Your form of swearing is starting to get old. I can figure out what the swear word was, but if you are going to do that, just stop. You could have easily had the character said “hell” instead of whatever you intended. Your shitty form of censorship is just getting super old.
I understand you are trying to make this comic all ages, but honestly, the complexity of the story and the adult stony lines is farther from anything your average “child” is going to grasp.
Decide on what you want to do, an adult comic, or an all ages comic, but for the love of god, stop with the awful censorship.
Don’t like it? Then don’t read it. There are still plenty of us fans who enjoy the creative ways he disguises the swearing, at least he isn’t like most comics/manga/books that either do **** or just blank it out. Instead, Dave creates playful symbolism to hide the swearing. And for all you know that could be how the characters actually say swear words, coming out as cryptology rather then actual words.
If you don’t like it, don’t read it. I’m astonished at the rudeness of berating an author/artist who takes his time to create a free and lovely comic for us over something you don’t like in his style. Honestly, would you write Stephen King and tell him how he needs to get over using the extremely vulgar language he’s capable of because you find it stupid?
Kids are a lot smarter than most people think. Adults think they can’t pick up on nuances and societal issues and complex plotlines, but they can. How else do you think I got through the entire Redwall series when I was a kid?
And even if kids can’t handle complex plotlines and the subtleties behind the story, they can still read the comic on its face despite the adults reading deeper. Think about what Bill Watterson did with Calvin and Hobbes: it was funny, and kids (and adults) laughed at it, but it was also at times a deeply philosophical strip, and adults were able to pick up on the meanings behind the humor.
So your comment about the “average ‘child'” is invalid, and even if it were, I believe that children could still read the comic and take it at face value without getting the deeper meanings. As I have shown Selkie to truly be a family comic, ergo, if there is swearing, it must be censored or removed to keep it that way. I acknowledge that the symbol-swearing could annoy people, but if you remove it altogether or tone down the intensity of the curse, the characters’ dialogue can change in meaning. Think about what Ms. Afkhami said upon seeing Selkie brought in shivering and incapacitated. [Male-sign/female-sign], i.e., the f-word. If she had said “God” or something, that wouldn’t convey quite the same level of horror and shock as the f-word.
I’m not really sure how to conclude this, but let me just say, if you’re annoyed with the symbol-swearing, go read another comic. In the end, it’s Dave’s decision, not ours, and we have to be content with that.
wow, someone needs to go shovel a barn full of horse poop… and apparently never learned “if you cant say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”
If you don’t like it, read another comic.
I wonder if, possibly, some folks are putting slightly too much importance on the exact content of a given instance of cussing. It really isn’t /that/ important what particular combination of naughty phonemes Todd is stringing together, it’s important that his reaction is visibly strong enough to drag such foul language from his throat.
It’s emotional content, not exposition, and the hieroglyphs work quite well for this purpose.
It may be of value to consider that you do not /need/ to figure them out to figure out what’s being communicated. Read them as particularly colorful bloops and bleeps if solving them is onerous to you.
Your shitty criticism has gotten old. Please stop with your shitty critcism and return under the bridge you came. The majority of us like the pictographs and the way you criticize is rude, whiny, and boring.
I believe Dave has said before that he’d rather hear the criticism in order to try and improve, so telling people who raise problems they have “don’t like, don’t read” basically works against what he wants. (That, and insulting people is never cool.)
I don’t agree with his criticism myself, but the guy is entitled to his opinion, however crudely put.
But how does that entitle him to shove his opinion in our faces.
I, personally, don’t like the pictographs. I would prefer he either write the words or do the “standard comic cussing” like Sgt. Snorkel did to Beetle Bailey. But – it’s his comic. I would not tell him how to draw HIS comic, and I see no reason why some troll hiding behind a keyboard should be entitled to tell Dave how to draw HIS comic.
If you don’t like it, do like I do. Skip over it. Someone in the comments will translate it. đ
And if it upsets you THAT BAD, stop reading the comic.
Exacly, Alpo. Thanks for being reasonable.
I, for one, find the symbols to be funny, as well as creative and useful. He can get across EXACTLY what is being said, but without partially-censoring or just using the full word.
