It may just be my impression, but usually when a story is set in a dystopian setting, the dystopia is played straight. However, when the characters encounter or start off in a utopian setting, they almost always will end up realizing that the utopia is actually a mirage, and in ...

On Utopias
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 26, 2025Comics in the News
Gunwallace at 12:00AM, April 10, 2025
Comics and their creators have actually been prominent in the news recently.
There was the comic book creator Rebecca Burke who was was detained in ICE detention facilities in the US for a couple of weeks due to some problems with the type of visa she was trying to enter ...
When Life's Too Crazy for Fiction
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 29, 2025
I generally avoid using current events in my articles about webcomics, but this time I can't help it. Signalgate has been living rent free in my mind ever since the editor in chief of the Atlantic broke the story.
There are many reasons for that, most of them not ...
What Will Happen Without the Barbarians?
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 8, 2025
There is a poem by one of the most interationally famous Greek poets, Konstantinos Kavafis, called Waiting for the Barbarians. I invite you to give it a read (I've linked its translation) but here's the gist in a nutshell: It's about the Romans waiting for the Barbarians ...
The Christmas Special
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 21, 2024
There's a difference between a Christmas Special and a Christmas Movie. While the Movie is written around Christmas (or Hannukah or any other Yule-season holiday), the Christmas Special forces the show to be written around Christmas whether it likes it or not.
The hilarity ensues when it falls in ...
Panel By Panel: 'Phantom Force 3000' and Pushing the Craft
hpkomic at 3:11PM, Nov. 1, 2024
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Panel by Panel, a periodic exploration of comic panels around The Duck.
This week we're looking at another comic by user HawkAndFloAdventures, who has become one of the most prolific creators on the site, grinding out comic after comic. it's very admirable and ...
Love languages
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 19, 2024
Love is an evasive concept to pin down. Everyone acts like they know what it is, but few can discern whether they're actually experiencing it. A lot of fiction and movies are to blame for that, since they often label as love toxic relationships, stalking, or even outright abuse ...
Making Amends
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, June 1, 2024
So your villain has just made a heel-face turn and is now one of the good guys. Yay!
…not so fast!
The moment where an antagonist turns on their own side and joins that of the protagonists is extremely powerful. But unless it is part of the overall story's ...
Creator Interview: Dragonsong12
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 23, 2024
Today we are interviewing the accomplished and proliferate Dragonsong12 who has actually completed multiple webcomics!
There's so much to tell as an introduction to Dragonsong12 but suffice it to say that she has one of the most recognizable and uniquely beautiful art styles I have encountered on the Duck ...
Panel By Panel: Three Resources You Should Be Using For Your Webcomic
hpkomic at 3:20PM, March 22, 2024
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Panel by Panel, a periodic exploration of comic panels around The Duck.
Last time we had a look back at the work of the great Akira Toriyama, as a sort of a breaking/emergency version of the column. This week I wish to return to ...