
Comic Code – Monospaced interpretation of the most over-hated typeface - FabianBeiner
https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/tabular-type-foundry/comic-code?tab=glyphs
======
Twirrim
I know people really hate Comic Sans, but it has some really useful
properties.

One particularly useful property, especially in the education sector, is that
dyslexics typically find it decidedly easier to read. Comic Sans uses distinct
shapes for each character, e.g. no 'p' rotated to be 'q', and a variety of
different sizes, all of which help make it easier for dyslexics.

AIGA article on the subject: [https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/sad-but-true-comic-
sans-might-j...](https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/sad-but-true-comic-sans-might-
just-be-the-best-font-for-dyslexics/)

From a bit by the British Dyslexic Association: [https://bdatech.org/what-
technology/typefaces-for-dyslexia/](https://bdatech.org/what-
technology/typefaces-for-dyslexia/) Studies showed the following
characteristics as being desired:

* Good ascenders and descenders, b, d, f, h, k, l, t, and all capitals; g, j, p, q, y. * b and d; p and q distinguished, not mirror images. * Different forms for capital I, lowercase l and digit 1. * Rounded g as in handwriting. Most liked rounded a, although perhaps some felt that it may be confused with o. * Letter-spacing, e.g. r, n together rn should not look like m, (‘modern’ may scan as, or sound like, ‘modem’.)

And their summary on Comic Sans MS: "It meets all dyslexic ‘likes’ except
mirrored b and d."

~~~
cameronbrown
People often forget one of the reasons Comic Sans is so popular is because of
these properties, and cyclically the reason it's so hated is because people
can't help but see it _everywhere_.

~~~
stcredzero
An Irish fiddler of some note once quipped, "What's the difference between a
great tune and a hackneyed tune? About 20 years."

(Tunes come back around. They get so worn out, and "institutionalized" people
stop actually playing them for fun. Then, if they fade back into obscurity,
another generation can "discover" them again.)

~~~
DonHopkins
Almost 20 years ago, we shipped a game called The Sims that used Comic Sans
all throughout, that sold pretty well in spite of the font. Although maybe
it's one reason some people are sick and tired of Comic Sans.

[https://www.caseyconnect.com/hs-
fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media...](https://www.caseyconnect.com/hs-
fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/sims-comic-sans-300x170.jpg)

When to use Comic Sans:

[https://www.caseyconnect.com/blog/2013/typography/comic-
sans...](https://www.caseyconnect.com/blog/2013/typography/comic-sans-love-it-
or-hate-it)

>The Sims Comic Sans in-game text

>Because of it's lighthearted nature, Comic Sans might be appropriate for
design situations where humor or lack of seriousness is appropriate. One
example of this is the simulation game The Sims, where Comic Sans was used for
all in-game text. Materials appropriate for children might also benefit from
the use of Comic Sans.

In case you can't stand to read Comic Sans with your own eyes, I also made an
external screen scraping utility called Simplifier that reads Comic Sans text
off the screen, and catalogs and recites the product descriptions with a
speech synthesizer.

Demo of The Sims Transmogrifier, RugOMatic, ShowNTell, Simplifier and Slice
City:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imu1v3GecB8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imu1v3GecB8)

I recently dug up an early internal pre-release demo of it for "The Sims
Steering Committee" from June 4 1998, that convinced EA not to cancel our
project. It shows a very early version of the user interface, that was already
using Comic Sans. (So did the Quick Start Guide.)

The Sims Steering Committee - June 4 1998:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC52jE60KjY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC52jE60KjY)

(Notice last word of the second paragraph of the Level 4 scenario description
at 1:00! ;) Maybe the fact that it was written in Comic Sans enabled that
little boo-boo to fly under the radar.)

~~~
rafaelvasco
Absolutely. And it was the perfect font choice for The Sims. I really like
Comic Sans when it's used in the right context.

~~~
DonHopkins
The other perfect application of Comic Sans was (wait for it....) Microsoft
Comic Chat!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Comic_Chat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Comic_Chat)

>Microsoft Comic Chat installed a custom font, Comic Sans MS, that users could
use in other applications and documents. In 1996 it was bundled with several
other fonts in Microsoft's Core Fonts for the Web project and subsequent
versions of Microsoft Windows, leading to its notoriety among the internet.

[https://chrisgliddon.com/a-trip-down-memory-lane-
microsoft-c...](https://chrisgliddon.com/a-trip-down-memory-lane-microsoft-
comic-chat-6f23b8a64295)

>While Microsoft’s Comic Sans was first introduced in 1995 as part of a
Windows 95 Plus Pack, the font was more likely cemented into many people’s
minds for one or two reasons: 1) well-meaning, yet not-necessarily-design-
savvy educators, and 2) being selected as the default font in a new internet
chat application called Microsoft Comic Chat.

~~~
hedora
MS Comic Chat is still my favorite IRC client, even if it is completely
useless for communication these days.

------
tosche
Hi, I'm the designer of Comic Code. I just wanted to join the discussion here,
just because it looked fun. I know I released a Comic Sans variant, and I'm
totally okay with the negative reaction; in fact it puts a big smile on my
face. A world where everyone loves Comic Sans sounds wrong, doesn't it?.

