One thing that always annoyed me about British humour strips was when the characters were portrayed as being aware that they existed only in a comic strip that was read by 'real' people. If a character spoke directly to the reader, it told me that the writer had struggled to come up with a decent idea that particular week, or had simply taken the path of least resistance. I didn't mind it when it was a puzzle or activity page, and STEADFAST McSTAUNCH (or whoever) was inviting the reader to join the dots or colour in a picture - that was okay, but when it was part of a story, it could be irksome. I don't mind when a character is 'looking out' of a panel and speaking for the reader's benefit in an indirect way, but not when he's specifically addressing the reader 'straight-on'. (Incidentally, I'm not talking about host-type, 'serious' strips like TALES Of The WATCHER, only humour ones.)
Even worse is when there's a speech balloon from off-panel, with a 'reader's voice' label advising us of the fact. What's wrong with just having a friend, neighbour, bystander, or passer-by asking "How will you get your homework finished in time now, Roger?" instead of an intrusive comment from an imaginary reader? As I said in a previous post, this constant reminder that we're reading a comic ruins the sense of internal 'reality' required to make a strip believable. (Even 'funny' strips require an element of reality to accentuate the humour of the piece.)
Don't get me wrong though - a 'reader's voice' word balloon can sometimes be used to good effect on occasion, but it loses it's ability to surprise, amuse and entertain when it's the 'default setting', resorted to as a matter of course rather than for a specific and surreal effect.
So tell me - did this ever bug you as much as it did me, or am I 'shouting at the clouds' again? The comments section awaits (and awaits, and awaits, and awaits...).
******
(I couldn't be bothered searching through a pile of comics to try and find a suitable pictorial example, so I quickly drew the above one myself with a Sharpie fine marker. Remember, it's only a 'quickie'.)