Forum:Comic speech bubbles

Forums: Index → Community Proposal → Comic speech bubbles

As we all know, it's an unwritten "rule" to blank out speech bubbles in comic panels whenever those are uploaded. However, I'd prefer we got rid of this practice, at least in most cases. Why? Because it robs the image of much of its original context and information value, not to mention the huge blank spaces being rather distracting and irritating to viewers (case in point: here, and here). Also, Wookieepedia doesn't do it (at least anymore) and I generally tend to agree with their standards.

With this in mind, I'm suggesting that we only blank out speech bubbles if:

• The speech bubbles/their contents distract from, or are unrelated to, the focus of the image (arguably the case with this image)
• The bubbles cannot be reasonably cropped out of the image (as has been done in here and here)
• If the contents of the speech bubble are cut off.

I'm not sure if the practice originated due to copyright concerns or simply because Wookieepedia used to do it (I believe), but I don't think we'll be in trouble as long as we keep the amount of comic scans within reasonable limits ie. only uploading images that are deemed necessary. --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 03:35, 1 December 2014 (EST)

Yeah, Wookieepedia stopped blanking speech bubbles in 2007. Wikipedia doesn't do it either. And I agree, we should stop blanking the bubbles as well. It generally takes away from the image and can be distracting. Especially when the bubble is an unattractive colour like here. However, I have no issue with blanking the speech bubble if it is completely unrelated to the image. If we do stop blanking speech bubbles, should we re-upload images from comics with the speech bubble intact? - NightHammer (talk) 16:18, 1 December 2014 (EST)

I agree with this. Removing the text for most scans deprives readers of context and verbal action. Not all images need that though as they're purely action-oriented or the text is unimportant to the feel of a given scene. I'd say that every comic scan upload in the future should contain the original text and we can remove it or add it in for whatever need we have. Helianthus — All right. Shoot!