I used to hate Comic Sans but it's still an interesting typeface that teaches
you a lot about typography. Comic Sans can be a great choice depending on the
context, and I want to share my personal favourite. When I went to a
restaurant in Istanbul, they gave me menus in Turkish and English. The former
was set in Comic Sans and the latter in Frutiger. The English menu looked so
much like an office document and the Turkish one looked much more appetising
(and I wished I could read Turkish). That was a genuine time when Comic Sans
beat Frutiger.

Despite its quirky letterforms, it performs surprisingly well on screen. And I
have seen people trying to use Comic Sans for coding too, most notably Simon
Peyton Jones. Programming/coding is also a corner of typography where writing
aspect plays a lot compared to others (e.g. user interface), so I found
handwriting fonts quite fitting too. I think Comic Code also helps coding
beginners who may be intimidated by the cold and mechanical visual of codes. I
for one am easily bored while writing codes in regular sans serif. Coding
environment is a very personal space and there is no need to look
professional. I didn't need maximum clarity or efficiency in my coding
typeface, but I wanted to have fun coding.

I think Comic Sans, for some people anyway, is something the internet told you
to hate. I do see flaws in the typeface and I tried to improve it in my
design, but I don't think you should be ashamed of liking Comic Sans. It's not
even a bad typeface, and I have seen worse, many times. There is no bad
typeface, only bad typography. (That's not strictly true but generally the
case for Comic Sans)

Sorry for the long post. If you have suggestions (e.g. what glyphs and
ligatures added), I'm all ears.

~~~
pault
I was expecting to laugh at how ugly it is, but it actually looks really nice!
I bought the essentials pack to replace operator mono, which I've become bored
with. Good job!

Edit: It looks really great with a theme that supports italics:
[https://imgur.com/a/VYH1J8s](https://imgur.com/a/VYH1J8s)

~~~
tosche
Thanks! That capital T looks kinda broken in this screenshot though. What OS
and editor are you using, and what font size?

~~~
pault
Yeah, I was going to file a bug for that; it's vscode at 16px with the monokai
pro theme, Windows 10.

------
davewongillies
For years I've used Fantasque Sans Mono [0] which is Comic Sans inspired:

> realization that at some point it looked like the mutant child of Comic Sans
> and Helvetica Neue.

[0] [https://github.com/belluzj/fantasque-
sans](https://github.com/belluzj/fantasque-sans)

~~~
dreamer_soul
That actually looks good haha

~~~
kbd
It's great actually. I've used it for years as my text editor / terminal font.

Compare it to your font of choice in this handy app:

[https://app.programmingfonts.org/#fantasque-
sans](https://app.programmingfonts.org/#fantasque-sans)

------
blululu
There was once an “Ask HN: What Font do you use for Programming?”. Most folks
chose mono-space standards. One guy said “Comic Sans - to remind me to be
humble.” I like that sentiment and I hope that he will enjoy this font.

------
js4ever
Honest question, buying fonts is still a thing nowadays with all the free
fonts everywhere? (google fonts and others)

~~~
Causality1
I'm also curious as to how this doesn't violate Microsoft's copyright on Comic
Sans, since it's a derivative work being sold for profit.

~~~
SloopJon
Case law on copyright for fonts is complicated, with fonts generally having
less protection than other works. My impression is that Comic Code is no more
derivative of Comic Sans than, say, Arial is of Helvetica.

~~~
tosche
Hi, the designer here. As for the font name, Microsoft owns "Comic Sans" but
not "Comic" or "Sans" alone. And as already explained, fonts are copyrighted
as software codes and a new one has to be made from scratch (except of course
when you are the owner or permitted in license agreement). In terms of visual
similarity, Comic Neue is much closer to Comic Sans but MS hasn't done
anything with it. If that's fine, Comic Code surely would be too. In any case,
I did speak with the MS guys prior to release, and they saw no issues with
either trademark or copyright.

------
PedroBatista
Most of the "most over-hated" is just "hate" because it's cool.

If they see me hatin' maybe they think I'm a cultured techno-intelectual but a
cool one.

------
codesushi42
Why is Comic Sans so reviled? Is it because it is one of the few fonts you are
able to name?

It's like the mainstream view that ET is the worst game of all time. It is
bad, yes, but not even close to the worst game of all time. Not even the worst
mainstream game of all time.

Stop font is far worse than Comic Sans, and that garbage was showing up all
the time in the 90s well into the 2000s.

[https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/5491/hdmovielogo/battlefield...](https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/5491/hdmovielogo/battlefield-
earth-50941e2592c41.png)

~~~
mehrdadn
> Why is Comic Sans so reviled?

This site sort of explains it (click to scroll):
[http://comicsanscriminal.com/](http://comicsanscriminal.com/)

------
Raphmedia
In a similar vein, I really like Comic Neue
[http://comicneue.com/](http://comicneue.com/)

------
linux2647
I want to hate on it, but it’s actually like the perfect intersection of
monospace and sans-serif; I find it incredibly readable.

------
cat199
... awaiting OpenBSD wscons(4) soft font in 5.. 4.. 3..

