Exclamation Points In Comic Stories

[Eta Beta]

Olivier says (to Derek)

>Carl Barks once explained that a point might be mistaken for "something a
>fly had put there", so an exclamation point was the easier way to avoid
>mistakes !

Correct, but that doesn't explain the whole story...

in the old times the final inked art (and lettering) was transferred
on transparent acetate, which was then checked by a "cleaner" editor
to make sure there were no hairs, dust particles or other blemishes
on it that could spoil the final print, and if there were any the
editor would remove them.

A plain period or full stop could indeed be dangerously similar to
a dust particle and/or unwanted spot, so the rule was that
punctuation should be emphasized with exclamative marks so as not
to be mistaken for "defect".

The most famous anecdote on this matter couls be spotted in the
very first Mickey Mouse daily strip, first panel, where in
unrestored editions we see a chicken in a corner, intentely
gazing at... nothing!

There was originally an interesting pebble, or seed there which
attracted our poultry's attention, but an eager editor had "cleaned"
it off.


Cheers!

Eta Beta