Inspiration strikes! A new idea forms, and you're really excited about it. You want to take your time, however– you want this to be great, and no great thing just springs fully formed from one's brow. For years you toil, tweak, refine, moving ever closer to the point ...

It's a vampire, break out your torches and pitch forks! The geek have inherited the earth, but far from it being an accepting utopia, the acceptable targets have just changed and the haters run free. There are a lot of things that people like to crap on, but few ...

Stereotypes permeate our every day lives. Whether we like it or not, our brains are wired for making quick estimations and judgments based on patterns and pattern recognition.

This very pattern we're looking for to identify at a glance is what a stereotype is. And it's very useful ...

Lately there has been this pattern that I've noticed in both social media and mainstream comics/cartoons outlets that is very saddening: the use of denigration and belittlement as a promotional tactic, or as an argument.

More and more I seem to notice that new series, reboots, retellings or ...

Stan Lee

1922 - 2018

'Nuff said.




No, of course, ‘nuff can likely never be said about this man and the body of work he’s left behind for us.

It's been a rough couple days for comic fans. I must admit, I've been a bit of a wreck ...

Not all ideas start fully formed. Look at any character which is drawn over a long period of time and you'll almost always see changes, refinements and evolutions in how the character is drawn and the overall style surrounding the character. Frequently these changes are gradual as result of ...

(With apologies to the late Mr. Jones for use of his three bears!)

Presentation is very important when you're sharing your comic with the world on the digital medium. There's so much potential for distraction, so you need to make sure that what you are presenting to your ...

In today's fast-paced world, you need to immediately catch an audience's attention with your story, your movie, your webcomic or your graphic novel. You get two lines in a text, a page or two in a comic, 20-30 seconds to a minute for a movie or a series ...

CATHARSIS
from the Best of Banes Collection


A writing instructor once gave me brief advice on how to write a story, structurally speaking. It was 1/4 Act One setup, 1/2 Act Two complications and rising stakes (I think), and about 1/4 An Act Three “cathartic ending”.

I ...

Many years ago, a battle between two nations began and ended thanks to the leaders’ children. A star symbol called an elpis was created to symbolize the alliance between the two nations. However after the battle, a darkness emerged forcing the queen to make a sacrifice and use her last ...