~~~
protomyth
Not open source, sadly.

------
qwtel
You can turn the actual Comic Sans MS into a monospaced font using FongForge.
I've made a short video about this back when [1]. You'll have to pause a lot,
but the end result is pretty neat.

[1]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg7rWHsiAfQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg7rWHsiAfQ)

------
seltzered_
FWIW, I actually use the 'chalkboard' (apple's version of comic-sans) in my
nvAlt (note-taking) app. Makes the feel a bit.

On a different note, it'd be interesting to pair this with a friendlier color
scheme:
[https://twitter.com/lovemecomputer_/status/10903670151419985...](https://twitter.com/lovemecomputer_/status/1090367015141998592/photo/1)

[https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=soft-
aes...](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=soft-
aesthetic.soft-era-theme)

------
craigds
I've never bought a font before. These seem crazy expensive. Is this kind of
pricing normal?

I'd expect to pay maybe a dollar or two for a font; it really doesn't seem
like it would provide enough value to be worth more than that.

~~~
tosche
I totally understand that it seems expensive especially if you haven't bought
fonts before. Designers are more willing to pay for fonts since fonts are
their tools and money maker, but most people do not make a money's worth out
of font purchase. If you are in an environment where you think font choices
can improve your productivity, I do recommend you consider buying one. To talk
about our side, serious typeface design requires years of experience, and
people who buy fonts are much smaller in number, compared to film and music,
which is also why fonts seem pricy. Look at MyFonts and you will see Comic
Code is actually on the cheaper side. There are sometimes good fonts made open
source, but the principle that we need to get paid still applies; for those
projects, it's just that they were paid by other companies like Mozilla and
Google, not users.

Here is an open source option of monospaced Comic Sans, which seems to be a
passion project rather than a paid one. It's a single weight with very small
character count. I mean no harm to her project, but it does make a case for
what you get for free vs money. [https://github.com/shannpersand/comic-
shanns](https://github.com/shannpersand/comic-shanns)

------
jonrx
I wish that MyFonts has a better way to "test-drive" the font. When writing
some small snippets of code, I wansn't exactly sure if it would work well.

Ended up purchasing it, and I must say, it's really fun to use! I find that it
makes it easier to go from "focus mode" to "overview mode": it's very
readable, but since it looks less blocky than most monospace fonts, I find it
easier to navigate larger blocks of code.

I might not use it all the time, but this will keep me smiling for a while!

------
tropo
I'd like a Comic Sans without the intentional imperfections. Comic Sans puts a
bit of wobble in the letters, as if being written by a careless person.

Alternately, with almost the same result, I'd like an Ariel with rounded tips.

What I'm wanting is nice geometrically clean letters done with a circle-tip
pen.

~~~
jszymborski
You might be interested in Arial Rounded [0], a similarly over-hated font

[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/font-
list/arial-...](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/font-list/arial-
rounded-mt)

------
wrp
Several years ago, I experimented with a monospaced CS-like font. It has only
the ASCII set, but it's free.

[https://www.dafont.com/pointfree.font](https://www.dafont.com/pointfree.font)

------
stcredzero
I wonder if machine learning could produce human looking comic book lettering?
It seems like something it would be good at. Also, I bet it could produce
human sounding drumming as well.

------
microcolonel
I unironically love this typeface. As soon as my main monitors are HiDPI, I'm
liable to switch. It helps not to take things too seriously.

------
pixelbath
While I try not to be too pithy or snarky here on HN, the one thing sprung
immediately to mind was:

Thanks, I hate it.

------
d--b
This font is way better than comic sans. I mean look at the m

------
k6hkUZtLUM
hilarious - this is the incarnation of a psuedo joke that will never die on
the internet. remember the dog? this was his font. now it can be all your
coding too LOL

------
awinter-py
not to be confused with the comics code authority, the censorship body
governing comics for part of the 20th century

------
creeble
Anybody know how to get this in vim?

~~~
Bonooru
Edit your terminal's font settings. Without knowing more about the setup you
use, I can't be more helpful.

------
empath75
i would totally use this if it had nerdfont support and ligature support.

~~~
jve
How do you support ligatures for monospaced fonts?

~~~
Someone
You make sure all ligatures have widths that are integral multiples of the
standard width.

If you’re strict, you make them the same width as the separate characters
would be. If you’re less strict, you could, for example, have “⇒” or “½” be
one character width, and not 2, respectively 3 (the latter probably would make
you give up making a ligature for “1/2”)

~~~
vanderZwan
Monoid also experimented with using ligatures for better kerning at some
point, don't know if it still does that. I thought that was a neat idea,
especially since that is kind-of-but-not-really what ligatures are for in the
first place.

[https://larsenwork.com/monoid/](https://larsenwork.com/monoid/)

------
hnbroseph
wow. someone really took comic sans and started charging $100 for it.

------
ezekg
Thanks, I hate it.

