warning as I can and see how it goes. I'm trying a kind of gradual build up.

I do try to steer clear of too many warnings which, in my view, can disrupt the flow of a story. 'Mature content' or '18 rated adults only' should really be enough. If I see that warning on a comic or show I expect anything to happen.

Posted at 9:06AM, Jun. 29, 2021

OlivsGirip wrote:
I am in a similar situation right now, however in my case it is a way more … difficult actually. I really like to include sex scenes in my comics, and until now those scenes were more like romantic, while from now on I would really like to try an include some more pornographic narrations. It is not that it would be pure porn, no, I would like it to be way more vulgar, and detailed.

Interesting. Problem is 'tone' of your book. It can be too shocking to a reader used to a certain 'tone' when you suddenly radically change to another. But this could apply to everything really. I know my story tone can change where violence is concenrned. One minute everything looks like roses, next minute it's suddenly gratuitously bloody.

Wierdly, society is pickier where sex is concerned but not so much on violence. Always seemed strange to me that.

That said, I've thought about how this could be done with sex too, if I wanted to. I guess one could go in gradually then slowly escalate, so the reader gets some warning via the story… Or you could just go all in - BAM! If the audience you have are already prepared for mature content, maybe most of them will handle the change.

Heck you could even ask them in a thread I suppose.

Posted at 11:06AM, Jun. 29, 2021

Hey maybe the guy who just had a tentacle rape scene in his comic should say something.

The tone of my has always been exploitation B-Movie gratuitous.

It's when it isn't that people have noticed.

I put up a pile of disclaimers at first. Now only when there's something particularly graphic. Though of course it might help that with Belle's Best you can always just say "it's only a movie " especially when the director yells "CUT" and the puppeteer is shown behind the tentacle monster in the following scene.

Another important thing about graphic scenes is portraying consequences. How will the characters live through it and go on after it. Is it all just fun and games or will someone take away something?

Posted at 8:07PM, Jul. 6, 2021

How much do people really read those Author’s Notes? Perhaps a warning page graphically warning people of the impending naughty bits would be a better warning.

My comix are different. Most of my comix feature the same characters, but they are just short stories averaging around 20ish pages each. Just the right amount for a possible hardcopy comic book but not usually long enough to build a reader following or get shown in the Featured Comics! listing. About half of my comix are rated “M” and the other half are a definite “A” rating.

With each new comic story, I mention the rating warning in my Author’s Notes, but I suspect that people who read my stuff know what kind of kinky cr@p that I draw. ;-D

Lately, I’ve been trying to do more Mature rated stuff, just so more readers of different ages can view them here without needing to start up an account. However, I have to admit that all of my stuff is pretty raunchy and I love drawing the “A” rated stuff.