Language Use in Comics

[HOTROD1988]

Is it just me or is it true there is more "coarse language" in comics these days? Actually if u asked me,I would prefer the coarse language as it helps create a mature feel to it. Are the phrases like "what the hell","bastard" etc used in the 70s to 80s comics? If so,maybe u could say which issue(s) it is used...

 

[Odin's Lapdog]

like anything else, it's just movie with the times, no big deal...

just like how violence in comics tend to be far more graphic than they were back in the day.

 

[HOTROD1988]

So it has nothing to do with censorship?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It does have to do with censorship. Namely, censorship is done in-house now. Marvel used to follow the Comics Code until the late '90s, when they pretty much abandoned it to pursue more mature themes and stories. Now they allow themselves greater latitude in language use and graphic depictions of violence. Basically, while Marvel's comics were the equivalent of a G- or, at the very worst, PG-rated movie under the Comics Code, Marvel itself is now skewing its comics more towards a PG-13 rating.

 

[Tropico]

It's a little bit of both. Now that most comics don't have the seal from the Comic Code Authority they can get away with more stuff than they did before. Of course, there's some material that still gets a 'mature' label as a warning to the consumer. And I disagree with Odin's Lapdog, there were a lot of horror comics that depicted some gory stuff that rivals and maybe even surpasses what you see today; this was before the whole comics witch hunt and the CCA was established.

 

[HOTROD1988]

..........

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think I recall seeing a "hell" or two in comics that were still under the Comics Code. Comics have basically kept up with TV standards. In the '60s it was inconceivable for someone to say "damn" or "hell" on network TV. Now we're up to "ass," "dick," "b****," and "prick" on networks, along with "s***" and "*****" on cable. So think of mainstream comics as network TV and MAX/Vertigo as HBO.

 

[Kitsune]

I think I recall seeing a "hell" or two in comics that were still under the Comics Code. Comics have basically kept up with TV standards. In the '60s it was inconceivable for someone to say "damn" or "hell" on network TV. Now we're up to "ass," "dick," "b****," and "prick" on networks, along with "s***" and "*****" on cable. So think of mainstream comics as network TV and MAX/Vertigo as HBO.

But they've been saying Dick in Batman comics for years.

 

[ElectroFlare]

I like when comic book characters yell "Blast!" instead of damn or hell...

 

[HOTROD1988]

..........

 

[TheCorpulent1]

They don't anymore. When they did, it was because of the Comics Code Authority.

 

[Silicon Surfer]

They originally created the Comics Code Authority to avoid being regulated by Congress or put out of business altogether. Some people were howling about moral corruption and all that garbage and the comics companies were feeling the heat.

 

[SouLeSS]

Look at how far movie's have to be stretched to become an R rated movie. Back 10 years ago if you would show just the back of a naked woman, or have the F-bomb in there in any fashion or sense, or the use of **** more than 5 times it would be rated R. Nevermind that if theres hardly any bloody violence it gets that rating.

Now a days to be an R rated movie you have to have some kind of fullblown porn scene, or have to be a movie with a lot of gore. I havn't seen a good action movie that didn't have sex, or gory violence in a long time that was rated R. THey're all PG13.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

They originally created the Comics Code Authority to avoid being regulated by Congress or put out of business altogether. Some people were howling about moral corruption and all that garbage and the comics companies were feeling the heat.

Yep. Comic books were the video games of the '60s.

 

[HOTROD1988]

They don't anymore. When they did, it was because of the Comics Code Authority.

..........

 

[TheCorpulent1]

1998 was pretty late in the game for the CCA. Marvel was pushing the boundaries of what was allowed under its seal to keep up with the times. "Golly" and "blast" weren't really relatable terms to the '98 audience.

 

[HOTROD1988]

1998 was pretty late in the game for the CCA. Marvel was pushing the boundaries of what was allowed under its seal to keep up with the times. "Golly" and "blast" weren't really relatable terms to the '98 audience.

..........

 

[Xofenroht]

It's amazing what gets censored and what doesn't. For instance, when someone says "GODDAMN" on t.v., they only bleep out the "God" part.

 

[Silicon Surfer]

Yep. Comic books were the video games of the '60s.

The CCA dates back to the late 50's I believe.

 

[Xofenroht]

Yeah from around the McCarthy Era, if the History Channel really is as truthful as they claim to be.

 

[PhotoJones]

Yeah...but why is this so? Why do they always say "what the blazes" instead of "what the hell" and "blast" instead of "damn"???

kirkman answers that question for you over in the irredeemable ant-man.

 

[HOTROD1988]

kirkman answers that question for you over in the irredeemable ant-man.

..........