There's nothing more shocking than when the hero dies …at the beginning.

Don't worry, Banes isn't dead! I'm just standing in for him this week, he will return! This is only about fictional main characters that didn't get the memo they should reserve their death ...

teacher, teacher, can you teach me –

I was revisiting a classic movie, one of the ones on this list, in the past week or so, and thinking of the archetypal teacher/student dynamic in fiction.

So, in line with my Top Five Tales of Bands from last year, here's ...

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It was Valentine's Day last week so let's talk about lurv. Love makes the world go round, love solves all problems, love heals all, love is eternal, love is all you need, all you need ...

Today’s Character Deep Dive is about the amazing Khthonis from Tusk by the awesome Fallopian Crusader!

What can anyone say about Tusk that hasn’t already been said?? It’s a simply gorgeous fantasy action comic centering around the adventures of an orc warrior lady named Khthonis. The art ...

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This week our talk is an art one: eyes! We talk about how to draw them, adding meaning and expression, the way different cultures use them, different styles for doing eyes, reflection, shadow, focus and a million ...

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Stakes are a part of a story. What does a character want? What means the most to the character? What are they after, what do they care about? Stakes can be really subjective like that and they ...

Webcomics are a great place to find deep life lessons or unexpected twists. Creators who present stories in this versatile medium have a remarkable knack for delivering profound insights and plot surprises that leave us contemplating their implications for days.

One of the most captivating aspects of webcomics is their ...

Today’s deep dive is with Polly, from Bottomless Waitress! Bottomless Waitress is the joint creation of Banes and Ozoneocean, with Banes writing the script and Ozoneocean doing the artwork.

It's a teasing, raunchy and somewhat absurd slice-of-life comedy. It’s a masterful balancing act, dancing carefree on the ...

Horror…and the baddies and creepies and long-legged beasties of horror…come in many flavours.
These divisions might be incomplete or somewhat meaningless in a way, but hey, I have to approach it somehow…


Reality Bites: Human Creeps, Scary Animals and Nature
-Serial Killers, Jason, Michael Myers, The Strangers, And ...

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 ...