Having a love of music, forming a band, struggling together, maybe rising to fame and fortune, then falling from those heights, and then figuring out what to do next…it's a version of the Hero's Journey that can be found in real life.

There've been plenty of ...

Photo: Life-Sized, Modern Sculpture Adaptation based on the Oil Painting “Yellow Hat Woman” by Edward Hopper. Created by Mr. Brainwash. Mr. Brainwash Museum. Beverly Hills, California. (August 2023)

Nestled in a non-descript corner where Santa Monica Boulevard and Beverly Boulevard intersect, steps away from Rodeo Drive in the city of ...

On a recent Quackcast episode here on the duck, Ozoneocean made an interesting point about some older raunchy comedies.

The point was that in some of these movies, the female characters were presented a certain way, maybe not as three-dimensional as the male characters, or maybe came across more sexual ...

Photo: “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” Paul Gauguin. Oil on Canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (1897-98)

A somber recollection carries me back twenty-two years ago on this day when I walked into a class where an inconsolable history teacher delivered a line ...

If you look up Wikipedia on apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction it will be described as a subgenre in which the earth’s (or another planet’s) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. It can be due to the cause of nuclear war, or climate change, a pandemic (maybe one that ...

The sheer power of a good team is so defining that it's a trope. Some of the most iconic characters and beloved personalities have emerged from stories featuring teams of main characters.

Each of them are vital to the story, each of them contribute both in terms of the ...

Photo: “Which Levana Do You Feel Like Today?”. Vampire Girl. Story and art by J_Scarbrough. (January 2021-August 2023)

Vampire Girl by the Duck’s resident, puppeteer-webcomic creator, J_Scarbrough (not to be confused with the Jonathan Richman song with the same title) reached its conclusion on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.

Synopsis ...

Photo: “Dive Into the KAMics! With 2125 Comics There Must Be Something Here You’d Like!”. Story and art created by Keith Alan Morgan (KAM). (August 2023)

Here is a message from KAM, creator of the KAMics:

“Hi



The KAMics reached 2125 pages on Friday, August 25, 2023.



Here's ...

Last time I'd written about gender toxicity and what a trap it can be for creators seeking to write powerful characters. It is not something that only plagues the “strong female character” attempt, but also the “strong male character” and definitely the “strong LGBTQ+ character”.

Too many of these ...

The debate on what constitutes a “strong female character”, whether having “strong female leads” or “feminism” is tanking “woke” films these past few years, is ongoing. There's accusations of toxicity on both sides. Misogyny, misandry, wokeness and brokeness, all of these terms and hot takes are fired and take ...