Episode 224 - Finding your own voice as a writer
Jun 22, 2015
For Quackcast 224 I've asked Kevin Hayman back again (KOTA's world, Mailbox Rocketship, Erant Apprentice), to regale us with his Owen Wilson stylings... But seriously, the topic is "finding your own voice in writing", i.e. learning not to imitate your hero's, move beyond that and write in your own style. Kevin is a really funny and interesting guy who's been doing webcomics for many many years since the very earliest days of Drunk Duck and he has some great insights to impart on "finding your own voice". You can also catch KOTA at the Mississippi comic con this weekend! -Enjoy Gunwallace's lovely, creepy musical take on our featured comic, Restless.
Topics and Show Notes
Topics and shownotes
Featured comic:
Restless - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Restless/
Kevin Hayman links:
New version, Mailbox Rocketship comic - http://www.drunkduck.com/Mailbox_Rocketship/
Other Quackcasts with KOTA:
Number 119 - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/quackcast/quackcast-119-kevin-kotas-world-hayman/
The drunkduck awards - http://theduckwebcomics.com/Drunk_Duck_Awards_2015/5486338/
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace, Master of music - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
The theme song by Gunwallace this week was for:
Restless - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Restless/ by Trico.
Episode 223 - Collaborating with the Aliens
Jun 15, 2015
On today's Quackcast I, the marvellous Ozoneocean am speaking to the equally marvellous Trevor Mueller of Albert the Alien! This fine chap is returning to the Quackcast (was on Quackcast 184), to chat with me about the process of collaborating from the point of view of a writer who's working with an artist. Trevor also he another Kickstarter for the second volume of Albert the Alien out now so please consider contributing to that. Trevor is a highly acclaimed writer of a fantastic and funny all ages comic and his artist on Albert the Alien, Gabriel Bautista, is an award winning successful comic creator in his own right. Trevor brings a LOT of experience to the topic of collaboration. Catch the great theme for The Ink by our very own Gunwallace!
Episode 215 - A guide to Good characters, part 3
Apr 20, 2015
OMG! This is the third part in our long running series of discussing good and bad character traits in webcomics and everything else. Bravo, Tantz and Pit are all along with Banes and I for another go around and doing their best German accents as a tribute to Abt Nhil to start off. As usual we read out some very enlightening contributions and then discuss them jointly afterwards. This Quackcast ran a little long because of it- we had a LOT to say! And do not forget Gunwallace's great musical theme, this time it's for Clint which also happens to be that week's featured comic!
Episode 207 - A question of bodyshape part 2
Feb 22, 2015
In Quackcast 207 we talk about bodyshapes in comics again; as a follow up from the chat we had about it in Quackcast 205 we thought we'd let the community weigh in with their thoughts... so Banes and I could get the chance to practice our voices. We wanted to know what others thought about the subject of about bodyshape in comics; Ones that they draw, read, or have just seen and think that it needs commenting upon. These Quackcasts were inspired of course by the images of athletes from the 2002 book "Athlete" by Howard Schatz. The photos show various athletes who're at the top level of their respective sports, it also shows that they have wildly different physical attributes: there IS no one ideal, and there IS no “normal”. This got us to thinking how body shape can define a character as much as facial features, hairstyle, clothing etc. Anyway, people had their say and it was enlightening! Also, Gunwallace's music this week was for FUNK! And funky it was, give it a listen.
Episode 206 - Turning An Idea Into A Comic
Feb 16, 2015
Back in January our own HippieVan was in a quandary as to how to turn a creative idea she had into a webcomic, so she decided to put it o the DD community and croudsource their wisdom via a newspost. Banes and I thought the topic would make a good Quackcast, especially since we could read out all the interesting and informative posts people made on the subject! Banes has also approached the idea previously for Quackcast 68 where he outlines a screen-writing method called "save the cat", also known as "The Banes' Method". That Quackcast was since deleted but as a special treat I will re-upload it!
Episode 205 - What about bodyshape?
Feb 9, 2015
This week Banes and I were inspired to talk about body shape in the depiction of figures in comics, inspired by some famous images from photographer Howard Schatz's 2002 book, Athlete. In it there are photos of many athletes who're at the peak of their sports and yet their bodyshapes are vastly different, subverting the idea of an "ideal" bodyshape or what it means to be a top athlete or even fit. too often bodyshapes in comics follow a very narrow range, not getting much past what we think of as the current popculture ideal. We all know that idealised model shape is a problem and yet we all still perpetuate it, most of the time you can only tell most "realistic" characters apart by their hairstyle or costume, especially in superhero comics. And that invents a second problem: the myth of the "normal" shaped body as opposed to the ideal- there IS no such thing as normal, and even the ideal is always changing throughout the ages. There's even a lot more to body shape than the famous categories: Mesomorph, Ectomorph, and Endomorph, or Skinny, Pear, Athletic, Hourglass and Apple. We also have a beif mention of how stylised characters (Sponge Bob, Calvin and Hobbes etc) are exaggerations of these shapes and differences.
Episode 204 - Talisman returns from exile
Feb 2, 2015
Way back in 2012 Ozone interviewed the marvellously talented and professional Barb Myers about her art and her fantastic comics. Well it's 2015 now and Barb has finally been able to put out the whole of her comic "Talisman: Return of the Exile" for sale on Amazon! So of course now was the perfect time to catch up for another chat. I first came across her lovely comic on Drunk Duck years and years ago when it was called "Return to Donelly", it was a beautiful looking piece of work and it rightly brought her to the attention of the pros. It was picked up for Keen spot and then a publisher wanted to sell it in bookshops everywhere. Well things went screwy after that and it never really reached its full potential unfortunately. It disappeared from radar totally. Well now it's BACK! You can buy this great 108 full colour fantasy comic book story for only $10 US dollars. Mine should get to me on about the 10th of February. ^_^
Episode 203 - The clothescast
Jan 26, 2015
Clothes maketh the man! If that man is a scarecrow... This Quackcast is about drawing clothing. Two esteemed gents from the Drunk Duck repertoire of experts offer their advice on methods for drawing bodies sheathed in garments. Bravo1102 and Ironscarf are two very worldly and experienced men, as they lounged deep in the dark wood panelled cosy confines of the DD private members club, they discussed the tricky subject of convincingly rendering character costumes. Ironscarf traced circles in the air with his custom made talbot pipe, illustrating his descriptions in smoke. Bravo, a fat cigar in one hand, brandy tumbler in the other, chortled into his voluminous beard as he offered counterpoints. It was a lively chat, but for the purposes of this Quackcast Banes and Ozoneocean have re-voiced their parts to protect their privacy: As you're no doubt overly aware, both men are the targets of numerous legions of female stalkers.
