Jim Balent Has Limits, You Know

I picked up volume 8 of the Tarot: Witch of The Black Rose trade paperbacks on the weekend; I know, I know, it's something that I should kick like the large bag of chocolate I have when going to the cinema, but it has a cheesy, camp appeal.

Anyone who's read an issue or looked it up on the internet will know that writer / artist / creator Jim Balent is certainly a fan of a large bosom and bare chested buxom wenches abound in the book. Reading through this latest collection, though, something struck me regarding what Balent will and won't portray.

He's got no problem with full frontal female nudity:

and while I don't either, this blog doesn't carry a mature readers label so I blacked those bits out, okay?

Balent's also not averse to showing violence and it's gory aftermath:

and, again, that's not a problem for me. Blood splattered scenes such as this are commonplace in the most mainstream of comics these days, let alone independently published books like Tarot.

But the oddest thing I read in this book (and trust me, with witches, dragons and glimpses into the future, there were odd things all over the place!) was the panel that follows that last one:

Again, silhouetted gore is nothing new or different, but that last caption:

Yep, nudity, violence and gore are fine, but there's now way on Earth you can make Jim Balent say a dirty word!