When I was growing up in the 80s, stories that were marketed as ‘children’s' were occasionally brutal.
Characters got maimed or killed, tortured or traumatized, met with horrid ends in worlds that were anything but rosy. And this was a pattern that wasn't limited to, say, English literature ...

Children's Stories
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 18, 2021Space Based Interactions
Banes at 12:00AM, July 1, 2021
Some of my earliest memories are playing with Star Wars toys - my awareness of the first film and the toys are muddled together, but I clearly remember seeing The Empire Strikes Back, and vividly recall the couple-years-long wait after that, before Return of the Jedi would come and resolve the ...
Happy Halloween! How's your Memento Mori?
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 31, 2020
Halloween, aka Eve of All Saints, is a Day of the Dead.
Days of the Dead exist in nearly every culture. There's the famous Dia de Muertos from Mexico, but there are also less known ones.
For example, in Greece we got “Soul Saturdays” which are basically two Saturdays ...
Happy Endings
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 3, 2020
Who doesn't love a happy ending?
Eh, there are a good few people I've met that just turn their noses up at happy endings, because apparently according to their opinion, happy endings are for the weak.
But for all other normal people, a happy ending is a good ...
Featured comic -> ANTI FEATURED
skoolmunkee at 12:01AM, Nov. 5, 2012
Do you dare delve into the dark underworld of bizarre abandoned comics on the Duck? Locoma does… and occasionally brings back little treasures he finds, to share with everyone else. A brilliant idea (with a huge amount of potential comics), most of the “anti-featured” comics Locoma links to are very ...
Featured comic -> Doctor Death vs The Zombie
skoolmunkee at 12:01AM, Feb. 13, 2012
Doctor Death is an interesting nickname, but a suitable one- this particular practitioner has the ability to supernaturally sense the pleasure and pain of those around him. Cancers, diseases, and more… he doesn't seem particularly happy about it, perhaps because it's mixed him up in a seedy underworld ...
Monday's feature - DIS
skoolmunkee at 1:04AM, June 15, 2009
The Greek pantheon has arguably been the most entertaining and bizarre of the dysfunctional god families. DIS centers on Hades, overseer of the underworld, and how much he hates his assigned work, his demented nephew Hermes, and his new admirer. The stories are drawn in a somewhat manic art style ...