As the year comes to a close we look to the future of the new year ahead, but we can also sometimes get fixated on the past… Regrets can creep in. “What if?”, “If I'd only…”, “I only JUST missed out…”, “It could have all been so different…”
Regret ...

The Stories We Choose
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 10, 2018
The other day, my mother told me “you are still angry, which is why your story is also full of intense and violent emotion,” referring to the very grim, heavy tone and mood in Without Moonlight. It impressed me really because it rang true. My heart is still very heavy ...
Shaking the Pillars part 1
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 11, 2018
Shaking the Pillars part 1 - Losing the Lead
The Walking Dead is apparently killing off its main character this season - this is the guy who's been the main guy since episode 1 about 8 years ago. This is not a spoiler - it's all over the Internet, the promos ...
Before the Beginning
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 27, 2018
One of the great things about the original Star Wars movies was the strong sense of a grand, adventurous, and terrible history before the movie started. So much is hinted at through Obi Wan Kenobi about the Jedi Knights, Anakin Skywalker, great friendships, laser swords, and terrible war and loss ...
Imprinting on Characters
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Aug. 10, 2018
The other day, I was discussing my creative process to a poor, unsuspecting soul, who, to their credit, seemed content to put up with a bit of a ramble. They had mentioned that they enjoyed the facial expressions of the characters in our comics, (I did mention they were super ...
Making Bad Guys Intimidating
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Aug. 4, 2018
Every hero goes up against a villain. Every protagonist against an antagonist. This is the main clash that drives your story, any story, forward be it slice of life or epic drama.
One of the elements that can make this driving force compelling, that will make the clash interesting and ...
Your Character's Hobbies
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 28, 2018
We all talk about the sheer necessity to create characters that don't appear cardboard, that are fleshed out, that generally feel like real flesh-and-blood, living, breathing people (regardless of your character's species or nature) with personalities that ring true to the audience.
There are several elements that contribute ...
Politics in Fiction
Banes at 12:00AM, July 19, 2018There was recently a Provincial Election in the part of Canada where I live, and there's a Federal Election coming up in about a year.
With the brouhaha going on in the world these days about politics and the divisions between many people that are resulting from it, I ...
It’s the Mileage
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 3, 2018
A discussion at twitter (you should be there! If you haven’t looked for @Drunkduck you should, add DD and you’ll be added back!) brought to my attention a very subtle but very aesthetically and narratively pleasing element that, when we take the time as artists to factor it ...
Mundane Tasks
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 27, 2018
Have you noticed that it’s very rarely that in a webcomic (or any narrative work) there’s a category of tasks or activities that people do very often in real life, but extremely rarely in stories?
Watching TV, being on the computer (when NOT being a hacker or doing ...