Interesting.
It is quite amusing how Valentine's Day 2021 landed on a Sunday, a day without a new blog entry. Friday was the celebration of the Lunar New Year–the Year of the Ox.
In previous years, both occasions would have drawn massive crowds of people. There would have ...

Days Unlike Any Other
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Feb. 15, 2021Tooning With Banes - The Horizon
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 11, 2021
The Horizon
Even though I've been drawing/cartooning for longer than I can remember, there are major holes in my knowledge. Even after a lifetime of drawing, and making hundreds of webcomic pages.
Luckily I found some great info while cruising around the ‘Net.
You may already know this ...
Star Trek Economics
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 4, 2021
I just finished a rewatch of The Mandalorian series and one of the things I thought about was the vicious profiteering and scramble for money (or ‘credits’, or valuable metals or what have you) that indicates what kind of economy is at work in that show.
Granted, so far we ...
Cartooning With Banes - Focal Points, Characters and some such stuff like that
Banes at 12:00AM, Jan. 28, 2021
An advantage of comics as a medium is to be able to use still images to tell the story, and create an impression or feeling in the reader that runs deeper than words can do. Or at least, the images can strengthen the experience and make something people hopefully get ...
Everyday Joes and the Best of the Best
Banes at 12:00AM, Jan. 21, 2021
Everyday Joes and the Best of the Best
Star Wars and Star Trek are long-running siblings in science fiction pop culture. I don't know if there's really a “rivalry” between the two; SW has always been more popular I think, and the two are very different.
One big ...
Protagonist, Antagonist and Villain
Banes at 12:00AM, Jan. 14, 2021
Over the past couple weeks I watched and loved Cobra Kai. There are multiple articles that I could write about this show.
It's an ensemble cast, and I guess Johnny and Daniel could be called co-Protagonists. I actually think Johnny is the Protagonist, Daniel the Antagonist and Kreese is ...
Dat MASK, tho
Banes at 12:00AM, Jan. 7, 2021
Masked, Unknown Characters
Fiction, certainly in the movie/TV/comics visual mediums, are full of characters whose identities are hidden by masks.
On The Mandalorian, the title character follows a strict creed that says he is not supposed to let another living being see his face, so he always wears ...
The Empire Strikes Back is 40 - and More Baffling Silliness from Disney Lucasfilm?
Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 31, 2020Spoilers for recent Star Wars, eg the Mandalorian.
It went unspoken in my year of Newsposts, but 2020 is the 40th Anniversary the release of The Empire Strikes Back.
that's not true! That's impossible!
No, man! Search your feelings! you know it's true! Forty damn years!
Though ...
Handwaves, Explanations and Just-Go-With-Its
Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 24, 2020
The long-running series Supernatural just came to an end and I enjoyed the last couple episodes. Even though I haven't seen the last few seasons and don't plan to, I knew the series fairly well from its first 6 or 7 years. I could say more about this ...
The Crime Genre
Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 17, 2020
Many of the conversations online that concern “genre fiction” generally mean sci/fi, fantasy and horror. This stuff is distinguished from “mainstream” genres like contemporary dramas and comedies, and period pieces that are…well, dramas and comedies. it also doesn't include big genres like romance and psychological thrillers.
The ...