Maybe texting has desensitized me to the horror of exclamation, but I can't help associating exclamation points with over-enthusiasm and that's far from horrifying! This isn't the only comic where 95% (maybe 100!) of the dialogue is exchanged with exclamation points, but the subtlety of periods would have been far more effective in chilling my blood! The moments where exclamation points would be effective are also dulled by the moments where mundane conversations are littered with exclamation points! On page 89, Mr. Loman's sudden Nag! Nag! Nag! outburst is fantastically scary because exclamation goes well with enlarged and specialized text, but in an uneventful panel on page 91, the room clerk says "You want your room key as usual!" and a yawning Mr. Loman replies "Hello Tom! (Yawn!) Hope my room's ready! I'm going to hit the sack right away! (yawn!)". I did a quick scan, and aside from ellipsis, the other comic punctuation, the dialogue was pure exclamation! If yawns are exclamatory too...I mean come on! I was distracted by this goofiness in comics that were supposed to give me nightmares and some scenes were unintentionally hilarious! It's hard to crescendo and climax when every line is pretending to be an exciting revelation! Comics has its own special punctuation, and I can respect that, but I can't tear away my exclamation prejudice when every panel has that glaring dot and line feigning unnecessary excitement! I think my distaste for this punctuation was especially piqued in this genre of comic because the finality of a naked period is much scarier than a glittery !
Paul! You hit the nail on the head! The punctuation in here drove me crazy. It was like the characters were talking with their headphones on the entire time. Or like they were super happy, never taking anything seriously. Or like they were talking monotone. Or all of the above. I'm not sure if our generation has a exclamation point problem, but this type of punctuation just doesn't work anymore. Let alone in these serious, morbid, and creepy situations. Some of the plot points in these comics genuinely surprised me, and just as I was about to tip my hat to them, some character would blurt out an exclamation pointed comment, completely delegitimizing whatever they were saying! It's a shame!
ReplyDeletePaul, I can totally see where you're coming from in questioning the abundance of exclamation points. In many case, the punctuation in these comics elevates the action to the point of absurdity and makes everything seem over-the-top. I have to wonder, however, if 'over-the-top' was what the illustrators and writers were going for. After all, these are lurid stories featuring exaggerated characters in even more exaggerated and outlandish scenarios. Perhaps the illustrators and writers felt the need to emphasize the absurdity of these stories so as not to offend sensibilities too severely. It is also possible that those working in this relatively-young medium still felt the need to compensate for its lack of sound. The heavy punctuation reminded me of the overly-title cards and wildly-expressive acting that characterizes most silent cinema. As for the instances of "(Yawn!)," I took these to be a subtle indication of Mr. Loman's over acting.
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