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 ...
Gender Toxicity
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Aug. 19, 2023Character Deep Dive: Grenadine Luncher
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Aug. 12, 2023
In this month’s installment of Character Deep Dive, we’re looking at Grenadine Luncher from the comic Ripping Off King Arthur by Arthur Spitzer!
Before I do any dive, I have to say that due to the unique concept and approach of this comic, I had to really think ...
A change in seasons
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Aug. 5, 2023
We often talk about breaks in comics when referencing hiatuses. Sometimes they are planned, most often they aren’t. However, as I have been catching up on the backlog of webcomics I had saved up, it occurred to me that many of the long running series I enjoyed reading had ...
Panel By Panel: Reader Request - "Blessed Days" - How Do You Read It?
hpkomic at 6:40PM, July 28, 2023
Hello everyone, and welcome to Panel by Panel, a periodic exploration of comic panels around The Duck. This week I am tackling yet another reader request! This time I received a request for some feedback by InkyMoondrop regarding a particular page of their comic, Blessed Days. That proved interesting, leading ...
Horror - The Morality Play
Banes at 12:00AM, July 27, 2023
The idea of “sin” is a prevalent one in horror stories. In terrifying tales, the monstrous against the human also explores good vs. evil.
There is often a “sin” perpetrated by horror Protagonists. The classic Psycho begins with Marion Crane stealing money from her job. Her intentions are understandable, maybe ...
Reimagining Stories
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 22, 2023
So lately there has been a repetitive sequence of events that seems to carry on until some kind of death- of the story, of the company, or of the genre for a few years or so:
1. Disney remakes a classic fairytale or animated feature (live action/3D/etc)
2 ...
Dumb can be dangerous
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 15, 2023
So we love our clever villains, our smooth criminals, the conniving sly characters that use their brains to thwart the heroes and be a real menace. Like the riskiest game of chess, the hero has to match that kind of villain in strategy and smarts as well as determination, prowess ...
No One of Consequence
Banes at 12:00AM, July 13, 2023
One of my favorite tropes (at least I think it's a trope. Not sure how common it is) is the “unknown hero”.
It's when a character who's known to us, the audience, maybe very well, and is at least somewhat important to us.
The character dies and ...
Xade’s Growlution Transforms Toward Fifty Pages; 12 Presentation and 10 Judge Drunk Duck Award Slots Open!
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, July 10, 2023
Photo: “Growlution is Returning in Two Weeks”. Drawn by Xade. May 2023.
MILESTONE
Growlution by Xade
Xade writes:
“Okay! The 50 is uploaded and ready to air on July 12, plus we are live and ben live for a few weeks. I look forward to the spotlight.”
Growlution Synopsis
Follow ...
On plot armor
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 8, 2023
Ok yes. Plot armor in general is considered a mistake. With good reason. Enough plot armor and there are no stakes left in your plot, and the audience isn't worried your plot-armored characters may not make it. And if there's no suspense, there's no engagement or the ...