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.
Topics and Show Notes
Topics and Show Notes:
Featured comic:
Steel and Manitou - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Steel_and_Manitou/
Links:
Images, taken by photographer Howard Schatz for his 2002 book, Athlete - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2502477/Can-guess-sport-shape-Olympians-body.html
Our contributors:
Genejoke - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Genejoke
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace, funkmaster musician - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
The theme song by Gunwallace this week was for:
FUNK - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/FUNK/ - by Shawn Perry
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 197 - The sidekicks take over the QC
Dec 14, 2014
Carrying on from last weeks Quackcast inspired by Kawaiidaigakusei's Thoughtful newspost article "An Ode to Sidekicks", this time the DD community weighs in on the subject and they give us their wise, educated and highly considered expert opinions on the subject of the sidekick in stories! Again Kawaii joins Banes and I, but this time she practices her amazing talent for amusing voices, so for the first time since Skoolmunkee there's someone other than Banes and I doing a voice. Rachel Maddow drops in and even Matt Foley to tell us about his VAN down by the RIVER! All in all what people have to say about the different aspects of sidekicks in fiction is really quite interesting, have a listen and see! Oh, and Gunwallace's epic theme for Harkovast is fantastic, I can't wait for a Peter Jackson Movie adaptation!
Episode 196 - The Sidekick-cast
Nov 30, 2014
The topic of the Quackcast was inspired by Kawaiidaigakusei's Thoughtful newspost article "An Ode to Sidekicks" that examined the varied subject of The Sidekick. She was inspired by Geoff Peterson, the much loved animated skeleton on the Craig Ferguson show and she went on to examine some sidekick types using DD comics as examples. In our Sidekick-cast we cast the net a bit wider. We try and have a chat about all the different types of sidekicks we can think about (and there are a LOT); sidekicks in books, films, comics, talkshows... Heroic sidekicks, villain sidekicks, lackeys, lieutenants, backups, stand-ins, partners and all the various types in between and beyond! We mentions such obvious luminaries such as Dynomutt, Scoobydoo, Scrappy Doo, Dr Watson, Robin, a swathe of Dr Who Companions, and more! Banes is hilarious, Kawaii is insightful, Ozoneocean is opinionated ad boorish.
Episode 190 - The Halloweencast!
Oct 26, 2014
For the Halloweencast Banes and I will be journeyed beyond the veil, down into the depths of webcomic HELL… There, we encountered the LOST and the DAMMED: the tormented souls of abandoned webcomics that were ended before their time. Deep underneath the black, soaring Gothic spires of DD HQ lie the labyrinthine catacombs, dry, dusty crypts, and ossuaries where the bones of old abandoned webcomics go to rest and moulder away, their lonely souls pining for the time when they could see the day and frolic in the sun, with viewers to keep them company. Watched over by the great demon Death Porn and harried by mischievous spriter sprites, the poor souls languish in their solitary torments, hoping to one day be reborn anew! For the Halloweencast, Banes and I asked for contributors to name some of their old lost faves so we could pay our respects to these tragic cases, give them a voice once more, and hopefully return them for a few brief moments to the sun again by sending some more viewers their way.
Episode 185 - Mean Joe Genejoke
Sep 22, 2014
In this episode, Banes and Genejoke are the sole and only hosts! They work diligently to review a couple of Drunk Duck comics: Utterly Rucked aaaaaaaaaand Pinky TA! (oh yeah, we went there!) "Ocean Ozone does enjoy drawing the ass!". Banes and Genejoke give us hilarious and in-depth overviews of both Gunwallace's Rugby themed whodunnit and Ozoneocean's TA themed action adventure story, along with a bonus Texan style satirical roasting of Pinky TA just for laughs. Kawaii delivers a slick, professional review of the featured comic Hello Albertosaurus, and Gunwallce give us a spot on '80s videogame musical theme for the comic The Chronicles of Bucky O'Neill by Demongrinder.
Episode 182 - Biggest mistakes made in starting a webcomic
Aug 14, 2014
This Quackcast came about in response to an article that was supposed to be about the biggest mistakes in starting out with a webcomic, I felt it was incredibly superficial and that it was mainly focussed on someone who wanted to go straight for the “pro” side, jump right in and make it BIG right away… The trouble is that there's WAAAAAAY more to the subject than that! Hence this Quackcast on the subject. I've seen thousands of webcomics come and go over the years, most fizzle out in the first few weeks or months for a whole lot of reasons, but even the ones that have staying power still run into many issues at the beginning. Here we cover a lot of the big mistakes webcomic creators make early on. We've also got some great contributions too!
Episode 180 - Colour your world! part 1
Aug 14, 2014
For this week's Quackcast I asked people what colour techniques they use and BOY was I surprised by the high calibre of the responses! We had some heavy hitter contributions, people with colour skill beyond what I can conceive of, and I'm no slouch myself when it comes to colouring. We had such good contributions and the subject is so complex that that we decided to split it over two parts so we can properly discuss this very technical concept: COLOUR! Colouring is an important and advanced skill when it comes to comic art. At the most basic level you can restrict yourself to a simple palette with no shading or tones, if you want to be more advanced though there is no limit to how complex you can get. Hopefully the advice presented here can help you with your artwork!
