After the End …and the Duck is on Patreon!



All stories must come to an end somewhere - whether it's a “just another day” ending, an “everybody dies” denouement, or the always wonderful “it was all a dream”. Or maybe it's just the end of this adventure, with another ...

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 ...

When Superman returned to the big screen ten years ago or so in “Superman Returns”, the movie was intended to be a direct sequel to the two original movies with Christopher Reeve. I was surprised at how mopey and depressing the movie felt.

Which is to say, the movie felt ...

2018 marks the 80th birthday of the big guy himself - the OG superhero.

Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938.

Actually, there were precursors to Superman. But he popularized and defined the ‘Superhero’ character-type and genre. He was the template for countless characters who came later, with his ...

STAKES

In a story, a Protagonist wants something, and some kind of obstacle is in the way. When the Protagonist makes a choice, good or bad, to take them to that goal, we're off and running!

But what happens if they don't get what they want? What happens ...

Ironically, no picture this time…and it's a Newspost about pitchers!


Beyond writing our stories and characters, figuring out our plots and dialogue and character design, and all the other stuff that goes into creating a comic, we have to choose our shots. Our camera angles.

Very much like ...

At the end of Annie Hall, Woody Allen's character writes a play that recreates his breakup with Annie. But in the fictional version, they stay together and the romance continues. Woody is apologetic to the movie's audience and says “What can I say; it was my first play ...

There are lots of fantastic things about making webcomics. Many nice things it has over traditional printing and publishing.

The speed of publishing and presenting your work to the world, the lack of a barrier to entry so anybody with an internet connection can make and publish comics…

…and if ...

Last week there was a post about smaller regular casts in a series - The Loner series, the Duo, and the Trio. Here's that post:

https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/aug/01/casting-characters-in-comics-123/

With a larger cast, things start to get more complicated - but with more possibilities for different ...

Creating a Cast - in 1-2-3

One of the challenges…and maybe one of the greatest pleasures…of creating a series is populating it with a cast of heroes. I know I spend many weeks or months tinkering with characters and deciding who they're going to be. …And how many ...