Opinions/criticism is welcome, but blatent rudeness is nasty–not just to Dave–but those of us who read/participate in the comments. 90% of the time the person who presents it in such a form is just looking to get reactions–not opinions or intelligent discussion.
There is at least one child who reads this comic on a regular basis. My 8 year old LOVES Selkie. Does he understand every little innuendo? Of course not. Did he understand the schoolyard bullying and the friend-enemy interactions of the kids? Absolutely. This comic has some wonderful stuff for elementary age kiddos.
Now, does he decipher the pictograph-swearing? Nope! He looks at it and goes, “Oh, bad words. Okay.” Meanwhile, I silently translate them to myself and giggle. He doesn’t have enough swearing knowledge to be able to figure out what they mean (and we don’t dwell on those panels). I enjoy the little puzzles, even when they are easy, and much prefer them to the swear words themselves. ***** would be fine also, though less creative than the pictographs.
You’re certainly entitled to dislike the pictographs, Jeremy, but you could phrase your criticism a bit more politely next time. Many of us enjoy the puzzles and there’s little enough swearing that it shouldn’t ruin the whole comic for anyone, whatever form it takes.
I grew up reading Asterix. If you haven’t heard of them, it’s a series of graphic novels set all over Europe and is very popular in most european countries, aimed at kids, that use a similar technique. I just interpreted it as an angry “fkladfsh!” and it worked. I imagine that lots of kids would react to the cryptography the same way, and it means that people can have a chuckle at being able to work it out.
And anyway, most swear censorship doesn’t stop those ‘in the know’ from being able to work out what’s being said.
I grew up with Asterix comic books, like icecheeth, and the novelty of Selkie swearing pictograms actually making sense rather than just being a random combination of picture has yet to wear off.
Personally, I really enjoy the pictographs… In my opinion it allows the characters to be a lot more creative in their swears than just the typical f-bomb, et. al. which are becoming so common place that it’s hard to see them as a “strong curse” anymore.
I see it the same way as my current “curse of the moment” which is “oh FFS”, which is an acronym for “for f-ck’s sake”. Those who want to “do the math” to think about what I’m really saying can; but those who don’t, can just gloss over it… Same as in Selkie’s world.
I love the cryptographs, and I rarely even bother to translate them for myself. When I was a kid, I practically learned to read from Asterix and Tintin comics, and in them swear words are always a string of symbols, non-translatable ones at that, so it totally works for me at least. And I’d imagine it works for most kids that read the comic, too.
For some reason I love the look on Pohl’s face in the last panel… like civil wars starting over family get togethers could happen to anyone, hahah. That’s why my family doesn’t do reunions o.0 someone winds up arrested or in the hospital…
Gosh floobit, Dave! Now I have to get through two dental appointments and write several history papers before I get to know how a FAMILY VACATION can start a civil war! Wednesday cannot come soon enough!
Although now that I think about it, a family vacation probably could start a war if you botched it up enough and the family was high-placed enough … now I’m more scared than anxious.
I dislike that Todd is handling this so poorly, he seems like an otherwise put-together guy. I feel like the freaking out doesn’t really mesh with the rest of his character. Also, given everything else he knows at this point and has lived with a while, I feel civil war is not that surprising of a conclusion.
in all fairness, this is the first time he’s found out that his daughter was driven from her home by a civil war that started over a family outing. It’s entirely possible that it’s also just occurred to him that her mother being so desperate to get her to safety that she left her in a human orphanage probably means that his little girl was in a lot of danger.
The Sar’Teri are the working class of the undersea, right? So are they expected to clean up when people urinate in the lake? I can see how that could lead to Civil uprising
Why does it have to be a âhumanâ family vacation?
There are four castes â the teachers, the preachers, the artists and the âothersâ. The ones that actually do the work. In most societies that are set up like that, the workers are the lower class. And they know it. They are the Untouchables. The Eta. âNo Irish Need Applyâ. âJews, Papists and Coloreds be out of town by sundownâ.
