Boundaries: Build 'em or Break 'em?

It's one of the most liberating aspects of webcomics: The complete lack of boundaries.

Very few -- if any -- webcomics exist under a structure that imposes boundaries on the language or visuals used by the cartoonist. Most of us are completely independent, and therefore set our own boundaries.

Seriously. Penny Arcade veers into blue language, but the comic certainly doesn't hinge on it. PvP rarely, if ever, drops a curse word. In fact, many of the top comics on the Web follow much the same boundaries as network television (albeit late-night broadcast standards).

So, why aren't webcomics a wall-to-wall, full-frontal swearfest? Generally speaking, why aren't we using that freedom?

Log in to read the entire post.