Comic Vine News

38 Comments

Off My Mind: Typos In Comics, Intentional Or Unintentional?

Should this still be happening?


No Caption Provided
We all know nobody's perfect, right? There has been times when I've caught my own typos after I've published an article. You would just think that when it comes to printed media, we shouldn't see typos. The question is, are these typos intentional or unintentional?
 
Take the recent Teen Titans #83. After a busy day leading the Teen Titans, Wonder Girl goes to Superboy's room to talk. She's feeling a lot of pressure with the current events and the talking leads to other things. When Conner asks her if a kiss made "it better," her response is "No...make it harder." When the doctor tending to Miss Martian's condition walks in, she seems rather surprised. 
 
What is the age rating on this comic?
 == TEASER ==
No Caption Provided
Clearly that wasn't what was meant to be printed. We can assume that she probably meant something more like, "No...it makes things harder." I am by no means trying to place blame. I don't know if this was an editorial slip, if the letterer was trying to squeeze this by or if I'm just reading too much into a "tender" moment. I can just imagine what that outraged family would think of this after they were upset over Batman Confidential #18 (with Batgirl and Catwoman's tussle in the buff).
 
There's also the infamous All-Star Batman and Robin #10 that featured quite a bit of foul language. Due to a printing error, the potty-words could still easily be read despite the censor bars (seen to the right here). Maybe this wasn't necessarily a typo but it's still something that somehow slipped out. DC recalled the issue after it had shipped.
 
And let's not forget about that 1998's Wolverine #131 also faced a recall due to a typo which came out as a anti-Semetic racial slur. 

 Clearly Sabretooth was meant to be called a "killer" but that's not what made it to the printer.
 
I'm curious how and why this happens. There are so many people that look over a comic before it goes to the printer. Again, I don't want to place blame on any one position because it could happen at any stage. Part of me wonders if someone with access to the a computer scan before it goes to the printer is able to tweak things in an attempt to be funny, sort of like how some animators try inserting naughty bits into cartoons. You don't usually see typos that are gibberish. With All-Star Batman, I wonder why the "bad" words were actually lettered when a space could have just been left blank for the black bar to fill it in. Do you think these slip ups are intentional or truly are coincidental accidents? Have you come across any others?