I think I'd assume 400 comics in 40 words, just because of "88 lines about 44 women".

how about 40 sentences about 400 comics?

I went the same place for the same reason.

Well, actually, I read the phrase while sipping my first cup of coffee for the day, so I figures there were ten of something (dividing 400/40- figuring that since they divided so easily that must be the point), but I don't think my pre-coffee cognitive disabilities are important to plan around. My *second* interpretation was rmd's

Edited at 2012-06-04 01:58 pm (UTC)

Thirded. I think generally the construction "X foo about Y things" means a total of X foos, be it words, sentences, minutes, pictures, etc.

Fourthed.

I would assume you were trying to describe all 400. I like your second take on a title better.

What about 40-Word Reviews of 400 Comics?

I initially thought it was 40 total words about 400 total comics, but that totally didn't add up, so then I thought it was 40 words each about 400 comics, which A) made more sense, and B) added up to a whole lot more total words.

Even though 40 words total about 400 comics makes little sense, it is how it naturally reads, and so despite it being decipherable it seems a bad choice.

There are a series of articles with names along the lines of "Six-Word Reviews of 1302 SXSW mp3s", which I don't find ambiguous the same way, whose name-scheme you could possibly adapt.