Kim Luster’s The Good Walker webcomic is what inspired me to write this newspost about dreams.
Depicting a character’s dreams in a story is a very powerful and useful tool! Especially when it comes to visual narratives, such as webcomics and movies, a dream sequence can communicate to ...

The Dream Sequence
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 9, 2017The Main Character Decoy
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 25, 2017
One reason why the movie Psycho is so iconic is, aside the expert directing and artistic cinematography, the fact that the one we’re led to believe is the main character of the movie gets brutally killed in the shower quite early into the movie.
What did killing her off ...
Political Comics
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 11, 2017
Considering that a lot of comics have politics embedded in their stories or worldbuilding or actively part of their characters’ parameters, what would constitute a political comic as opposed to a comic containing politics?
In my opinion and from the general descriptions of this budding genre, a political comic is ...
Comedy no comedy
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Nov. 10, 2017
Riffing on Banes' newspost from a while ago of “Horror minus horror” http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2017/oct/18/horror-minus-horror/, does a comedy story without the comedy STILL work as a comedy? And does that make it BETTER comedy than something that doesn't?
I would contend that is ...
Controversial Comics
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 4, 2017
I’ve written about controversy before, and how it has its uses. But I haven’t really yet discussed what makes a comic controversial.
There are the usual hype-controversies like gender bending and race swapping in characters, but in my opinion these types of controversial issues are just what I ...
That Damn Amnesia
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 30, 2017
Amnesia is a very frequently used plot device in narrative works, especially in genres like romance or mystery or melodrama. It’s a perfect way to achieve either of the following (or all):
(a) Draw out a story that should have wrapped up already
(b) Reuse a character’s ‘naïve ...
Wardrobe Is a Tell
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 2, 2017
They say that the best and most important elements in visual arts, from movies to comics, are done well when the audience doesn’t quite notice them. And that is definitely true- research and plot development and world building are some of them about which I’ve already talked about ...
How Much is Just Right when it Comes to Shock Value?
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Aug. 12, 2017
Having decided that shock value is needed in your comic and you must scare, disgust or generally traumatize your audience in some way in order to get the emotional reaction to serve your theme and your subject matter, how do you decide when and where to draw the line? (note ...
WRITING A SCENE
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 3, 2017WRITING A SCENE
Here are some thoughts on writing that smallest unit of a story: the scene.
First off, what is a scene? What defines that little mug?
It's Change.
Something changes between the beginning and end of a scene.
Here's a way to write one if you ...
Fantasy Is Hard Work
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 8, 2017
art by yours truly
It is no secret that as an artist, it is prose that I’m professional at rather than painting/drawing. And historical fiction aside, what I’m told I write quite well is fantasy. So, for a long time I have wanted to talk about writing ...