So maybe they are tired of being âscumâ, and want what they consider âtheir rightsâ. The âupper classesâ consider that as âbeing uppityâ. âNot knowing their placeâ.
Professor Jones and his family are on vacation, and he gets stopped for speeding. He does not believe he was speeding and says so. Arrogantly. Cop tells him he was, âbut for a small consideration I wonât write the ticketâ.
Professor Jones cusses the crooked cop. Cop tasers the Professor. Mrs. Professor pepper-sprays the cop. Copâs partner shoots Professor and Mrs. Jones. Junior Jones, in the back seat, had recorded all of this with his smart-phone and uploaded it to the net.
Always the little things. Always.
I get the impression that someone thought they were more important than they were at that family vacation. And I wonder if it’s to do with cross-clan marriages or breeding. “You’re not a true Sar’Teri!”
Todd get a grip… the kids!
hhmm im guessing this is the error message comic strip 404
Reminds me of Terry Pratchet’s “Interesting Times”
blue balls fuck? fucking blue balls would make more sense.
Regard Todd’s face in the penultimate panel. Do you think that is a man who thinks he has to make sense?
“Blue-ballin fuck”?
Speaking of which, whats the policy on swearing in the comments?
The policy is “I really need a ‘Comments may contain unmoderated language. Viewer discretion is advised’ disclaimer.”
Please also mention that you’re not to be held responsible for whatever we blurt out in the comments đ
Nor the parent companies, subsidiaries, stockholders, or affiliates.
Celebrity voices are impersonated, no celebrities were harmed during production.
đ
Sometimes I love you Dave.
Your form of swearing is starting to get old. I can figure out what the swear word was, but if you are going to do that, just stop. You could have easily had the character said “hell” instead of whatever you intended. Your shitty form of censorship is just getting super old.
I understand you are trying to make this comic all ages, but honestly, the complexity of the story and the adult stony lines is farther from anything your average “child” is going to grasp.
Decide on what you want to do, an adult comic, or an all ages comic, but for the love of god, stop with the awful censorship.
To each his own – I find the cryptography entertaining.
It’s up to Dave how he does things, and cussing him out over not using cuss words probably isn’t the best idea if you want him to change it.
Don’t like it? Then don’t read it. There are still plenty of us fans who enjoy the creative ways he disguises the swearing, at least he isn’t like most comics/manga/books that either do **** or just blank it out. Instead, Dave creates playful symbolism to hide the swearing. And for all you know that could be how the characters actually say swear words, coming out as cryptology rather then actual words.
If you don’t like it, don’t read it. I’m astonished at the rudeness of berating an author/artist who takes his time to create a free and lovely comic for us over something you don’t like in his style. Honestly, would you write Stephen King and tell him how he needs to get over using the extremely vulgar language he’s capable of because you find it stupid?
Kids are a lot smarter than most people think. Adults think they can’t pick up on nuances and societal issues and complex plotlines, but they can. How else do you think I got through the entire Redwall series when I was a kid?
And even if kids can’t handle complex plotlines and the subtleties behind the story, they can still read the comic on its face despite the adults reading deeper. Think about what Bill Watterson did with Calvin and Hobbes: it was funny, and kids (and adults) laughed at it, but it was also at times a deeply philosophical strip, and adults were able to pick up on the meanings behind the humor.
So your comment about the “average ‘child'” is invalid, and even if it were, I believe that children could still read the comic and take it at face value without getting the deeper meanings. As I have shown Selkie to truly be a family comic, ergo, if there is swearing, it must be censored or removed to keep it that way. I acknowledge that the symbol-swearing could annoy people, but if you remove it altogether or tone down the intensity of the curse, the characters’ dialogue can change in meaning. Think about what Ms. Afkhami said upon seeing Selkie brought in shivering and incapacitated. [Male-sign/female-sign], i.e., the f-word. If she had said “God” or something, that wouldn’t convey quite the same level of horror and shock as the f-word.
I’m not really sure how to conclude this, but let me just say, if you’re annoyed with the symbol-swearing, go read another comic. In the end, it’s Dave’s decision, not ours, and we have to be content with that.
wow, someone needs to go shovel a barn full of horse poop… and apparently never learned “if you cant say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”
If you don’t like it, read another comic.
