Reflection Characters
When I was doing a little reading on the “Mentor” character type, I learned about something called “Reflection Characters”. It was an eye opener; I'd never heard of this before, though I could instantly see how it made sense in storytelling, and dozens of examples came to ...

Are Friends Electric? (Guest post by Gunwallace)
HippieVan at 12:00AM, April 29, 2016
“Well, are they?”
Gary Numan (and Tubeway Army) posed that question in 1979. These days it has more relevance that ever before.
“It's cold outside, and the paint's peeling offa my walls.”
As winter approaches in the Southern Hemisphere (winter is coming) my thoughts naturally turn a little ...
Quackcast 268 - the antagonist-cast
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, April 26, 2016 LISTEN!
Art by Ozoneocean
On the Quackcast we've talked about villains plenty of times before. This time it's very different though… I wanted people to talk about their OWN villains, to promote their comic as if the antagonist was the main character, to give their antagonists the time ...
Chasing the Whirlwynd: A Look Into Jumping-Mediums from Webcomics to Animation
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, April 18, 2016(This exclusive front page article was written entirely by DD's very own Whirlwynd!)
Hey all! My name's Whirlwynd. I've been producing webcomics since the late 90's and I've been a member of the Duck since 2004. Thanks for reading this thinly-veiled attempt to promote my ...
It is All in the Details
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, April 4, 2016
Have you ever taken a walk with a young person?
Each morning when I get to work early, I walk down to the bus circle and wait for one little boy's bus to arrive at school. On the good mornings, he walks off the bus grinning from ear-to-ear with ...
Getting involved in your local arts community
HippieVan at 12:00AM, April 1, 2016
I think most of us who live in or near big cities have been to comic conventions. But despite having such a huge concentration of artists here, we seldom seem to talk about broader arts communities. I’ve always been a casual patron of local art galleries, but the curatorial ...
Wish Fulfillment
HippieVan at 12:00AM, March 18, 2016
I've recently been watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries on Netflix. Phryne Fisher is undoubtedly a wish-fulfillment character – almost unapologetically so. She is sexy, bold, and intelligent. Whenever a new challenge is put before her, she reveals a previously-unmentioned skill that saves the day (see the above image where ...