Comic Book Grammar by Nate Piekos

Nate Piekos at Blambot has written up a wonderfully detailed article for letterers about traditions and trends in comic book grammar. It was fun to read and appreciate how much is communicated through the styling of the letters and balloons.

ELLIPSES
The ellipsis is used when a character's speech trails off. If a character is speaking, trails off, and then resumes in another balloon, you should always end the first dialogue with an ellipsis and then begin the second dialogue with an ellipsis. Another allowable use is when a character's speech is stilted or they pause due to physical distress. Injured characters or those soon-to-be unconscious often make good use of this in wavy balloons. There are only THREE periods in an ellipsis. Again, you'd be surprised how often I've seen four or more.

via Sentence First

'Not a word' is not an argument

Hysterical and fabulous post from Sentence first: An Irishman's blog about the English language.

"History and sense are rarely allowed to interfere with peeving."

"...automatic deference to dubious pseudo-rules is associated with substandard prose and a penchant for dogma."

"Repressive lexi-quibbling overlooks the fact that language is fiercely playful and productive. It invites our creativity."

I'm in love.