I wonder if, possibly, some folks are putting slightly too much importance on the exact content of a given instance of cussing. It really isn’t /that/ important what particular combination of naughty phonemes Todd is stringing together, it’s important that his reaction is visibly strong enough to drag such foul language from his throat.
It’s emotional content, not exposition, and the hieroglyphs work quite well for this purpose.
It may be of value to consider that you do not /need/ to figure them out to figure out what’s being communicated. Read them as particularly colorful bloops and bleeps if solving them is onerous to you.
Your shitty criticism has gotten old. Please stop with your shitty critcism and return under the bridge you came. The majority of us like the pictographs and the way you criticize is rude, whiny, and boring.
I believe Dave has said before that he’d rather hear the criticism in order to try and improve, so telling people who raise problems they have “don’t like, don’t read” basically works against what he wants. (That, and insulting people is never cool.)
I don’t agree with his criticism myself, but the guy is entitled to his opinion, however crudely put.
He’s entitled to his opinion, certainly.
But how does that entitle him to shove his opinion in our faces.
I, personally, don’t like the pictographs. I would prefer he either write the words or do the “standard comic cussing” like Sgt. Snorkel did to Beetle Bailey. But – it’s his comic. I would not tell him how to draw HIS comic, and I see no reason why some troll hiding behind a keyboard should be entitled to tell Dave how to draw HIS comic.
If you don’t like it, do like I do. Skip over it. Someone in the comments will translate it. đ
And if it upsets you THAT BAD, stop reading the comic.
Simple.
Exacly, Alpo. Thanks for being reasonable.
I, for one, find the symbols to be funny, as well as creative and useful. He can get across EXACTLY what is being said, but without partially-censoring or just using the full word.
Opinions/criticism is welcome, but blatent rudeness is nasty–not just to Dave–but those of us who read/participate in the comments. 90% of the time the person who presents it in such a form is just looking to get reactions–not opinions or intelligent discussion.
My philosophy is that I don’t want Selkie to be one of those places where speaking contradictory opinions gets you muted or banned from commenting.
There is at least one child who reads this comic on a regular basis. My 8 year old LOVES Selkie. Does he understand every little innuendo? Of course not. Did he understand the schoolyard bullying and the friend-enemy interactions of the kids? Absolutely. This comic has some wonderful stuff for elementary age kiddos.
Now, does he decipher the pictograph-swearing? Nope! He looks at it and goes, “Oh, bad words. Okay.” Meanwhile, I silently translate them to myself and giggle. He doesn’t have enough swearing knowledge to be able to figure out what they mean (and we don’t dwell on those panels). I enjoy the little puzzles, even when they are easy, and much prefer them to the swear words themselves. ***** would be fine also, though less creative than the pictographs.
You’re certainly entitled to dislike the pictographs, Jeremy, but you could phrase your criticism a bit more politely next time. Many of us enjoy the puzzles and there’s little enough swearing that it shouldn’t ruin the whole comic for anyone, whatever form it takes.
I grew up reading Asterix. If you haven’t heard of them, it’s a series of graphic novels set all over Europe and is very popular in most european countries, aimed at kids, that use a similar technique. I just interpreted it as an angry “fkladfsh!” and it worked. I imagine that lots of kids would react to the cryptography the same way, and it means that people can have a chuckle at being able to work it out.
And anyway, most swear censorship doesn’t stop those ‘in the know’ from being able to work out what’s being said.
To each his own.
I grew up with Asterix comic books, like icecheeth, and the novelty of Selkie swearing pictograms actually making sense rather than just being a random combination of picture has yet to wear off.
Personally, I really enjoy the pictographs… In my opinion it allows the characters to be a lot more creative in their swears than just the typical f-bomb, et. al. which are becoming so common place that it’s hard to see them as a “strong curse” anymore.
I see it the same way as my current “curse of the moment” which is “oh FFS”, which is an acronym for “for f-ck’s sake”. Those who want to “do the math” to think about what I’m really saying can; but those who don’t, can just gloss over it… Same as in Selkie’s world.
