Subnormality makes heavy use of written language; it is frequently verbose, often featuring large portions of text in the form of lengthy monologues and dialogues, narrative boxes, or thought balloons.
[1][2] When asked in an interview about his use of words, Rowntree said: "In terms of the amount of text in a given comic, I make absolutely no efforts whatsoever to limit that.
"[3] In tone and content, strips are occasionally just absurd or parody, and are often comedic; however, some, such as "The Line", are not humorous in tone and even many of the comedic strips often make comments on human nature (often misanthropic or deconstructive in nature) or current politics (often left-leaning).
[4] The names of the characters are generally left unspecified, and there are a large number of them, varying unpredictably.
[10] Tris McCall of Inside Jersey listed Subnormality among the "best webcomics" of 2013, praising its large scale despite its imperfect visual quality.