Thoughts about self-censorship
I am well aware that some of you don’t really “get” today’s comic or don’t like it for other reasons. While the concept might not be particularly inspired, the details are done very well in my opinion. I was also surprised that about half of the visitors of the website IsItFunnyToday.com found the strip funny, because it’s certainly not funny in the literal sense of the word.
I think that too many webcomic creators are their own worst censor. Just because they believe that certain themes or opinions are unpopular among their readers they don’t dare to write a strip about it. And if you have reached that point there is a great chance that your comic will eventually become as bland and boring as most newspaper strips. If there is a matter that is near to your heart and which you’re avoiding out of fear of the potential reactions (or losing some readers), you’re only betraying yourself in the end.
That’s also a reason why I love Gill, a comic about a young boy with a poor mother and a good-for-nothing father. It’s not always easy to make good jokes about poverty, because poverty is obviously not a funny thing. Therefore, some Gill strips are not particularly funny, but that’s not a big problem since the comic still has a meaningful message. Although I have read hundreds of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal strips, I still have no idea about the opinion of its creator about just a single important issue of life. It’s always the same wacky humor. There’s nothing wrong with wacky humor, but I personally prefer works of art with an actual message. As long as the message is not thrown directly in your face every second day.
That’s why I will continue to occasionally write strips about controversial or obscure topics, such as the violation of human rights in a country nobody can find on a world map.