I love the cryptographs, and I rarely even bother to translate them for myself. When I was a kid, I practically learned to read from Asterix and Tintin comics, and in them swear words are always a string of symbols, non-translatable ones at that, so it totally works for me at least. And I’d imagine it works for most kids that read the comic, too.
For some reason I love the look on Pohl’s face in the last panel… like civil wars starting over family get togethers could happen to anyone, hahah. That’s why my family doesn’t do reunions o.0 someone winds up arrested or in the hospital…
Gosh floobit, Dave! Now I have to get through two dental appointments and write several history papers before I get to know how a FAMILY VACATION can start a civil war! Wednesday cannot come soon enough!
Although now that I think about it, a family vacation probably could start a war if you botched it up enough and the family was high-placed enough … now I’m more scared than anxious.
GOSH FLOOBIT!
Thanksgiving for the Sarnothi family power elite? I could see civil war out of that. Also, GOSH FLOOBIT! <3 I may steal that if you don't mind. đ
Ohh noo! Not the family vacations!!! Hopefully not one of the Smith-fishing-vacation… :c
… that would be an unhealthy level of irony.
I have an unhealthy feeling it WILL be.
Dave can I just say I love your use of pictures for curse words. But seriously best plot twist ever LOVE that it was a family vacation.
Ah, if the vacation involved a family reunion I could see how a war started.
I dislike that Todd is handling this so poorly, he seems like an otherwise put-together guy. I feel like the freaking out doesn’t really mesh with the rest of his character. Also, given everything else he knows at this point and has lived with a while, I feel civil war is not that surprising of a conclusion.
I agree. It does seem a bit reactionary compared to how he’s behaved in the past.
in all fairness, this is the first time he’s found out that his daughter was driven from her home by a civil war that started over a family outing. It’s entirely possible that it’s also just occurred to him that her mother being so desperate to get her to safety that she left her in a human orphanage probably means that his little girl was in a lot of danger.
The Sar’Teri are the working class of the undersea, right? So are they expected to clean up when people urinate in the lake? I can see how that could lead to Civil uprising
Why does it have to be a âhumanâ family vacation?
There are four castes â the teachers, the preachers, the artists and the âothersâ. The ones that actually do the work. In most societies that are set up like that, the workers are the lower class. And they know it. They are the Untouchables. The Eta. âNo Irish Need Applyâ. âJews, Papists and Coloreds be out of town by sundownâ.
So maybe they are tired of being âscumâ, and want what they consider âtheir rightsâ. The âupper classesâ consider that as âbeing uppityâ. âNot knowing their placeâ.
Professor Jones and his family are on vacation, and he gets stopped for speeding. He does not believe he was speeding and says so. Arrogantly. Cop tells him he was, âbut for a small consideration I wonât write the ticketâ.
Professor Jones cusses the crooked cop. Cop tasers the Professor. Mrs. Professor pepper-sprays the cop. Copâs partner shoots Professor and Mrs. Jones. Junior Jones, in the back seat, had recorded all of this with his smart-phone and uploaded it to the net.
âTHEM DAMN SAR TERI ARE MURDERING US!!!!!â
And the war has begun.
Always the little things. Always.
I get the impression that someone thought they were more important than they were at that family vacation. And I wonder if it’s to do with cross-clan marriages or breeding. “You’re not a true Sar’Teri!”
yay you can hear the crack of some glass in panel 5.
Hey! In panel #2…that’s Jack Skellington!
regarding the picto-graphic cussing.
It beats putting a barry ween chip (see http://ps238.nodwick.com/?p=48) on the comic.
Skin Horse does the same gag with Nick Zerhakker. Never gets old. XD
Knowing how many family vacations end up, it’s actually a wonder they haven’t sparked more wars as is.
has anyone else noticed the extreme relevance of this page’s number? đ
no sooner do i post than i find someone who already said it. woops XD
When even a small pebble is thrown into a pond, does it not still make ripples?
I know I bastardized the hell out of that.
That must have been one hell of a vacation.
Yeah, vacations. Car trips. In-laws and cousins. That’s how we always did it, too.